Our Course

Hindustani Classical Singing Lessons

The Hindustani singing course comprises of the fundamental singing exercises for beginners that are needed to get you started with vocal training in the Hindustani classical music tradition. It comes with the fundamental swara vocal exercises that span all shuddha and komal swaras, simple and more complex paltas. These are the first singing exercises for beginners learning Hindustani classical music and are necessary for taking any other training to sing going forward.

Different Ragas

Raags form the foundation of both Carnatic and Hindustani music, and sometimes, the two styles of music often have similarities in Raags. A Raag is the melody in which Swars are sung. A Raag is made up of a combination of the different types of Swars. A Raag has different emotions and moods associated with it, and is capable of evoking emotions. Ras denotes the mood of the Raag. As the Ras is rendered, it is heightened by the time of the day and year that the Raag is rendered, as well as the emotion of the Raag. In Hindustani music, it is believed that some Raags have an exemplary influence over natural conditions like the weather. So, some Raags like the ones under the Malhar category, are only sung during a specific season.

Modern Songs

In music, modernism is an aesthetic stance underlying the period of change and development in musical language that occurred around the turn of the 20th century, a period of diverse reactions in challenging and reinterpreting older categories of music, innovations that led to new ways of organizing and approaching. For the purpose of this class, we will refer to SEVEN elements of music: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Timbre, Dynamics, Texture, and Form.

Rabindra Sangeet

Rabindra Sangeet, also known as Tagore Songs, are songs from the Indian subcontinent written and composed by the Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first Indian and also the first non-European to receive such recognition. It is characterised by its distinctive rendition while singing which, includes a significant amount of ornamentation like meend, murki, etc. and is filled with expressions of romanticism. The music is mostly based on Hindustani classical music, Carnatic music, Western tunes and the traditional folk music of Bengal and inherently possess within them, a perfect balance, an endearing economy of poetry and musicality.[peacock prose] Lyrics and music both hold almost equal importance in Rabindra Sangeet.[citation needed] Tagore created some six new taals, inspired by Carnatic talas, because he felt the traditional taals existing at the time could not do justice and were coming in the way of the seamless narrative of the lyrics.

Nazrul Geeti

Nazrul Geeti is the form of music developed by the great revolutionary poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. The music is highly motivational and revolutionary in nature and was used popularly during the freedom struggle. Though, unlike Rabindra Sangeet, this music wasn't used commercially, due to its revolutionary notions, it enjoyed great popularity. The music is a highly motivational, with strong and powerful words and catchy tunes.

Folk Songs

Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, music that is played on traditional instruments, music about cultural or national identity, music that changes between generations (folk process), music associated with a people's folklore, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that. In folk music, a tune is a short instrumental piece, a melody, often with repeating sections, and usually played a number of times.[15] A collection of tunes with structural similarities is known as a tune-family. America's Musical Landscape says "the most common form for tunes in folk music is AABB, also known as binary form.

In some traditions, tunes may be strung together in medleys or "sets.

Festival Based songs

Music festival, usually a series of performances at a particular place and inspired by a unifying theme, such as national music, modern music, or the promotion of a prominent composer’s works, or during different religious occasions. It may also take the form of a competition for performers or composers.

Hindi Songs/Bollywood Songs

Hindi film songs, more formally known as Hindi Geet or filmi songs and informally known as Bollywood music, are songs featured in Hindi films based on the different types of ragas.

Bengali Songs

Bengali music comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. Composed with lyrics in the Bengali language, Bengali music spans a wide variety of styles. Classical Bangla music, like the classical music forms of India, is basically sculptured on the musical nodes called ragas. The traditional Bangla music is based either directly on the Bengali classical or some of its variation. Many of the ragas that are native to the classical Bangla music can also be found in the Hindustani classical or Carnatic classical music. The richness of Bengali culture also reflects in the music of the state. Music, more than being an art, is a passion for Bengalis. More than a millennium old, Bengali music has become diverse with so many varieties within. The variety is such that once you get familiar with it, you will not need to look beyond it. From classical to rock, folk to devotional, you will get almost every possible music form in Bangla Sangeet. Then, there is the display of a wide range of emotions - be it love, sadness, anxiety, motivation, devotion or spirituality.

Gazals

The ghazal is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The ghazal form is ancient, tracing its origins to 7th-century Arabic poetry.

Harmonium / Keyboard Playing

Harmonium is a stringed instrument made of wood, metal, brass, and cloth. A kind of a portable wooden box, it was originated in West Bengal. The harmonium has thus become an integral part of Indian Music. It is extensively used to accompany folk, classical, Sufi, and ghazal compositions for both music and dance.

On Stage Performances

We provide students with the experience of on-stage performances every year. It teaches them teamwork - Working well as a team is an ESSENTIAL part of life, Goal Setting - Performing on stage gives kids something BIG to work towards, build Self-Confidence - We hold this one near and dear to our hearts, and Spreading Joy. We also train them how to face their fear by not thinking about the performance and focus on the activity. They also develop a sense of effortlessness and belief in confidence or self-efficacy, a sense of personal control, a distortion of time and space where time does not affect the activity by real life experience by performing at various stages in front of wider audience.