Teaching tapes 

Finding good instruction in Indian music in the west is often quite difficult. As an alternative or supplement to traditional teaching methods India Instruments offers Raga-Academy, a series of teaching tapes with accompanying sargam notations. Each tape offers a complete lesson in itself and guides the student through the subject by musical demonstrations and step by step spoken explanations. THE SPOKEN EXPLANATIONS ARE ONLY AVAILABLE IN GERMAN AT THE MOMENT. People with little or no knowledge of German might still be able to follow the lessons by listening to the music demonstrations and carefully studying the notation.

Each tape costs 15,- EURO / on CD 17,- Euro plus shipping expense. Please check our order information for further details. At the moment we offer the following tapes / CDs:

Basics of sitar playing

Names notes, tuning, holding the instrument, seven traditional basic exercises with variations (madhya saptak, murchana, sapat, palta in 3s, palta in 4s, intervals, bols) - approx. 70 minutes, requirements: none 

Raga bhairavi - gat and tanas for sitar

Medium fast tintal, exercises for improvisation in the framework of the gat, composition by Ali Akbar Khan - approx. 60 minutes, requirements: basic knowledge of Indian music and sargam notation, tintal, left hand fingering technique, simple bols 

Raga bhairavi - alap for sitar

Simplified transcription of a Nikhil Banerjee recording, very demanding - an interesting challenge for musicians with good technical and musical skills

Raga bhimpalasi - alap for sitar 

approx. 75 minutes, requirements: basic knowledge of Indian music and sargam notation, two note pulling technique, krintan (cut off), sparsha (hammering) 

Lahara - accompaniment for kathak-dance or tabla solo

14 traditionel lahara-tunes with ideas for variation in tintal, jhaptal, ektal, rupak and dhamar, 
approx. 55 minutes, requirements: basic knowledge of Indian music and sargam notation

Raga-Academy is presented by Yogendra Jens Eckert, founder and manager of India Instruments. Yogendra has been studying Indian music with a focus on sitar since 1982. In 1987 he started learning with sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan and in 1991 with sitarist Partha Chatterjee, a disciple of sitar legend Nikhil Banerjee and father of the brillant young sitar virtuoso Purbayan Chatterjee. He is a regular classical sitar performer and teaches Indian music at university level.

Apart from that we offer the following tapes as tools for daily practice:

Tanpura in c sharp

2 x 45 minutes drone of the electronical Sur Sagar Digital Tanpura - great help for improving your intonation. Tonic c sharp - ideally suited for most sitars. Side A standard tuning with Pa - Sa - Sa - Sa (tonic, octave and fifth). Side B Ma-tuning with Ma - Sa - Sa - Sa (tonic, octave and fourth, for ragas with little or no Pa, e. g. Malkouns, Bageshri, Lalit) 

Lahara (accompanying tune) for tabla players and kathak dancers

Lahara (or Nagma) is the name for a simple tune in a certain tala and raga. During a tabla solo or a kathak dance performance this tune is repeated continuously. Its clear structure allows an easy orientation within the rhythmic cycle. Accompanied by the lahara, you can practice rhythmic compositions as well as improvisations. Side A approx. 45 minutes lahara in vilambit (slow) tintal in raga chandrakouns, played on harmonium in B; side B approx. 30 minutes lahara in madhya (medium fast) tintal in raga pilu, played on sitar in C.