Dasanjali lessons from San Diego, CA | |
| These online Indian classical music lessons (primarily in Hindusthani style, some in Carnatic style, especially the taal) complement face-to-face group lessons offered by Partha Mandayam. The classes typically last a year, beginning on or around Vijayadasami day in September/October and end in Summer of the following year. Most of the songs taught are devotional in nature and many are composed in various languages by revered saints and singers from all over India. You will need to download the RealAudio player from real.com to play the RealAudio songs and possibly Windows Media Player or Quick Time to play the MP3 songs. Also, if you wish to print the lessons, we suggest printing them in Landscape mode, to ensure that you print some of the long lines. | |
| Lesson # | Comments |
| 1 | Learn about music in general, Hindusthani music in particular and learn the Shuddha notes. |
| 2 | Learn 2 new alankaars and 2 simple songs or bhajans. |
| 3 | Learn raag Bhoopaali (Carnatic Mohanam) and to sing the sloka "Shuklaam Baradaram" in that raag. |
| 4 | Start a weekly quiz, learn 2 new alankaars, the saptaks and practice singing the 2 songs and the sloka we have learnt so far. |
| 5 | Start a weekly practice log, learn the Bhilaaval Taat, sing an aalaap in Bhoopaali, sing the sloka and start learning a song in Bhoopaali. |
| 6 | Review what we have learnt so far in lessons 1 - 5, complete learning the song "Hey Prabhu" in Bhoopaali and learn one taan. |
| 7 | Learn komal notes, tibre m and the raag Darbari Kaanada. |
| 8 | Learn the song "Prema Mudita" in raag Darbari Kaanada. |
| 9 | Sing "Hare Murare", learn an aalaap in raag Darbari Kaanada, practice "Prema Mudita" in slow and fast rhythms and end with "Hey Prabhu". |
| 10 | Practice some nuances of "Prema Mudita", learn a new alankaar, learn a new song in Raag Shuddha Saarang and end with "Hey Prabhu". |
| 11 | Learn more about Raag Shuddha Saarang, a short and easy Bhajan and then start learning Raag Malkauns. |
| 12 | Review what we have learnt so far, with some solo renditions by students. Learn new concepts such as pakad, times for various raags, pancham vs madhyam shruthis and continue practicing Raag Shuddha Saarang and learning Raag Malkauns. |
| 13 | Practice Raag Malkauns and learn a Kabir Das composition in that Raag titled Mai Gulam Mai Gulam. Learn a short bhajan titled Gajanana Hey Shubhanana. |
| 14 | Review past lessons: Sing Raag Malkauns and Mai Gulam in Madhyam Shruthi, switch to Pancham Shruthi and sing Gajanana, Prema Muditha and Raam Kaho. |
| 15 | Play a "guess the raag" game, learn Raag Yaman Kalyan and a bhajan in it, sing Gajanana and end the lesson by practicing Mai Gulam again. |
| 16 | Play the "guess the raag" game, practice the song we learnt in Raag Yaman Kalyan and end the lesson by reviewing Hey Prabhu and Mai Gulam. |
| 17 | Play the "guess the raag" game, learn a sloka and song in Raag Shankara and end the lesson by reviewing 3 familiar songs. |
| 18 | Warm up with SPS' and SMGR SRGM ... first. Learn the sloka and song in Raag Shankara again and review earlier songs. Learn a short bhajan in Raag Malkauns. |
| 19 | Learn the late evening Raag Tilang in Thaat Khamaj and to sing the popular Indian song "Bhaja Govindam" in that raag. Learn "Shankara Bandara Bole" in Raag Shankara. Review several songs we learnt earlier and play a new "Is the note right?" game in Raag Malkauns. |
| 20 | Review songs in the raags Tilang, Shankara, Darbari Kaanada, Malkauns and Yaman Kalyan. Learn a couple of short bhajans. |
| 21 | Review several songs learnt earlier and learn 2 short bhajans in Raag Brindavani Sarang. |
| 22 | Learn the Aaroha, Avaroha and Pakad of Raag Brindavani Sarang, followed by the 2 bhajans we learnt in the last lesson. Sing the sloka, Shuklaam Bharadharam and learn the song Gajavadana Beduve in Raag Bhoopaali. End the lesson by reviewing Mai Gulaam in Raag Malkauns. |
| 23 | Review the Aaroha, Avaroha and Pakad of Raags we have learnt in the past and their corresponding songs. Learn a new song, Dheera Samire in Raag Pahadi. |
Please note that all the recordings are done in a home studio and not in a professional studio. As a result, there are likely to be mistakes and minor blemishes in audio quality occasionally.
This is another reason why you should take music lessons in person and use such online lessons only to supplement what you learnt in a classroom.