Gurukul – Jannuary/February 2009 by Georg Gratzer

In Jannuary I came to India originally to have classes with the Sitar player Kushal Das in Kolkata to study Indian Classical Music. Apart from that I made some recordings there together with the Austrian guitar player Thomas Mauerhofer and some Indian musicians. At some day in Kolkata I got an e-mail from a very close friend of mine, Michaela Lederhaas, who was also staying in India. She wrote that she found a wonderful place to study music with very nice people next to Bhopal and the teachers would be called “The Gundecha Brothers”. I asked here if she would be sure about that, because after having heard “The Gundecha Brothers” in 2008 at the Doverlane Festival in Kolkata I have been fascinated by their way of making music and could not believe that they are teaching. Michaela sent me the link to their website and there was no doubt anymore. I changed my travelling plans and bought a ticket to Bhopal, where I arrived at the end of Jannuary. From the beginning I felt very well in the Gurukul. We had a very warm welcome by Gurujis and all the students. After having had one class with Rammakant Guruji I knew that I have to stay there for the rest of my journey.

Gurukul at night (full moon) Gardening in front of Gurukul

In Jazz Music we also think a lot about the importance of one note, how important it is to enjoy one sound and to create a mood without playing very fast and lots of notes. But through knowing “The Gundecha Brothers” all this got a new meaning for me and they opened a completely new musical universe in front of my eyes & ears. Having been trained during my studies of western classical music to tune to tempered scale I had no idea what emotions can be built with staying on a very highly or lowly tuned note. For the first time I understood that also Raga music has lots of melodic tension and release without using harmonies or chord progressions. That focus on various positions of the same note opens up your ears and widens your possibilities of musical expression amazingly. Apart from having classes with Gurujis I also enjoyed very much to study with the japanese student Sou, who showed me a lot of what he had already learned there in a very inspiring way.

Michaela, me and Sou´s back Gurukuls lovely neighbourhood

Thank you very much “Gundecha Brothers Gurujis” for this Gurukul and for your passion!