October 01, 2017
A Good Guru protects his disciples from His Own Influences
On my one-line Facebook post “a good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence “, my disciple Chandrika Kamat commented “to incorporate and then transcend will require years of tutelage,Guruji”. This set me thinking about what stage and how a pupil begins to “transcend” his Guru’s tutelage. Every artist,at some stage or the other, needs to establish his own identity within the framework of his gharana and sing like himself. This, I should think, has to happen after the student has incorporated and imbibed the Guru’s taleem in......
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September 06, 2017
A Raga should not mean but just be
Generally, when I sing an aprachalit raga, people ask me what are the constituent elements (in terms of ragas or angs involved) in it because they cannot understand it. You don’t have to understand a...
November 07, 2016
Creative Restlessness vs Complacency in a Musician
I am making bold to share or unburden a very personal experience of mine with my young friends who are into music. I wish they will take it in the right spirit for their own...
November 05, 2016
Passion Without Riyaz is no Passion for Music
Some say they have great passion for Music. They may either have passion for listening to music or for doing it religiously as though their being depended on pursuing music. I would like to say...
November 05, 2016
Audacious statements about Great Musicians
The other day I was stunned by a statement made about my father-guru by some irresponsible people who are trying to make a name for themselves as representatives of his /Jaipur Atrauli gharana Gayaki. These...
November 04, 2016
The Question of Aakaar and Laya in Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana Gayaki
I would like to dwell here on some aspects of our Gharana Gayaki, as I understand it. I do not wish to cross swords with either practicing musicians of our gharana or music critics in...
November 02, 2016
How Does Flow Happen In Your Music ?
A performing musician friend of mine ( plays violin ) asked me what is flow in music and whence and how it comes. He is an admirer of my father-guru’s music and M S Gopalkrishnan’s...
October 25, 2016
What does a great Guru impart to a deserving Sishya?
Apart from giving the knowledge of a system, technique and ragas, most importantly a great guru shares a certain “Drishti” (sight, incite or vision) with his deserving sishya who is willing to perceive and accept...
August 26, 2016
Guru Shishya Sambandha in Music
True guru-shishya relation is a fore-ordained binding between the two and it follows from some former lives and continues in after- lives. This is my belief and conviction. The mystique of this relationship cannot be...
May 06, 2016
The musician who looks outside and the one who looks inside
He who looks outside Dreams : he looks only at the outsides of things, of social or transitory or business relationships and of thoughts which are constantly revolving in the mind. He would like to...