Hindustani Classical Music

I came to Hindustani classical music late, in my twenties, whereas most students start in childhood. A raag is a defined set of notes and characteristic movements, and like most outsiders I assumed those rules were the obstacle, that artistry meant breaking them. The longer I've sat with the form, the more I think the rules are what make the artistry visible.

I practise Khayal on sitar in the Etawah Gharana and Dhrupad on surbahar in the Dagar Vani, most weeks both. Starting an instrument as an adult still counts - a few months of it sharpens memory and attention, an hour of practice takes the stress out of a day, and the gains hold up at any age. Even listening does something, and a week of one raag is enough to bring anxiety down and settle the pulse.

The tradition has always held that this is more than music. The old texts find song in a baby's cry and in the pulse of life, and hold that sound itself is God, nada brahma, so practice is a discipline meant to raise you towards some kind of peace before it entertains anyone. That is why a Dhrupad aalap is an offering as much as a performance, one note at a time from the navel to the head. The old count is that ten years of practice lets you please yourself, twenty the audience, thirty your guru, and only after that, God.

What follows are recordings from practices and performances, and some writing about how this music actually works, for anyone who has sat through a recording wondering what they were supposed to be listening for.