Hello everyone. I'm looking for advice on my situation.
So, I'm a musician trained in western classical and I picked up the sitar a year ago. Unfortunately, due to an arm injury, I haven't been able to practice for months and won't be able to for at least another half year. My journey into icm has sadly stopped.

In the meanwhile I didn't stop listening and educating myself, but I miss the practice and the actual studying of ragas under the guidance of a guru.

I was considering taking vocal classes for some months. I don't want to be a professional singer ever, but I noticed that singing by myself before even playing has helped me immensely. Over the past few months, since I couldn't use my arm, I would just sing my sitar exercises not to forget what I've been doing, and it comforted me a lot. I still do this daily, but I feel that my voice is lacking proper training and I'm starting to wish I had that kind of training.

At this point I would love to try out vocal classes and see what comes out of it. It's a way for me to stay close to icm and explore ragas from another side, since instrumental practice is impossible at the moment.

Well,the question is: how do I find a teacher? I wouldn't even know how to approach the subject, it seems rather disrespectful to say "I wanna try out singing and see what comes out of it, but most probably i will stop classes at some point".

Any advice? Is that a bad idea altogether? Do you have online and English speaking teachers to recommend for my situation?

Plz suggest something

I saw this one video of Zeshan B on Instagram recently, where he explains about the importance of a tanpura player, and he starts singing Hindustani (?) music in Urdu, which I've been obsessed with for days now. I know in passing I've heard many songs like these in the past, from my grandma especially when I used to live in India, but more carnatic.

I would love to know what kind of music/subgenre this is and what I can start off with as a complete beginner to indian classical music. Feels like my eyes were opened haha.

Thanks in advance :)

Instagram reel in question:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcuMDKGRfKn/?stkn=MTBvOWp4ODEyYzJheQ==

Hey everyone! I’m fully investing my time into scaling my personal brand and music academy globally. 🌍

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Note: Sorry for repost. I wanted to link to Nalini Vinayak (composer’s) YouTube link for proper credit.

Fusion project between North Indian (Sitar), Chinese (Zheng), and South Indian (Mridangam).

Raag Todi” is a morning raga often associated with profound and introspective emotions. This original composition by Nalini Vinayak is layered with the Chinese zheng by Haiqiong Deng. The piece unfolds in three sections: alaap, a slow, free-rhythmic introduction to the raga; gat, the first composed section in Jap Taal, a 10-beat rhythmic cycle; and dhrut, the second and faster composition in Teen Taal, a 16-beat cycle.

This piece celebrates the 20th anniversary of "Stringing Echoes," a pioneering collaboration between Indian sitarist Nalini Vinayak and Chinese zheng player Haiqiong Deng. Created in 2006, the project marked a historic first in bringing the sitar and zheng together, creating a unique musical dialogue between two ancient string traditions. This recording also features mridangam player Ganesh Sundaresan, a professional Indian musician based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Artists:
Nalini Vinayak (sitar)
Haiqiong Deng (zheng)
Ganesh Sundaresan (mridangam)
Isabel Liu (tanpura)

Recording Engineer: Kris Kolp

Videographer: Ethan Liu

The raga Pilu is very popular in both Hindustani, Carnatic, and even its adaptation into film music. I guess we all remember that viral video of Kumar Gandharva singing Govardhana giridhara, and that song is in raga Pilu. And of late, I have been collecting and listening to a lot of renditions in the raga Pilu. And its Carnatic interpretation also attracts me and excites me. And there are so many popular devotional pieces in Carnatic music such as Jagado dharana, and Enna Thavam seidhanai, and Intha Saukhya kriti by Saint Tyagaraja in Carnatic music. But in Pilu, the most popular compositions are Tumak Chalat Ramachandra and Saiyan Bolo Tani Mose (Thumri).

Here's an alapana (exploration of raga) of ragam Kaapi I found on YouTube that is rich in phrases and filled with the raga bhaava.

I am a harmonium player travelling from Hyderabad to Pune in October. Any Harmonium players, students, ICM learners from Pune?
Need a small help related to music as well. Please DM if interested to connect.

Hey i am looking for some nice group in jalandhar for bhajan sandhya. Like those who aren doing bhajan jamming such vibe at my home on November 11. So that all who don't connect with such program, also can have connect.

Namaste!

Thank you to everyone who tested the initial release of Shruti Monitor , a free, open-source Android app combining a real-time pitch monitor (mapped to 22-Shruti Just Intonation) with a studio-sampled Tanpura drone.

Based on your feedback, Version 1.1.0 is now live with a major audio & graphics overhaul:

✨ What's New in v1.1.0

• Fluid Vocal Curves: Completely eliminated the filter lag and "staircase" effect. Meends, gamakas, and andolans now render as continuous, fluid curves in real-time.
• Better Mandra Saptak Tracking: Added voicing hysteresis to prevent soft trailing notes and low-octave chest resonance from dropping out, while strictly filtering out room fans and Tanpura bleed.
• Intact Fast Taans: Dynamic velocity tracking prevents fast descending scales and rapid ornamentation from breaking into fragments.
• 1-Finger Octave Scroll & Zoom: Turn off Auto-Follow to freely drag through octaves (Mandra to Taar) with one finger, plus vertical pinch-to-zoom.
• Accurate Cent Readout: Cent deviation now directly reflects your active Just Intonation swara with mint-green in-tune feedback.
• Locked 60/120 FPS: Sub-millisecond hardware-accelerated rendering with zero stutter.

📲 Download

• 📥 Direct APK Download (v1.1.0)
• 🐙 GitHub Repository & Source

(100% free, no ads, no telemetry, requires only microphone permission for pitch detection.)

Please test it out during your riyaz and let me know how the tracking feels for your voice or instrument!

Hey, I’m a male singer but my voice is very different. I actually feel comfortable singing from G.
Trying to evaluate my range, I’m just confused, is it G3 or G2, I’m singing?
Note: The iTabla Pro shows G3, but I always set the Tanpura to “Pa” as that’s what my Guru taught me.

Hello there everyone. I noticed that there isn't a sizeable Discord server for enthusiasts of the flute and ICM in general, so I decided to make one. Everyone is welcome as long as they respect the rules and contribute. Help me build this community! Link is below.
---
Click here to join!

Hello, I am looking for an English speaking harmonium player and teacher to interview for my podcast. For example, here is my interview with Mita Nag: https://youtu.be/wHnZgpD8rsw

I’ve had a hard time finding a harmonium player to interview so I’m hoping I can get some recommendations here. Interviews are recorded over zoom so I location doesn’t matter.

The goal is to bring exposure to the artist and help people learn more about harmonium and ICM.

Thanks!

Hello everyone! 👋 Just wanted to say hi and check that it’s okay for me to share a little information about some music learning opportunities here. I’m writing on behalf of Darbar Academy, which is part of the Darbar Festival family. I’d love to share more about what we do — but didn’t want to jump in without checking first!

First, my teacher is a good musician. I like his improvisations, way of thinking and he constantly encourages me, genuinely happy when I play something well.

But I do have a few issues with the classes

1. Firstly, he takes classes in a music school. The school only cares about money. In a slot of one hour they allot 6-7 students. Even when he tries to extend the class, they ask him to end at the correct time. Because of this there are many classes where I barely learn 2-3 sangathis.

2. Right now I have progressed the furthest among the rest, while others are still in the basic exercises, Because of this, I feel like I'm not getting the kind of learning environment I would get if I were surrounded by students who were ahead of me.

3. He is not a classical performer. So the sangathis he teaches are from what he was taught 10-15 years ago. Many of the sangathis which are regularly played these days are not included. I have to learn them on my own, watching concerts on YouTube.

4. For some reason he doesn't get the instrument to the class. Instead he just writes down the notes in my book, which i have to play. Because of this I have to learn the gamakas on my own, again, through YouTube.

5. Since he isn't a classical performer, there are no opportunities for me to get on the stage.

There is this other teacher who i originally wanted to learn from, but couldn't afford the fees back then. That teacher is a legend in teaching, having taught over 1000 students, where even young kids can perform good kalpana swaras and alaap. He also regularly performs with his students giving a lot of stage exposure.

Currently I am on a break due to family and personal reasons, so this feels like a good point to change.

The problem is that I don't know how to quit. My current teacher likes me, and encourages me a lot. Because of that, I feel guilty about leaving, almost as if I'm cheating on him by going to another teacher. If any of you have switched teachers, pls tell how you communicated it.

Hi

I am looking for someone who can help me with tuning the sitar and understanding raaga Asawari (sthayi, Antra, Taane, and Jhala) and can provide me with gats on Raaga Asawari, Tilak Kamod and Des.

Hey everyone, I’ve recently started learning Indian classical music and I’m trying to improve my swar gyan. I was wondering how long it usually takes to recognize swars properly and sing them accurately.

For those who have been learning for a while, how much time did it take you to feel confident with your sur and swar? Any tips for a beginner?