Hindustani)Slide)Guitar)

!
)
The)Music!

Hindustani!music!is!a!deep.rooted,!centuries.old!tradition!from!the!north!of!

India.!Put!simply,!it!consists!of!three!musical!elements:!the!drone,!the!tala!(rhythm)!

and!the!raga.!Many!Western!explanations!of!the!raga!attempt!to!compare!it!to!the!

scale!or!the!Greek!modes,!but!these!are!heinous!simplifications!of!its!true!meaning!

and!function.!Unlike!a!scale,!a!raga!is!paired!intimately!with!the!emotion!it!is!

supposed!to!provoke,!and!thus!with!many!rules!(or!rather!guides)!as!to!the!

succession!of!the!notes!and!how!they!are!to!be!played.!!A!more!accurate!translation!

would!be!a!melodic!organization!or!framework.!!

Ornamentation!of!notes!is!an!extremely!important!element!of!this!music!and!

thus!instruments!that!can!slide!freely!between!tones!are!much!preferred!for!playing!

ragas,!as!they!can!more!freely!embellish!and!mimic!the!expressive!qualities!of!the!

voice.!Some!instruments,!such!as!the!sitar,!have!two!or!three!different!sets!of!

strings,!one!being!for!the!melodic!element!and!one!or!two!for!the!drone.!The!drone!

strings!on!a!sitar!are!called!‘sympathetic!strings’!as!they!are!not!struck,!but!are!

sympathetic!to!the!vibration!of!the!melody!strings.!!

Inception)

When!Hawaiian!musician!Tao!Moe!and!his!travelling!family!band!came!to!

India,!performing!first!in!the!late!1920s!but!eventually!settling!in!Calcutta!for!most!

of!the!1940s,!they!brought!with!them!the!sound!of!the!slide!guitar.!They!performed,!
taught!and!sold!guitars!and!lap!steels!to!the!Indian!public,!and!local!musicians!began!

to!see!the!expressive!qualities!of!the!slide.!Moe’s!star!pupil,!Garney!Nyss,!furthered!

the!popularity!of!the!instrument!by!leading!his!own!Hawaiian!band!in!performances!

around!Calcutta.!By!the!1960s,!slide!guitars!and!lap!steels!were!commonly!used!in!

Indian!film!scores.!!

When!Brij!Bhushan!Kabra!–!at!that!time!a!recently!graduated!student!of!

geology!–!heard!the!Hawaiian!lap!steel!guitar,!he!decided!to!dedicate!his!life!to!

music.!Growing!up!listening!to!Indian!classical!music,!it!was!a!natural!thought!for!

him!to!adapt!the!guitar!for!the!playing!of!ragas.!To!do!this,!he!added!a!drone!string!

and!a!high!nut!to!his!Gibson!Super!400.!!

Kabra’s)breakthrough!came!with!the!1967!album!Call$of$the$Valley*,!which!

took!advantage!of!the!US!hippie!culture!and!its!obsession!with!Indian!music,!

brought!on!by!George!Harrison!and!Ravi!Shankar.!This!was!the!first!album!to!

feature!slide!guitar!playing!ragas,!and!it!was!Kabra!who!set!the!standard!for!those!to!

come.!!

! (Left) Kabra with his

modified Gibson Super 400.

!
His technique – guitar in his
!
lap, holding the metal bar
!
with the left hand, using
!
thumb-pick and index on the

melody strings and pinky to

strum the sympathetic

strings – became standard.

*Ex.!1!and!Ex.!2!show!two!differing!sides!of!Kabra’s!playing!from!this!album,!one!in!

free!time!and!the!other!in!a!loose!¾.!Both!show!how!the!ensemble!interacts,!

responding!to,!and!developing,!each!other’s!melodic!lines.!Notice!the!use!of!open!

strings!(sometimes!as!part!of!a!pull.off!or!hammer.on),!repeated!notes!and!slides!

into!notes.!Ex.!2!shows!the!expansion!of!a!simple!idea!and!a!beautifully!smooth!

scalar!run!with!some!odd!groupings!of!eighth!notes.!!

The)Masters!

Furthering!Kabra’s!work,!Vishwa!Mohan!Bhatt!–!student!of!Ravi!Shankar!and!

perhaps!the!most!well!known!Indian!slide!guitarist!–!brought!worldwide!attention!

to!the!instrument!and!even!created!his!own:!the!mohan!veena.!The!instrument!is!a!

further!modified!archtop,!with!four!melody!strings,!five!drone!strings!and!twelve!

sympathetic!strings.!Bhatt!has!collaborated!with!many!notable!international!artists,!

most!famously!with!Ry!Cooder!on!their!Grammy.winning!album!A$Meeting$by$the$

River$(1992)*.!This!began!a!close!relationship!between!Indian!slide!guitar!and!the!

blues.!!

(above) Vishwa Mohan Bhatt recording with Ry Cooder, Jaochim Cooder and
Sukhvinder Singh Namdhari.!
*Ex.!3!shows!an!excerpt!of!VM!Bhatt’s!improvisation!on!‘Ganges!Delta!Blues’!from!

this!album.!Although!he!plays!entirely!within!the!confines!of!a!D!minor!pentatonic!

scale!(with!that!telling!¼!step!slide!on!the!third),!his!unique!style!and!some!of!the!

idiosyncrasies!of!Hindustani!slide!guitar!still!come!across.!For!example,!his!

impeccable!time!and!sense!of!melodic!development!could!not!be!found!in!any!

straight.ahead!blues!player.!Notice!also,!and!again,!the!use!of!open!strings,!repeated!

notes!and!slides!into!and!out!of!notes.!!

Like!many!traditions,!Hindustani!music!places!much!importance!on!lineage,!

in!this!case!not!of!blood,!but!of!tutelage.!The!most!notable!student!of!Kabra!is!

Debashish!Bhattacharya,!a!modern!master!who!has!expanded!the!boundaries!of!the!

instrument,!Indian!music!and!music!in!general*!(even!creating!three!of!his!own!

instruments!–!two!modifications!of!archtop!guitars!and!one!of!a!ukelele).!He!has!

performed!with!international!acts!such!as!John!McLaughlin!and!Remember!Shakti,!

Jerry!Douglas!and!Bob!Brozman!(a!veteran!of!the!Tau!Moe!Family!Band).!!

!
(Left) Bhattacahrya with his
!
‘Holy Trinity of Guitars’: left
!
to right, the Chatarangui (a
! modification of the Mohan

! Veena wih 22 strings)

! Anandi (a ukulele optimized

! for use with slide) and

Gandharvi (featuring an
!
extended bass range and
!
doubled strings much like a

twelve-string guitar).
!

*Ex.!4!is!just!a!small!demonstration!of!this!man’s!mastery!of!his!instrument!and!

transcendence!of!musical!technicalities.!His!brilliantly!natural!expansion!of!motivic!

cells!(small!scale!and!large!scale)!–!something!that!all!of!these!great!masters!display!

–!is!extremely!evident!in!this!solo.!!Other!common!musical!elements!present!here!

are!the!repetition!of!one!note!between!ever.expanding!melodic!lines!(here!

ornamented!with!bluesy!slides!into!the!note),!the!use!of!open!strings!and!odd!

rhythmic!groupings.!Another!important!aspect!of!Hindustani!music!is!that,!because!

of!the!only!harmonic!backdrop!being!a!drone!on!1!and!5,!players!or!often!free!to!

alter!other!scale!degrees.!Bhattacharya!has!used!this!to!alternate!between!major!and!

minor!third,!and!also!add!some!quartet.tone!ornamentations.!This!is!Indian!music!

beyond!the!strict!realm!of!Hindustani!classical,!with!influence!from!many!different!

styles;!a!perfect!example!of!how!open!many!of!these!masters!are,!even!when!

steeped!in!a!deep!tradition.!!

Their)Influence!

! Many!international!artists!have!recognized!the!brilliant!vocal!characteristics!

and!unrivaled!virtuosity!of!the!masters!of!Hindustani!slide!guitar,!and!some!have!

taken!direct!influence!from!them.!Perhaps!the!most!famous!example!is!John!

McLaughlin!who,!as!mentioned!above,!has!played!with!many!Indian!musicians!

throughout!his!career!and!even!formed!groups!–!Shakti!and!Remember!Shakti!–!to!

create!a!unique!Indian!fusion.!Although!McLaughlin’s!influence!from,!and!even!

mastery!of,!the!music!is!clear,!he!does!not!touch!the!slide.!Another!American,!Derek!
Trucks,!however,!is!a!slide!master!in!his!own!right,!and!has!taken!cues!from!this!

music!and!Hindustani!slide.!His!perfect!time!and!intonation!set!him!apart!from!

many!other!blues!slide!players,!and!it!may!very!well!come!from!this!influence.!

Indian!classical,!and!the!slide!guitar!masters!in!particular,!influence!not!only!his!

sound,!but!his!music.*!!

*Ex.!5!is!a!transcription!of!Trucks!playing!the!melody!to!Sahib!Teri!Bandi!from!his!

album!Songlines.!This!melody!was!written!by!the!uncle!of!his!percussionist,!

Pakistani!Qawwali!music!legend,!Nusrat!Fateh!Ali!Khan.!Qawwali!is,!in!many!

respects,!similar!to!Hindustani!music!and!Trucks!is!definitely!channeling!its!

influence,!simply!by!playing!slide!guitar!on!such!a!tune.!This!melody!comes!after!an!

improvised,!free!time!intro!over!a!drone,!recalling!the!very!first!recorded!slide!

guitar!ragas!of!Kabra.!!

! !

Canadian!singer.songwriter!and!multi.instrumentalist!Harry!Manx!went!a!

step!further!than!these!other!players,!actually!studying!Hindustani!slide!under!

Vishwa!Mohan!Bhatt!for!five!years.!This!brought!him!an!insight!into!the!style!and!

philosophy!of!Hindustani!music!that!most!Western!musicians!will!never!have.!With!

Bhatt!he!learned!how!to!play!the!mohan!veena,!and!it!has!been!his!signature!

instrument!ever!since.!He!fuses!all!of!his!influences!–!from!blues!to!rock,!Indian!

classical!to!Irish!folk!–!creating!a!unique,!international!amalgam!of!music.*!

!
 (above) Harry Manx with his Mohan Veena.!

*Ex.!!6!and!7!show!Manx’s!knowledge!of!the!style!and!are!a!great!example!of!his!

inimitable!fusion.!Ex.!6,!played!on!the!mohan!veena,!is!a!short!outro!to!his!version!of!

Van!Morrison’s!Crazy$Love!that!is!extremely!reminiscent!of!Kabra’s!playing!on!Call$of$

the$Valley,!complete!with!the!free!time,!drone,!use!of!the!open!D!string!and!the!

flexibility!of!tones!other!than!the!1!and!5!–!in!this!case!the!use!of!b6!in!a!major!key.!

Ex.!7!shows!a!similar!excerpt,!this!time!played!on!an!acoustic!guitar!in!an!open!

tuning!with!a!capo!(making!this!the!only!example,!except!the!Trucks,!that!is!not!in!

some!mode!of!D).!Manx!plays!the!guitar!like!the!mohan!veena,!on!his!lap!with!a!

slide,!and!show!even!more!of!the!effects!of!his!stint!with!Bhatt.!There!is!extensive!

use!of!the!open!strings!(even!when!ignoring!the!fact!that!he!is!lightly!arpeggiating!

the!open!strings!throughout!the!passage!to!create!the!drone)!with!pull.offs!and!

hammer.ons!to!and!from,!repeated!notes!and!a!tinge!of!the!ingenious!melodic!

development!of!the!Indian!masters.!!