Dilruba’s and Contact Mics

Dear All

Gur Fateh!

I am doing some research on contact mics and dilruba/esraj. 

The project it is still underway. I will share the details when its done so watch out for this space.

More later!

Fateh

Marriage

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa
Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
Chill!! Relax!! Calm Down!! I am not getting married any time soon.

Yep! Its been forever since I blogged.

The past few months have gone by at break neck speed. Though in the midst of this crazyness, I managed to get back to my books once again. After a gap of almost 2 year I have started reading again.

Today I would like to share with you an extract from the book, The Prophet – By Khalil Gibran.

Marriage

Then Almitra spoke again and said, “And what of Marriage, master?”

And he answered saying:

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.

Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

The Prophet – By Khalil Gibran

Do feel free to post your comments and views – esp those who are married
Guru Mehr Kare

Angad Singh

Aisee Preet Karo Mun Mere

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpvokId2jr0]

With Guru Sahib’s grace our newly formed jatha doing kirtan at the simran program 🙂

Kalyaan Bandish!

=)

Gurmat Sangeet Ki Hai?

Gurmat Sangeet – it is the  singing the hyms of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and other sikh scriptures as per the order of the Guru.

Before a shabad ( hym) starts its title states the raag and we ought to sing that hym only in that raag. Though today there are very few who follow this tradition and sing their own tunes, often popular movie tunes. There are 60 raags in the guru granth sahib ji. 31 main and 30 mixed raags. Raags like Sri, Malhaar, Kalyaan, Basant are taken from Indian Classical Music. In addition, there are number of raags that have been created by guru sahibs themselves. examples of this are Majh, Asa, Gond Jaijaiwanti and many other mixed raags likeAsa Aasawari etc. Jaijaiwanti is now often sung in the indian classical setting as well.

The style of singing varies from Dhrupad and Khyal which are very classical in nature and require intensive training to the simpler folk styles of singing known as Ghoriya ( sung at the time of weddings) , Alhaniya ( sung at times of death)etc..there are also 22 ballads in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and all of them have to be sung in a particular tune or “dhun – nee”. In addition, there are some shabads to be sung according to carnatic style and they are indicated as DHAKNI…unfortunately a lot of this style of singing is now lost cause over the past 80 yrs or so kirtaneeas began to sing wht they wanted rather than singing what the guru wanted them to. This happened around the time when the Harmonium was introduced into the Sikh Music circles.

The main difference between Indian Classical Music and Gurmat Sangeet is that Indian Classical Music is centered on the singer and his/her ability thus you will hear a lot of Alaaps and Taans ( vocal acrobatics) while Gurmat Sangeet is centered on the  Shabad ( hym) and any alaaps and taans that are there are few in number and are added just to lay stress on certian words of the hym or to beautify the composition.

Moving on to instruments…In order to suit the style of singing some instruments were used that were already there while others were created. The Rabab was already there. The Saranda was invented by the 5th Guru sahib and the Taus by either 6th or 10th Guru sahib…we are unsure about who invented the instrument. The sarangi was already there and was apparently brought in to sing the ballads mentioned in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. However, according to some scholars the sarangi is not allowed inside the inner santium of the harimander sahib as it has the ability to over power the singer. The Jori, sikh style pakawaj was also invented during these times.  Finally about 250 to 300 yrs ago the dilruba was invented.

Today, thanks to organizations like Raj Academy and individuals all over the world the instruments of the guru’s are being strung once again and the raags of the guru are being sung once again!

For audio lectures go to the raj academy site and listen to the lectures..there are 4 lectures if i am not wrong. In addition, there are numerous articles talking in depth about the various aspects of Gurmat Sangeet. Finally, you can go to my blog www.singhangad.wordpress.com on the left hand you will find some more articles on gurmat sangeet as well as links to some recordings.

Hope this helps!

Angad Singh

Asa….Hope..

Raag Maahj On 31st at Wadda Gurudawara Sahib

Instruments: Tabla, 1 swarmandal, 2 rababs and 1 esraj

2008…

Wishing everyone and their loved ones a wonderful year ahead…

I’d like to leave you with a quote:

“Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man.” -Francis Cardinal Spellman US cardinal 1946 (1889 – 1967

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa  Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

Angad

Bliss

I love the way Ustad ji plays..he is totally enjoying himself

Sunset by the Esplanade

, originally uploaded by Angad Singh.

 

On this day…

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

I received a lots of messages congratulating me on the Parkash utsav of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Why congraturlate me? And what about the other Gurpurab today.

Guru Tegh Bhadur Sahib ji gave up his head on this day – why dont we congratulate each other about that. The only time in history has this happened. Guru Sahib gave up his life so that others can practice their religion.

According to some sources on this date Guru Gobind Singh ji was appointed Guru on this very day. How come there is no mention of that?

Anyway I leave you with an excerpt from an email I received by Inderpreet Veerji.

On the topic of Guru Nanak's birth anniversary I thought I would share with you the words of a great scholar, commentator, philosopher, poet, administrator (he was the first jathedar of the Akal Takhat) and, in general, thought leader of the Sikhs. This is what Bhai Gurdas ji wrote about the coming of Guru Nanak many many years ago.

Imagine, if you will, walking in an area where one cannot see anything because of mist, dust, and darkness. Then suddenly the mist and dust clears and resplendent light shines bright. Imagine, if you will, a dark night with only the occasional twinkle of stars in the sky that may seem beautiful but really don't give aid to the direction of our walking path. Then suddenly the sun rises, the skies are bright and the sparkling stars are over taken by the bright shining light of the sun - now one can see where they are walking. Imagine, if you will, a jungle with quiet and calm deer munching along in the brushes and grass and suddenly the sovereign lion comes out of the trees and roars loudly communicating its presence. The deer scatter away in fear as the king of the jungle has come to establish its empire. That was the feeling when Guru Nanak came to this earth. Wherever the great Baba went, there was established a place of learning. All the hearts he touched became active with remembrance of the Divine and all the homes he visited became active with societal and community service. The pursuit of Truth became the passion for everyone and this revolution hit everywhere. Such was the coming of Guru Nanak, the First Prophet of the Sikh Nation...

In this var Bhai Gurdas ji has established the uniqueness and the strength of the first Master of our Nation. The coming of Guru Nanak is best celebrated by understanding our place in world society. By understanding our scripture, practicing our way of life and living - not resting - on the laurels of our history.

Congratulations on the celebrations of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak - the First Prophet of the Sikhs.

Var 1, Pauri 27 - Varan Bhai Gurdas

Carhdi Kala

P.S. - Translation based on "Varan Bhai Gurdas - Text Transliteration and Translation - Dr. Jodh Singh"

Before I end this post I leave you with a shabad – Bin Tail Deeva Kyo Jale – sung by Dr Gurnam Singh ji.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Angad Singh

Hehe…

Attempting Happy Birthday to you

Each time I listen…my hair stand..

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Fateh!

Each time I listen to this recording my hair stand. In particular I am drawn to the prolonged manglacharan – A man of the stature of Bhai Avtar Singh ji..invoking blessings from the almighty… asking him to keep him stead fast..dolan tey rakho prabhu..

I shall say no more…click here to download …this is a recording from the world religions conference held at Barcelona in 2004.

Have a great week ahead.Waheguru ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Angad

Ps – if you listen carefully you will notice there are 2 joris playing. Both Bhai Swaran Singh ji and Bhai Baldeep Singh ji are accompanying Bhai Avtar Singh ji and Bhai Kultar Singh ji.

Have you ever wanted to …

… play the dilruba/taus/esraj/tarshenai.

… do kirtan on tanti saaz

…do  kirtan in raags

…understand and appreciate Indian ClassicalMusic

BUT …have not been able to do it for various reasons….we present to you  a solution…Harsangeet.com

At Harsangeet.com you will have the opportunity to learn the various aspects of kirtan and indian classical music.

We believe learning is a life long process thus we do not have fixed course with a time limit.  You will have the choice to chose between the most basic bowing techniques to advanced  puratan reets (partal, dhrupad etc). The content will be uploaded regularly and you chose what you want to learn depending on your ability.

In addition, we have a facility for the students to upload their videos at a secure site so that you can get feedback on your playing technique. In addition, arrangements can be made for one on one time with the teacher.

Having told you about Harsangeet and what we are offering I would like to share with you about Maiya Singh ji, the main teacher at Harsangeet.com. He has studied under the likes of Pt. Rajan and Sajjan Mishra (vocal) , Pt. Siyaram Tivari(dhrupad) and Baljeet Singh ( tarshenai/dilruba). Maiya Singh ji has devoted is life to kirtan and music. Manav Singh has been learning from him for over three years now and you can check out his videos on – www.singhmusic.blogspot.com

Go pick up yr saaz bring out your tablas and tune your tanpuras its time to have some fun!

 

Raag Asa Taal TeenTaal

This is the tune or bandish i learnt for the shabad Gur Mere Sang Sada Hai Naaley

My Connection to Akaal Purakh

DSC00334, originally uploaded by gobind khalsa.

 

Raag Yaman in Roopak

I’ve uploaded this video of myself playing raag yaman in roopak taal. Sorry about the video quality I used my mobile phone and this recording was done at night hence the darkness.

I am playing my esraj that was made by Manoj Kumar Sardar, the sound has not be altered in any way. The phone mic does not do completed justice to sound of the saaz.

Guru Rakaha

Angad

Sunset in singapore

Sunset in singapore, originally uploaded by Angad Singh.

 

Ramiya Hou Barik Tera

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!

I was going through the kirtan that I have and I chanced upon this shabad Ramiya Hon Barik Tera.

For almost two hours now I ve been playing it over and over again. The innocence in the voice of the Sonia Kaur who is singing appeals to me.

Please click here to download the shabad.

Rab Rakaha

Angad