LESSONS

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Manish started teaching Harmonium in Europe (and before in Pune, India) as a request from his students of  Indian music, Mantra singing and vocal training. Indian music is played melody-based, not chord-based and this is a key difference in being able to transmit the feel of music from India when we play Harmonium. There are elements of Ragas used in the playing. So to sing songs from India - whatever they may be - classical, folk, mantra, kirtan, etc, the adequate technique has to be developed (as well as the related feel) in order to present it gracefully. 

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He will teach the proper use of the instrument, in order not to develop wrong habits - posture, technique, raga, how to combine melody and chords, and how to use the Harmonium in one's own practice.

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Lessons are usually one hour and happen in combination with singing - since this is the main way to use harmonium in India. Singing can be of different styles of music from India, depending on the interest of the student: popular, folk, classic, bhakti, mantra, kirtan, etc. Many students want to learn only mantra singing, other prefer classical music approach, and others devotional songs and Kirtans. So the fan is very broad and the possibilities on how to use harmonium are many.

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Manish is based in Kanton St. Gallen, Switzerland  where he offers individual and group lessons on a regular basis.  Online lessons are available, but it is suggested to combine them with presence-lessons sporadically, if that is possible.

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Manish learnt Harmonium since young age, as part of his music training. When we speak of 'professional singers' in India, we refer to musicians who have started learning maybe at 8 or 10 and continue learning for a whole lifetime with a Guru or teacher. In India one never 'completes' the learning cycle... it goes on for life and lifetimes...

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The signature of Manish's teachings is authenticity and staying connected to the source.

Innovation is good, but right-basis should be properly passed, as in any tradition.

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ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT

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Harmonium is a musical instrument that was birthed in Europe, then died, and was reborn in India. The harmonium was invented in the West (with a different design than the Indian Harmonium) but today largely resides in the East, particularly in the Indian subcontinent.

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While the instrument largely disappeared from Europe after 1980s, it remained an essential part of some Scandinavian bands. Other than that, the European harmonium is now basically extinct, only to be found in antique shops, museums, and in the homes of collectors. 

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With the British invasion, European Harmoniums made their way to India where they became known by Indian musicians. One such musician was Dwarkanath Ghose, whose company became a leading manufacturer of musical instruments in Kolkata. In 1875, he brought out his version of the Indian hand-Harmonium, an instrument more than half in size from the first European harmonium, because it was pumped by hand-operated bellows located at the back of the instrument instead of foot-operated ones; allowing the player to sit on the floor.

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Indian musicians traditionally sat on the floor when they gave concerts, and the modified Harmonium could be played while placed on the ground.

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Note that Western music is based on harmony, but Indian music on melody. Therefore it was quite feasible to pump the bellows with one hand and play the melody with the other. One did not need both hands on the keyboard. India started manufacturing its own harmoniums, and by 1915, had become the world’s leading producer of the instruments.

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In the pre-Harmonium days, Indian vocalists would be accompanied by musicians playing the Sarangi. Though said to approximate the human voice, the Sarangi was technically extremely difficult to master and needed extensive re-tuning for each Raga - then the Harmonium began to replace the Sarangi as the instrument of choice to accompany vocalists.

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The Harmonium had other good points: without a doubt it was easier to master than the Sarangi or the Veena; it was excellent for group singing, loud enough for the drone to fill a concert hall, and it became the key instrument in teaching students the rudiments of music and song. Hindu and Sikh groups quickly adopted it for their devotional music (bhajans, kirtan, dhun, shabads...) using Tabla or Dholak for the rhythms, and eventually, Sufi singers also adopted it in their performances.

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Whereas Western music is based on a fundamental diatonic scale (C-D-E-F-G-A-B, or, Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti) and a repeated octave, Indian classical music uses a seven note movable scale (Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni) and additionally employs semitones as well as inflections smaller than a semitone - so the European Harmonium was improved and adapted better to Indian music, producing an instrument that can generate the required microtone by providing knobs positioned below the keys, the pulling of which activates additional reeds.

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A hand-pumped harmonium has hand bellows that blow the air. It is used in music of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan and otheŗ asian countries. In a hand-pumped harmonium only one hand can be used - and this is ok because a melody is played using the fingers of one hand as Indian music is melody music. It is used as an accompanying instrument in classical Hindustani music, Sufi music, bhajan singing, devotional songs and a variety of genres.

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Indian classical music has 7 basic notes (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni), with five interspersed half-notes, resulting in a 12-note scale - S, r, R, g, G, m, M, P, d, D, n, N - the base frequency of the scale is not fixed, and inter-tonal gaps may also vary.

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