2nd edition now published! July 2020

I’m delighted to announce that the 2nd edition of How to Play Indian Sitar Rāgas on a Piano (July 2020) is now available. It is available as a coil-bound paperback (268 pages, 21×1.5×29.7cm) from Lulu, or as a digital download from SheetMusicPlus , or as a digital download with studio licence from pianoraag.wordpress.com/shop or as a perfect-bound paperback from Amazon UK / USA.

The book has been fully revised in 2020, with improved explanations and definitions, spellings conformed to academic usage, corrected inclusion of the improvised joṛ section, inclusion of mohrā phrases in the ālāp, and a transcription of the intricate free-pulse rhythms in the first example ālāp video.

The book contains:

Sheet music for piano solo: a set of 24 rāgas, newly composed within a traditional rāga genre, one for each hour of night and day, sunset to sunset, encompassing a wide array of moods, and based on over twenty fascinating scales. Includes these 24 rāgas: Kalyāni “Bliss”, Hēmavati “Golden Mountain Stream”, Latāngi “Little Girl”, Desh “Sweeping Landscape”, Vāchaspati “Wise Old Man”, Gezellish “Gazelle”, Kalavati “Moonlight”, Bāgeśrī “The Waiting Bride”, Neenda “Sleep”, Paraj “Pollen on the Breeze”, Lalit “Elegant Mischief”, Jogiya Kalingra “Aroma of Saffron”, Chakravāk “Ruddy Goose”, Kofi “Intense Coffee”, Suraja “Morning Sun”, Bilaskhani Toḍī “Mourning”, Āsāvarī “Full of Hope”, Toḍī “Lady in the Forest”, Gaud-Sarang “Lunchtime Bell”, Madhuvanti “Flowing with honey”, Patdeep “Stealing my heart”, Chārukēsi “Beautiful Hair”, Pūrvī “From the East”, & Puriya “Satisfaction”.
Step by step instructions to play each of the pre-composed and improvised sections of Indian rāgas, written for pianists who are used to playing European classical music and jazz. This includes how to develop the melodic material in the improvised ālāp (with optional joṛ and jhālā sections), and the part composed part improvised slow, medium and fast gat sections, with optional jhālā to finish.
Instructions to play any of these rāgas in a duet or at two pianos.
Hundreds of musical examples.
Accompanying audio & video examples can be accessed for free at pianoraga.com