If you are not able to join the workshop in person, you can consider registering for online music classes.
There has been an overwhelming demand for online lessons - Shikha Ganguly is trying her best to accommodate most of the requests.
NEW: CHECK OUT HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL
What is the story behind Sounds of India - Indian music workshop?
Shikha Ganguly has been a practitioner of Indian Classical music for 43 years under tutelage of Late Pt. Mani Prasad, a maestro of the famous Kirana Gharana. She has performed & led workshops around the world and was associated with Aurobindo Ashram, Sangeet Bharati & many more reputed organisations as honorary consultant musician. For the last 31 years, She's been running Sur Mandir, a society for art and culture.
While conducting one of the special workshops in a university close to London, she noticed a lot of interest from the students to understand the differences and similarities between Western and Indian classical music. That's when she created this workshop in 2017, that nicely covers this topic along with many other aspects of Indian classical, light and Bollywood music.
You can see her singing some melodious ragas here.
What will you do in the workshop?
There are several instruments native to India and you'll get to know about some of them, including the tabla, sitar and pakhawaj. You're welcome to sing with her and try your hands on the instruments.
She'll talk about differences and similarities between Indian and Western music. She'll then cover aspects of music made popular in Bollywood and Indian folk music – giving you an insight into the diversity you'll find across the country! She'll end with sharing her experiences of performing around the world and what it takes to become a global performer.
Are there any pre-requisites for the workshop?
Nope! Bring a pen, notepad and lots of energy to learn about the mesmerising world of Indian music! Please mention about your current experience with any type of music and instruments when you are writing to us. That will help her plan the workshop better.
Who should attend this workshop?
Everyone, really but it will be especially beneficial if
You want to start learning music and are not sure where exactly to start
You would like to try out and know about different aspects of music - classical, light, instruments, bollywood
You already have some (or a lot of..) western music knowledge and would like to know how that relates to Indian classical music
You just want to try it for fun!
Testimonials
“This experience was amazing!! My partner has always wanted to play a sitar and how lucky we were! We were visiting Delhi and Shikha managed to fit our private session in while we were local to her! We did a lot more than I expected - we learnt all about the scales and singing the Indian version of the sounds and how it is important to the local music, we also tried the Tabla - quite tricky but lots of fun and finally the Sitar - WOW what an instrument, this was explained to us in great detail and we managed to play some scales on it - which is amazing all in 3 hours!!! Shikha looked after us well she provided us with water / tea and snacks and made us feel very relaxed. This was a truly wonderful and fun experience and we would recommend it to everyone! Thank you Shikha!!”
“Shikha was an amazing teacher to us. My friend and I are both trained musicians in western music and it she was able to explain Indian classical music in a way we could clearly understand. We wish we could have had more than one lesson on our trip with her before going back home to the US. It was an unforgettable experience and I would highly recommend to anyone. Especially musicians with a knowledge of music theory or rhythmic/hand drumming percussion. (If you are a musician I would suggest trying to get a private class so she can dive deep into areas that you are most interested in). If I ever come back to Dehli I will most definitely be booking this experience again. Thank you Shikha!!”
“It was a wonderful couple of hours, with a whirlwind tour of the hindustani classical music landscape and some theoretical basics with practical examples and in a way that I could relate to. I found the experience enlightening, fun and most importantly a great conversation, paired with great hospitality and interest/passion for the topic.”
“This was my first attempt to learn some of the technical stuff with music. I had always been inspired with music from all around the world, especially Indian music, which is in my heart as I grew up listening to the greats like Kishore, Rafi, Manna, RD etc... and then legends like Ghulam Ali, Nusrat F A Khan, Rahat, Anoop Jalota and few more....While music gave me goose bumps, I never had the understanding of how it all works in the minds of these gurus. Shikha mam walked me through the lanes of history that transformed Indian music. She provided me insights on the two musical platforms in India. I listened, questioned at times and noted all that she gave me in the two and half hours. By the end of the session, after having tried my hands on Harmonium and table, and numerous questions and details on Indian classical/Ragas/Padam etc, I could feel enlightened with the sense of music understanding that I never had before. I am glad I followed my heart to go for this session, thanks to the wonderful reviews from her previous guests. In between her teachings, mam would throw at me some renditions and I felt lending all ears listening, but precious things are often short. If anyone wants to step into the music world, as a learner, I would recommend attending Shikha mam’s class and then, venture ahead !! Btw, I was the lone guest that evening, so I had been fortunate to have had one on one session practically.”
“Shikha’s class was such a wonderful experience. She made me feel at home and taught me much about Indian music. I got to play all of the instruments and she served very good tea and snacks. Her instructions on how to get there were very clear, up the stairs between lanksart and Subway, on the second floor. She let me take pictures, record video, and even do a drawing influenced by her playing and singing. It is a safe location and you won’t regret doing this music workshop.”
“I attended the Sounds of India workshop with an American friend of mine and I’m glad I could accommodate that in my limited time in Delhi. I was particularly interested in how Indian classical music inspires Bollywood. It was also quite cool to try out the different instruments. Shikha has performed in a number of countries around the world and she was full of stories from her performances. Doesn’t happen often that you get to hear what goes behind the scenes for a global performer.”
“I attended this workshop when she was not even listed on tripadvisor. The workshop was quite personal and informative. I am a theater artist and there was a lot I learnt that my team can use in our productions. The workshop will not make you a professional indian classical music artist but it definitely will give you most of the information and ideas to build upon something big.”
“I was really pleased with the wealth of knowledge shared and the authentic delivery. Was not really sure what to expect but I’ve come away with some further listening and a new found respect and love for Indian classical music. Thanks so much Shikha and other guests Xi and Seth! Awesome to meet you all!”
“Shikha was an amazing teacher! She catered the class to our level of music experience and we learned so much! She has excellent hospitality and let us play all of her traditional Indian instruments. This is a MUST for any music lovers visiting India!”