The Steel Guitar Forum

A wonderful player, for sure. Indian ornamentation is incredibly beautiful (and very difficult in that it has to be precise and there are rules for what kind and when you can use it in a given raag). As David pointed out slide has been around for quite some time in India. It’s perfectly suited to In...

Debashish is at the top of game here. Amazing technical skill and cool rising and falling phrasing ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUBlWbEzluE Maybe the craziest part of his technique? All those fast runs that a flat picker might do with alternate picking — he does alternating thumb and fore...

I’ve always assumed Desh was the most familiar raag in India. It literally means “country” —the popular patriotic anthem Vande Mataram is based in Desh. Debashish had us do a video of it a few years ago for their Independence Day. (I’m the lefty in one of the tiny student squares. https://youtu.be/G...

Greatest was a poor choice of words. There are all kinds of techniques and both Debashish and Bhatt are master technicians in their genre but that doesn't mean someone like Doug Jernigan isn't also a master technician on his instrument. Disclaimer: I study w Debashish. As always, YMMV, but I don't ...

Also, Frank Goodman is now in Nashville, where he publishes a web-zine called Pure Music . He wrote a review of Steve's "Live From The West Coast" CD for the magazine, and it references a few sound clips on this page . The clips don't include any lap steel, though. I wonder if there's any...

So guys, is the instrument itself called a chaturangui? Is that what Debashish plays too? Debashish invented the chaturangui, so definitely what he plays (in addition to his four other inventions). I couldn't see clearly enough to tell which this one was, but the three main modern schools of Hindus...

Steve Kimock and I will be hosting the great Hindustani slide guitar master Debashish Bhattacharya for a musical workshop on Sunday May 12 in Bethlehem, PA. Players of any stringed instrument in any style are welcome. The workshop will be followed that evening by a duo performance with Steve and Deb...

Damn! Wish I lived their. I would love to go. That man is beyond great. Yeah, they don't get much better, for sure. I actually study with him. He's an excellent teacher and just a super sweet guy. Very funny, and very very patient. He actually spends a fair bit of time each year in the Santa Rosa a...

Hi All, Just wanted to give a heads up that the great master of Indian slide guitar, Debashish Bhattacharya, will be giving a workshop on Saturday, November 17 in Chapel Hill North Carolina. The workshop is geared toward players of any stringed instrument. There will be a morning and afternoon sessi...

A nice recent interview with Debashish, including some detail on the history of the instrument and technique he uses.

https://youtu.be/Y75tZC_ML1k

Another modern one I forgot. Triveni veena.

https://youtu.be/wMDMVriZsVc


I’m sure there’s more!

There is also the vichitra veena. Not exactly slide guitar, but in the ballpark! Dhrupad is of course not the most easily digestible music compared to khayal for the newly initiated. Takes a very patient, attentive ear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdaTBhk6MiQ Yeah, that’s the great great gran...

Interesting. There's no standardization outside of your teacher and your gharana, really, vs some of the older instruments like sitar and sarod. Mohan veenas and Hansa veenas all vary in setup. I play sitar and surbahar and the main playing string is usually Ma, so adapting to an open sa on the mai...

Debashish has a nice general intro to the chaturangui here. Includes tunings, basic technique, etc.

https://youtu.be/E-qyvjUJQRY

Don't know if there's any interest in this old thread any more. I stumbled across it while searching on something else. By some miracle, I actually study chaturangui with Debashish. He uses a number of tunings on the main 6, but the most common are open D (low to high -D A D F# A D, ie S P S G P S) ...

Fantastic! Thanks, guys!

Hi folks,

Anybody out there know a competent repair person in the Raleigh, NC area?

Thanks,

Mike B

Yes, in the recording it doesn't really even have a B section. It seems like it just modulates to another key and plays the same progression. But it definitely sounds like the A part of Mike's tune.Maybe Mike made up the bridge himself to give the tune a release. Just a guess. thanks, yeah, that's ...

Hi all, This month I'll be fortunate enough to be part of a wonderful country pioneers tribute show in Carrboro, NC (June 28, Carrboro ArtsCenter). As part of the proceedings, I get to perform a tune from Mike's seminal "Dobro" album called "It's Over." In trying to write up prog...