Vichitra Veena Tutor #1

Description

Product Description We are very proud to bring the Vichitra Veena Tutor #1 to you. It is a first of its kind with a very thorough coverage of the basics. The tutor is authored by Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish and his son Shri Ashwin Batish. The goal of this tutor is to give the Vichitra Veena a new lease on life. It is sad that it's practitioners can today be counted on the fingers of your hands. Although students are gradually picking this instrument up for study, many get discouraged due to lack of direction resulting in this instrument ending up in a closet or in a glass case to be visually admired. We aim to change this and this tutor is the first step! Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish has been actively playing this instrument for over 60 years. As a vocalist he has a special insight into its workings. He shares this with you in this, and upcoming tutors. Here are some of the highlights ..... 1. A Short History 2. Recommended String Gauges 3. Sitting Positions explained 4. Mizrab (finger pick) 5. Proper Slide Hold 6. Right Hand Positions 7. Tuning of the open strings 8. Note Locations explained 9. Basic Vichitra Veena Designs 10. Alternative Sliders explored 11. Right Hand Exercises using Da, Ra, DiRa, DR 12. Bilaval Raga scale 13. Simple Sargam Exercises 14. Short Performance From the Contributor Vichira Veena simply means a "unique lute". Its present shape is considered by many as "recent" to North Indian classical music but its origin probably pre dates many present day stringed instruments. A single stringed "Ek Tara" a.k.a. "Brahma Veena" was probably its first manifestation thousands of years ago. Today, its incarnation is very elaborate and majestic. With 4 main playing strings, up to two sets of chikari drone strings and a host of sympathetic strings ranging from 11 to 18, the veena has a very rich and reverberating resonance. It is a difficult instrument to master. It has no frets. It is quite large and has an exceptionally long string length hence making the distance between notes somewhat large. The gamakas (embellishments) have to be reproduced with an egg shaped glass weight, so quick maneuvers take a lot of practice and energy. It is perhaps for these reasons that the Vichitra Veena has been out gunned in speed by instruments like the sitar and the surbahar. But for what it lacks in quickness, the Veena out classes many of these forms with its capabilities of rendering the vocal style so perfectly with fluid meends of over 2 octaves possible on each string. The other plucked instruments simply cannot match this ability. But there is one catch. The player has to have enough riyaz (practice) and vocal experience to back it up. P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Actor S.D. Batish is a true inspiration to learn from. His career spans over 60 years. He has scored music for numerous Indian films and his compositions have been rendered by some of the biggest names in the Indian music industry. Although he is a phenomenal vocalist by profession, he is also a very accomplished multi-instrumentalist some of his favorite insruments are the Vichitra Veena, Violin, Dilruba, Sarodini Veena and Harmonium. He was invited by the Beatles and played the Vichitra Veena in their movie "Help". Ashwin Batish, son of S.D. Batish, has been teaching music for over 25 years. He is a virtuoso sitar and tabla player. He and his father have pioneered in self help products that teach music of India. They are hard at work producing instructional videos to teach the various Indian musical instruments like the Sitar, Tabla, Dilruba, Harmonium, Violin, Tanpura etc. These can be ordered online via desertcart. Ashwin is frequently invited to various Universities for lecture demos. Here is a recent review mentioning Ashwin as a teacher.... "A student of Batish once remarked that what she liked about studying with him was his cheerful, playful approach to Indian music. It is true. With Ashwin Batish, you don't feel constrained by the tradition of centuries. You learn how to open your ears and your mind to new sounds, new possibilities. "India Currents Magazine." See more