Introduction
Hindustani Classical Music

Hi there. My name is Sādhana, and you seem to have stumbled upon my website on North Indian (Hindustani) classical music.

Hindustani classical music is a very complex and beautiful tradition of music that goes back over 3,500 years, and since you're here, let me show you around.


Pundit Ravi Shankar (sitar) and Ustad Allah Rakha (tabla)
Raag Samant-Sarang


The idea for this website came to me because I know many people who enjoy Hindustani classical music and would love to understand it better, but most of the information available assumes a certain basic familiarity with Indian music concepts to begin with. Also, people writing about Indian music in English sometimes use Western music terms, but they use them in the Indian sense, which can really confuse things.

So I decided to make an effort to explain the basic concepts of Indian music in a way that would not be confusing, using both authentic examples and simple audios with notations (both Indian and Western) for learners. Even in simplified forms, Indian music is hard to notate because it uses too many subtle microtones and embellishment patterns. But I think having a score, no matter how partial, is bound to be useful for beginners. The sidebar is for easy navigation. Feel free to jump around or to go back and forth between the pages.

Sādhana