Art of Playing Violin | Hindustani Classical | Level 2

Students enrolling for this long term course will be trained by the maestro of violin, Sharath Chandra Srivastava. This course teaching students the art of playing violin in hindustani classic style will commence with the teacher providing a brief history about the stringed instrument violin and its emergence in India. They will be informed about the different parts of the violin. Moving ahead, students will learn about the posture when sitting down to play a violin. This course will then educate students about the hand positioning on the violin as well as the understanding on how to hold the bow while playing. It will also elaborate on fine tuning the violin for optimum results. The posture and hand positioning are vital requisites as they ensure the artist is at ease when playing the violin. Further on students will be briefed about the different gharanas of music in hindustani classical music with emphasis on the senia gharana, the style of play, practiced by the teacher. Further on, in the course students will be introduced to terminologies frequently used to describe the different aspects of hindustani classical music, like tempo, rhythm etc. The following sessions will introduce students to the concept of raga, a foundational component of hindustani classical music. Students will learn about the structure of a raga and other information related to the raga. Students in this course will learn two specific ragas, namely, raga bhupali and bhairav. They will also learn about the tala or rhythm cycle, an important component when playing an instrument. This course will teach students the rhythm cycle followed in respect to teen tala, a 16 beat cycle played in measures of 4 beats. Based on the student's progress they will be introduced to improvisation of ragas such as alap, jor, jhala extra. It will also teach students to improvise ragas with other forms of music such as jazz, rock, etc. On successful completion of this course students would have gained the capability to render a 10 to 15 minute raga composition on the violin. Successful students will also get a commemorative certificate by the teacher, marked with his initials.

Here is another Basic course tailored by Sharat Chandra Srivastava: Basics Course on Violin | Hindustani Classical | Level 1

About Sharat Chandra Srivastava: Born in the family of legendary violinist Pt. Joi Srivastava, Sharat Chandra Srivastava was destined to carry forward his grandfather's legacy. Sharat started playing at a nascent age of seven under the able guidance of his grandfather, specialising in the senia gharana style of hindustani classical music. Playing on the circuit for the last twenty five years, Sharat has very capably handled the responsibility of carrying forward the art of playing the violin. In fact, to his credit, he has been able to make violin playing blend with the demands of time. He was for a period of twelve years, a performing member of the well known rock band, ‘Parikrama’. His effortless style of play has taken him far and wide to countries like the UK , Scotland and Switzerland, training students on the stringed instrument at university level. He has also imparted training at the prestigious Gandharva Mahavidyalaya for a period of nine years. Sharat’s talent has seen him perform with some of the well known names in hindustani classical music, personalities such as Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Padma Vibhushan Pt. Hariprasad Chourasia and Pt. Birju Maharaj. Presently Sharat is involved with another unique effort called ‘Mrigya’, an endeavour to infuse indian classical music with blues to enthrall audiences both in the east and the west.