GUITAR ATLAS: INDIA. Sanjay Mishra. CD TABLATURE
LIBRO CON CD, IN NOTAZIONE E TABLATURE
By Sanjay Mishra
SERIES: National Guitar Workshop
CATEGORY: Guitar Method or Supplement
FORMAT: Book & CD
The Guitar Atlas series is your passport to a new world of music. Learn the characteristic rhythms and techniques of some of the world's most remarkable guitar music, discovering the history, origins, and pioneering artists of distinctive styles from around the globe.
Whether you play jazz, rock, blues, or any other style, the beautiful musical language of India will infuse your playing with a new, unique flavor. Explore ornamentation, modes, and rhythms of folk music from Darjeeling, Assam, Bengal and other regions. Learn how ragas are structured, and discover the subtle, graceful improvisational art form of Hindustani music. The examples and compositions throughout all 48 pages are presented in standard notation and TAB and demonstrated on an enclosed CD.
In November 2006, Guitar Atlas: India and its author Sanjay Mishra were featured on NPR radio's "Sanjay Mishra: A Cross-Cultural Exploration in Music."
SANJAY MISHRA
The most important elements of Indian music, including:
- Folk Music
- Devotional Music
- Ragas, the classical music of India
- Ornamentation, modes (thaats) rhythms (taals)
Examples in standard music notation and TABLATURE
Visit the exotic land of India through its exciting and beautiful
musical language.Sanjay Mishra. who first came to public acclaim
for his album "Blue Incantation" with guitarist Jerry Garcia of
The Grateful Dead, makes this mysterious body of music easy
to understand and play for contemporary guitarists. Learn folk
music from places like Darjeeling, Assam, Bengal,and Rajasthan;
devotional music of Rishikesh,and the Sufis;and even one of
Mahatma Gandhi's favorite songs.
You'll be introduced to Hindustani music,the classicalmusic
of North India,and learn how ragas are structured. A true
improvisor's art form, the subtlety and grace of Indian music
will infuse your playing- whether you play jazz, rock, blues or
any other style -with a new, unique flavor. Discover why some
of the greatest guitarists of our time have been drawn to this
unusual music.This thorough yet concise introduction will make
it fun and easy to get started playing music influenced by the
rich musical traditions of India.
The CD demonstrates all the examples and compositions featured in the book.
The lines between East and West are increasingly crossed and occasionally obliterated.
In this spirit, we will explore the modalities of the East on an instrument generally
thought of as Western. Not that it matters; music is an international language-like
mathematics, but with much more heart.
Before we can appreciate the emotional component of any style of music, we must learn
the rational aspects. This is the point of this book. It is a point of departure from which
you can take this music and give it life and meaning through your performance.
The musical examples presented in this book are arrangements. It assumes you:
- Read standard music notation and/or tablature.
- Have the ability to fingerpick simple arpeggios and chord/melody.
- Have a basic knowledge of music theory (scales and intervals).
This book is divided into three parts, each of which focuses on a different aspect of
Indian music: folk, devotional and classical. The first two parts, concerning folk and
devotional music, focus on songs with chordal accompaniment or repeating bass lines
and do not require extensive knowledge of the Indian system of music. The guitar is
very popular as an accompanying instrument in many forms of music in India.
The third part deals with the raga system of classical music-the "art music" of India.
To learn raga thoroughly, one must find a teacher. The nuances of this music cannot be
written down. Thus, the purpose of the raga chapter in this book is not to enable one
to perform a raga in the traditional sense, but to provide an insight into various modes
and their usage in a non-Western context. You can then use them as new colors in your
improvisation. Some Indian theory and historical background is provided, as well, to
help you understand some Eastern musical concepts. This chapter can only serve as an
introduction to this large body of music.
These three broad divisions of the book are almost independent of each other. Use them
in any order you like. The first two parts are more suited to a fingerstyle technique, the
third part can also be played with a pick.
A CD provides performances of all the examples in the book. The songs are played as
notated to help you get a feel for the sound and style. The performances of the ragas
on the CD will be very close to what is written in the book, but may not be exact. The
notation is just a skeleton, in keeping with the spirit of the music. Also, keep in mind
that real performances of ragas are quite extended, and these brief examples are just little
windows into the style. The CD also provides drones and backing percussion tracks for
the reader to improvise over. Feel free to try your own ideas!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I-Getting Started
Tunings
Ornaments
Notation
Guitar Fingering
About the Drone
Indian Music Appreciation 101
CHAPTER 2-Folk Music of India
Chol Mini Assam Jabo
(Come Let Us Go to Assam)
Sohag Chand Baddni Nacho to Dekhi
(Let Me See you Dance in the Moonlight)
Folksongfrom Rajasthan
CHAPTER 3-Devotional Music in India
Om Jai Jagdish Hare
(Praise be The Almighty)
Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram
(Glory to Lord Ram, the Most Glorious
One of Ragu's Race)
Qawwali Tune
Dadra
CHAPTER 4-Hindustani Music-
The Classical Music of North India .
A Brief History .
Raga .
Some Important Aspects of Raga .
Form of a Raga .
Performing a Raga .
Classification of Ragas .
Permutations .
Rhythm in Indian Music .
Sample Ragas .
Raga Bageshri (Thaat Kafi) .
Raga Khamaj (Thaat Khamaj) .
Raga Scales .
Final Word .
References for Further Study .
Pronunciation Guide .
A compact disc is included with this book. This disc can make learning with
the book easier and more enjoyable. The symbol shown at the left appears
next to every example that is on the CD. Use the CD to help ensure that
you're capturing the feel of the examples, interpreting the rhythms correaly,
and so on. The track number below the symbol corresponds direcdy to the
example you want to hear. Track 1 will help you rune your guitar to this CD. Have fun!
Born in India and residing in the United States, guitarist-composer Sanjay Mishra
plays with an eclecticism well suited to his multicultural background. After completing
his studies at The Peabody Conservatory of Music, he began composing music
that combined Eastern and Western influences. In an interview with The Washington
Post, he explains "I come from a tradition that has a lot of improvisation. Sometimes
Western classical music can seem a little rigid, I had to find some middle ground."
Sanjay came to public acclaim with his highly-praised recording "Blue Incantation"
with Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. His music has been released on Ryko,
PolyGram-Philips, Melodia (France), Putumayo World and others, as well as his own label, Akar.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks to Nat Gunod, Samir Chatterjee, Barun Pal, Gus Wanner, Dr. Mark
Whitmire and Chris Hagan for their advice.
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