Anoushka & Ravi Shankar: “All Ears”

Ravi Shankar is perhaps the world’s most well known Sitarist… as his name and the instrument can almost go hand and hand. After all, who did the Beatles look to when they wanted that influence?

In this video, Ravi’s daughter Anoushka does some ear training with her father who is not giving her the easiest of lines. The Sitar which is not only about pressing near the frets, also features string pressures and bends that can’t be achieved on a guitar fretboard. Okay, you can bend strings on the guitar but, the sitar is all set up for a multitude of semi-times that are not part of western notation.

My guess is, here in the USA not too many guitarists have ever played let alone seen a sitar. I’ve had the pleasure…. well really the displeasure since you have to sit on the floor in order to play it… I have two bad hips and could only take a few minutes with it.

Anoushka does an outstanding job of interpretation, nearly matching perfectly what her father is singing.

After watching, I’m hoping that you’ll take away from this performance an appreciation for this incredible instrument and music form.