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A rarely-heard but highly capable vehicle for Hindustani ornaments, best explored by Maihar sarodiya Vasant Rai
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—Vasant Rai (Darbari)—
“Born in North Gujarat, Vasant began musical education at age 7, and appeared in his first concert at age 11. He recalls the experience: ‘At that time, I had the idea that one who knows many instruments is a good musician – so I practised violin, sitar, flute, voice, dilruba, and tabla’. In 1958, Vasant became the sarod disciple of Allauddin Khan, residing in his house for 8 years, and was the last student to receive the maestro’s complete musical training. Later, Vasant experimented with the ‘sur-guitar’, a fretless sarod–guitar hybrid of his own invention: ‘When I first tried guitar, I knew I could play Indian music on it…I took off the fretboard, and glued a metal fingerboard in its place’. Vasant also appeared with electric guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, and was perhaps best known for his remarkable series of East-West improvisations recorded with members of the group Oregon. In his own words, ‘Inspiration comes through many things. I like all good music from any part of the world. Each of my compositions is different – not jazz, not rock, not classical…’ (Vasant Rai’s Fretless Guitar)
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• Hindustani Instruments: Anandi | Bansuri | Bass-Veena | Bazantar | Bulbul Tarang | Cello | Chaturangi | Dilruba | Electric Guitar | Esraj | Fretless Guitar | Harmonium | Jal Tarang | Jori | Mandolin | Mohan Veena | Nal Tarang | Pakhawaj | Piano | Rabab | Rudra Veena | Sagar Veena | Santoor | Sarangi | Sarod | Saxophone | Shehnai | Sitar | Surbahar | Sursagar | Sursingar | Swarmandal | Tabla | Tabla Tarang | Tanpura | Tar Shehnai | Taus | Vichtra Veena | Violin
–Survey of Sa tunings–
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—Hindustani Raga Index—
An open-ended project seeking to bring North Indian raga closer to all who approach with open ears. Combines direct input from dozens of leading Hindustani artists with in-depth insights from music history, global theory, performance practice, cognitive science, and much more besides!
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George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Homepage for more, and hit me up for Lessons!
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