Lesson 13

Need a metronome. That was the main thing for the day. I *think* I get the rhythm, but it's difficult to keep the hands at the same rhythm while saying the bols. Of course, this is just a lame excuse, and I need to be able to do this. But Guruji suggested getting a metronome and practicing the bols at home. We still couldn't go back from double to single for any of the compositions. There's still a lot of work to be done there.

On the nomenclature aspect, we were playing something that has the potential to turn into a Rela. A rela is a composition that's supposed to be played at a very high speed. The speed should be such that the different phrases should seem like one bol. It sounds nice when played properly.

After struggling a bit with the Ge Na Dha Dha, Guruji decided to move on to a new bol. The main phrase was

TaKiTa

The first Ta is with the Index finger and the second with all the three fingers. The Ki is of course, palm on the Dagga.

Another was DhinNe, but that should be easy to understand. I asked Guruji whether it's OK to play Dhin on the left side of the syahi ... but no pain, no gain. It must be the big Tin.

This is a three bol phrase, so at first I was confused with where the beat should go, but I got it later on. Started practicing with

TaKiTa TaKiTa DhinNe

Play this for a while so your fingers get used to it. Then, we can add the new modifications.

TaKiTa Ta|KiTa DhinNe
DhinNe NaaGe |NaaGe DhinNe

The above is always the second line. Then, you can play any of the ones below with the above to end the composition.

TaKiTa Ta|KiTa TaKi
Ta TaKiTa |DhinNe DhinNe

This one turned out to be bit complicated because of the 4 TaKiTa bols. See the third one split in two lines ? Count the number of bols and that makes the beat easier to understand

The final one was just DhinNe. But, don't count them. You need to feel the rhythm

TaKiTa Ta|KiTa DhinNe
DhinNe DhinNe |DhinNe DhinNe

Lesson 12

I wanted to make up for a class I would be missing this week so I went to Syedji's place last Saturday. So many kids playing, you feel like a dinosaur. The nice thing was that after my class, there was a sitar student who played Bhimpalasi while one of the students was accompanying him (I think it was the Teental). It was quite nice to hear it. I just feel stupid I left early - didn't have a watch on me and thought I was really late.

We played a Kaida today. A Kaida is a composition with emphasis on one of the bols. There are three major Kaidas - Naa, TeTe and TiReKiTa. The Kaida we played was a 16 beat Kaida in Dha.

Also, I learnt the short form of the notations today.

D => Dha, G => Ge, N => Naa, Tn => Tin, T => Taa

D - G N Tn N G N G N D G Tn N G N (A)
D G N Tn N D - D G N D G Tn N G N (B)
T - K N Tn N K N K N T K Tn N K N (C)
T K N Tn N T - D G N D G Dn N G N (D)

The 4 compositions above are A & B in the first row, followed by C & D. As you can see, B & D are the second part in the composition. So, you can have more compositions like



A * 2 + B * 2
C * 2 + D * 2

D - G N Tn N G N G N Tn N Tn N G N + B
T - K N Tn N K N K N Tn N Tn N K N + D

D - G N Tn N G N Tn N G N Tn N G N + B
T - K N Tn N K N Tn N K N Tn N K N + D

D - G N Tn N G N Tn N G N Tn N D - + B
T - K N Tn N K N Tn N K N Tn N T - + D

D - G N Tn N D - G N Tn - N - D - + B
T - K N Tn N T - K N Tn - N - T - + D

Lesson 11

I started at Syedji's private classes today. And it was a completely different experience. I guess the major reason was that most of the other students had been learning for quite a while - some more than 2 years. There were a couple of beginners - with around 3-4 months of lessons so I was not completely off the boat.

It was exciting because everyone was playing together, discussing things with each other - which I really missed at ICC. And it was more of a learning experience because Guruji didn't really tell me each and every bol like he used to. He just played the composition and we had to figure out the bols and how to play it. Also, we paid more attention to rhythm. Just the bols aren't enough. I guess I have a slow start because everyone already knew how to play a beat and say the composition in single and double speed (matra ?), but I'm learning. It's not entirely new to me.

So, here are the compositions

Ghe Naa Dha|- Dha Ghe Naa
Ghe Naa DhaGe| DhinNaa Ge Naa

Ke Naa Taa|- Taa Ke Naa
Ke Naa TaaKe|TinNaa Ke Naa

You can see the difference between Naa and Taa above. They are played the same, but Taa is a Dha for the lighter stroke as I call it.

The second one was

Ghe Naa Dha|Ghe Naa Dha
Ghe Naa DhaGe|DhinNaa Ge Naa

Ke Naa Taa|Ke Naa Taa
Ke Naa TaaKe|TinNaa Ke Naa


Even though they are separate lines, think about it as

Ghe Naa DhaGeNa DhaGeNaa ... and then they DhaGe DhinNaa Ge Naa. You get the rhythm then.

The third line, I'll update later. I can't say it very well and Guruji has it written in my pad at home.

Lesson 10

This was the final lesson at ICC. I'll be going to Syedji's private classes from next week.

This week was a little different because instead of the first part changing, we had the last part changing. No new bols, just new combinations. Also, because of the speed of the combinations, the usual TeTe and TRKT are played a little differently.

As usual, the first ones turned out to be the more difficult ones.

I've put a '-' to indicate the slight pause.

Dha -|GeDeNaaGe|Dhin Ne|NaaNaaGeNe
Taa -|KeDeNaaKe|Tin Ne|NaaNaaGeNe

In the next one, play a light TiReKiTa because of the speed.

Ti - middle finger only on syahi, not three fingers as before
Re - index finger only on syahi
Ki - as usual on dagga
Ta - ring finger on syahi

Dha -|GeDeNaaGe|DhinNe|TiReKiTa
Taa -|KeDeNaaKe|TinNe|TiReKiTa

The Ta below is the index finger on sur - Chik sound.

Dha -|GeDeNaaGe|TaGa| GeDeNaaGe
Taa -|KeDeNaaKe|TaGa|KeDeNaaKe

In the lines below again, play Te Te with just the two fingers on the syahi. Not the full Te Te because of the speed.

Dha -|GeDeNaaGe|TeTe| GeDeNaaGe
Taa -|KeDeNaaKe|TeTe|KeDeNaaKe

Next week onwards, we'll meet Wednesday 7:45 PM.

Lesson 9

A twist in the tale. That's what this was. It was a repeat of the earlier class, but with a slight twist. Let's see what we played at the end of Lession 8

Dha Ge Dhin Naa Te Te Dha Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa
Naa Ke Dhin Naa Te Te Naa Ke Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Now, exchange the latter half in both the lines, so it becomes

Dha Ge Dhin Naa Te Te Dha Ge Tin Naa Ke Naa
Naa Ke Tin Naa Te Te Naa Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

This actually is a lot easier to play once you get used to it.

Also, you can add more to this

Dha Ti Dha Ti Ge Ti Dha Ge Tin Naa Ke Naa (the Ti is middle finger on syahi)
Naa Ti Naa Ti Ke Ti Naa Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ti Ghe Naa Dha Ti Dha Ge Tin Naa Ke Naa
Naa Ti Ke Naa Naa Ti Naa Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa

Dha Ti Ghe Ne Dha Ti Dha Ge Tin Naa Ke Naa
Naa Ti Ke Ne Naa Ti Naa Ge Dhin Naa Ge Naa