Tag Archives: Barun Ray

Sitar Speed Breakthrough

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My teacher has been pushing me to increase my sitar speed so that I can play at 200 beats per minute (BPM).

I was traveling a while back and using my secondary sitar when I had a breakthrough in speed… Here is a video of my progress.

Here is an old video about the sitar I am playing, I have improved a lot since it was recorded: https://youtu.be/PUA3P_YwMOA

For those curious, I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.
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How to string a Sitar

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Tonight I’m showing how to string a sitar.

I cover how to tie a sitar string loop, chalk pegs and the process of tuning.
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Learning Raga Yaman Alap, Update December 2016

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Here is a video of me practicing Alap for Raga Yaman.

As many of you already know, sitar is really hard to play!

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

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Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
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Almost 5 years of Sitar Lessons?!

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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.

It’s been a long time since I googled “Sitar Lessons for Beginners.” 🙂

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Like these videos?
Help support me on Patreon:
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New Tough Sitar Taans

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Hi, I’m Jeff Starr, a sitar student and filmmaker. Last week my sitar teacher revised one of my existing taans to expand it further.

It’s not super complicated, but he wants me to build up my speed so that I can play my sitar taans at 250 beats per minute (bpm). And, this one started getting really hard at at 175 bpm.

I give all my my Taans nicknames and I call this one “3P.”

Let’s see how fast I can get today!

I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.

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Raga Yaman Alap Practice 10-27-16

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In this video I am practicing my opening phrases to the Alap for Raga Yaman.

This is difficult stuff!

I struggled with some pitch issues and my attack on some notes is a little rough but this is all part of the learning process. Hopefully this is an improvement over my last Alap video.

Please leave comments and let me know what you think. I love to read feedback.

If you like this video and want to follow my progress learning the sitar, please subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/notbadfilms?sub_confirmation=1

How to play Sitar Fast: playing sitar at 200 beats per minute!

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Do you want to learn how to play sitar fast?  So do I!

I am working to build up speed as my teacher wants me to play at 200 beats per minute (BPM). Let’s see how fast I can get today!

Here is a video of me practicing one of my Taans for Raga Yaman. I give all my my Taans nicknames and I call this one “Confused #1.”

I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.

Learning Raga Yaman Alap, Update July 2016

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This is a video to document my progress learning the Alap from Raga Yaman.

I think it’s starting to come together a bit better now. Listen to this video from earlier this year, back in in April.

I feel like I’ve made some really good improvements, although I still have a long way to go.

I am playing a Barun Ray (Hiren Roy’s son) sitar. I have been taking sitar lessons since 2012.

Thanks for watching and please feel free to comment.

Audio was recorded in LogicX.

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Sitar taan at 170 bpm!

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I was really determined to play this Taan at 170 beats per minute. I’ve been stuck at 160, so today I slowly worked my way up to 170 with many failed attempts. Here are the last three minutes of my practice where I struggle with and eventually hit the 170 goal.

…180 is the next milestone. My teacher wants me to eventually play all taans for this gat at 200bpm.

A taan is sort of similar to playing a riff in western music.

I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.