…some tuning issues.
———-
Like this video?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
Hi, I’m Jeff Starr, a sitar student and filmmaker. This is my interview with Chris Stephens, an American who has been playing sitar for 15 years. You will hear a 1 minute clip of his playing before we discuss learning the sitar.
Aside from occasional lessons with Ustad Imrat Khan, Chris is primarily self taught. He is extremely dedicated to Hindustani music and has spent countless hours learning about its deep intricacies.
You can learn more about Chris at the following links:
http://www.chrisstephensmusic.net
https://chrisstephens.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/chrisitar
https://www.patreon.com/ChrisStephens
If you play sitar, please visit https://www.reddit.com/r/Sitar/ and contribute to the discussion on Reddit.
You can find the Bela Fleck album we discuss at this link:
http://amzn.to/2lvY0jo
——————————- ——————————- ——————————-
Like this video?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
Hi, I’m Jeff Starr, a sitar student and filmmaker. Here is a video of me practicing some of my Taans for Raga Yaman.
My goal tonight was to rebuild some of the speed and strength I lost when I was sick with the flu and I took a week off from practicing.
This video is also a really great example of the importance of practicing as you can see my improvement on the last Taan in the video.
I am working to build up speed as my teacher wants me to play between 200 -250 beats per minute (BPM).
———-
Like this video?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
Well, thanks to YouTube, I have met many amazing sitar players from all over the world. One of them is Manjit Singh. After he and I chatted a bit he offered to shoot a video talking about his experience learning the sitar on his own and teaching himself.
So, if you want to learn sitar but you can’t find a teacher, let Manjit serve as an inspiration.
Please visit his YouTube channel for the full interview and to watch his other performance videos.
Manjit Singh: https://www.youtube.com/user/1966Manjit
———-
Like this video?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
I have been really busy with work and haven’t been able to practice sitar enough. I thought I was doing okay but then I shot this video and realized how by missing even a few days it had set me back in my study.
At my lesson I was playing this Taan and ending 1 beat early. Tonight I kept ending one beat late. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Eventually I figured out that I was adding in a note, but it took me a good 30 min of practice to get there.
So if there is a theme to tonight’s video it’s that I need to practice EVERY DAY. Luckily I was able to recover and get back up to speed, mostly.
———-
Like this video?
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
I figured this would make for a great series of videos and I would document my progress.
You can watch Part 1 here: https://youtu.be/Uyn_DP35Bfo
Playing this with even tempo and in pitch has been brutal. In addition, I feel like every time I ask my teacher to review I learn that I have been practicing it slightly wrong (or completely wrong) as the subtle elements are beyond my grasp.
Hopefully I am now on the right track. Let’s take a listen and see how I am doing.
———-
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
———-
Here is a video of me practicing Alap for Raga Yaman.
Raga Yaman Alap is something I have been slowly learning over the years. For the past few months my teacher has been having me focus a lot of Gat and Taans. Then over the past few weeks we started spending more time during my lesson discussing and playing Alap.
Since I was traveling this week I figured I would shoot a video playing alap to document my current progress compared to the previous videos I have posted. You can see those in the links below. I hope I am getting better. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Old Alap Videos:
October 2016: https://youtu.be/ohiPO4el_D0
July 2016: https://youtu.be/AZ7mkE4LKpA
April 2016: https://youtu.be/s29hjlDTghI
If you want to learn more about the sitar I am playing you can watch this video:
https://youtu.be/PUA3P_YwMOA
———-
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
In this video I share some quick thoughts on learning the sitar and show footage of me practicing sitar after 1 month of lessons and then compare it to the same exercises almost 5 years later.
———-
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
A viewer recently asked how often I practice my Paltas so I wanted to make a video to show what that part of my practice is like. For those wondering, I always include Paltas as part of my warm up.
———-
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1
Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/JeffStarr
I am working to build up speed as my teacher wants me to play at my gat and taans at 250 beats per minute (BPM).
Tonight’s video really focuses on one fast sitar taan at 200bpm. I mixed in a few others as well. This practice was very hard and you can see that my endurance was starting to fade by the end. That said, I can’t believe that 200bpm is starting to become a reality.
A year ago I was maxed out at 150 and I didn’t think I could play much faster than 170. My teacher really motivated me to push myself harder. As a new dad it’s easy to find excuses and not practice. Making these videos has been a great motivator and I’ve seen a lot of improvement since I started this series.
I give all my my Taans nicknames. The one I am playing tonight I call, “Singing Woman #1.” I play, “Singing Woman #2” a few times toward the end as well.
I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.
———-
Please subscribe to my YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1