More Videos

In a recent comment someone requested that I post more music so here are a couple of videos.

This first one is quite a long one but beautiful. It is raga Bageshri by Sharif Khan Poonchwaley.

Raag Bageshree (Sitar) -by Ustad Sharif Khan Poonchwaley from Syed Wajid on Vimeo.

I also had a comment asking about whether there are many female sitarists. While there are certainly more men, there are female players. There tends to be more female singers.

This is Subshri Janardan playing raga Khamaj, one of my favourite ragas.

Subshri Janardan -sitar, Kirill Parenchuk -tabla - Dhun in Rag Khamaj (2009) from subshrijanardan.com on Vimeo.

Lastly, this is a blistering version of raga Sindhi Bhairavi by one of the greatest players ever, Nikhil Banerjee.

Raag Sindhi Bhairavi -by Pandit Nikhil Banerjee from Syed Wajid on Vimeo.

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Tunings For Ragas

I've recently been taking a break from raga yaman and have been tinkering with raga bhimpalasi. I will post a video at the end of the post to give you an idea what this raga sounds like.

However, first I want to list some tunings for various ragas. Tunings for ragas can vary quite a lot depending on which school/style that you follow so the following tunings are just guidelines and changes can certainly be made. I will start with the main playing string (Ma) and work down towards the high pitched strings. You may need to adapt them for your sitar, I use a Gandhar Pancham so it may be different to yours.

(these ragamala paintings don't all correspond to the raga listed)

Raga Yaman

Main Strings
ma, Sa, Ga, Pa, Sa, Sa

Taraf Strings (low to high)
Ni, Sa, Sa, Re, Ga, Ga, Ma, Pa, Pa, Dha, Ni, Sa', Re'

Raga Bhimpalasi

Main Strings
ma, Sa, ma, Pa, Sa, Sa

Taraf Strings (low to high)
ni, Dha, Sa, Sa, Re, ga, ma, Pa, Pa, Dha, ni, Sa', Re'

Raga Bageshri

Main Strings
ma, Sa, ma, Dha, Sa Sa

Taraf Strings (low to high)
ni, Dha, Sa, Sa, Re, ga, ma, ma, Pa, Dha, ni, Sa', Re'

Raga Bhairavi

Main Strings
ma, Sa, ma, Pa, Sa, Sa

Taraf Strings (low to high)
ni, dha, Sa, Sa, re, ga, Ma, Pa, Pa, dha, ni, Sa', re'

Now, here is a wonderful version of raga bhimpalasi by Nikhil Banerjee. This alap is mesmerizing, truly magical. 

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