In the last three to four weeks, life got so busy with unexpected activities that I did not find time to play Sitar. Thankfully guruji gave me a few tips to get back in to the groove and they were all about doing improv on a composition that I was familiar with, in Raag Abhogi. The hacks include the following

  • Move the start of the composition from the usual 7th beat to 6th beat in teentaal. This will force one to play 5 beat taans starting from sam. For hands that have gotten rusty, this is the best way to force something new
  • Move the start of the composition from the usual 7th beat to 5th beat in teentaal. This will force one to play 4 beat taans starting from sam. For hands that have gotten rusty, this is the best way to force something new
  • Play from Khali as many 16 beat avartans as possible. Add a 8 beat taan to land at sam. Conclude the taan with any of the following
    • 4 beats and play 12 beat mukhda
    • 5 beats and play 11 beat mukhda
    • 6 beats and play 10 beat mukhda
    • 7 beats and play 7 beat mukhda
  • Start the taan on 5th beat and play as many avartans as possible. Play a 16 beat thihayee and that lands on 5th beat. Play the 11 beat mukhda
  • Start the taan on 5th beat and play as many avartans as possible. Play 11 beats so that one lands on 15th beat. End with a 5 beat thihayee that lands on 5th beat. Play the 11 beat mukhda
  • Leave 2 beats at the start of teentaal, play 16 beat avartans + play 16 beat thihayee and join the composition with 13 beat mukhda
  • Mukhda
    • RR,GG,MM and 8 beat standard phrase
    • -SS,RR,GG,MM and 8 beat standard phrase
    • DD, SS, RR, GG, MM and 8 beat standard phrase
  • Start from sam, play as many avartans as possible, add a 11 beat taan, and conclude the taan with a 5 beat thihayee
  • All variations to get back in to the grove comprise playing taans and thihayees so that one get to join the composition from 4th or 5th or 6th beat. This is different from the normal route of joining the composition on the 7th beat or 9th beat.
    • For example, leave 2 beat, play 16 beat taan, play 16 beat thihayee whose sam lands on 3rd beat. One can then play the composition from the 4th beat
  • Play thihayee from 3,4,5,6,7th beat respectively and make sure that the sam lands on 3. One can that follow it up with 12 beat mukhda. Of course the thihayees that one will play are 16 beat, 15 beat, 14 beat, 13 beat, 12 beat thihayees for this improv
  • Playing R|G|M|D|S|-| thihayee pattern - this pattern could be played from any beat in teen taal. However based on where one starts this pattern, the mukhda will have to vary
  • S--M--S pattern for thihayee
  • Play 1.5 speed instead of double speed taans
  • Play thihayees in 1.5 speed
  • Play 4 speed taans and mix it up with 4 speed thihayees

Reflection

If I were to follow the above improv practice, it is likely that I could easily play for 90 to 120 minutes without any pause. I need to try this out in the coming days so that calluses are back on my fingers.