Hello,

I am interested in taking Indian classical music lessons specifically
on the bamboo flute (also called bansuri).  I have searched far and
wide for teachers in the Washington D.C., Maryland, or Northern
Virginia area but have not come up with anything.  I have found a
bunch of vocal, tabla (drums), and sitar teachers, as well as other
flute teachers, but not Indian classical or bansuri.  Maybe there is a
search string I haven't thought of -- if anybody can find me an actual
teacher, I would be much obliged.  I am at the point where even if I
had to drive 2 hours or so away on a weekend morning, I would do it,
so please keep that in mind if it comes down to it!  Thanks in
advance.

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 01 Nov 2006 13:07 PST

Howdy vka2b-ga,

Have you considered using "at home" resources, that is, lessons from online,
manuals, CDs and videos?  I can put a list of some of these resources, if you
want, post them as another clarification request, and you could see if that
would do the job.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by vka2b-ga on 01 Nov 2006 18:41 PST

Hi denco-ga,

Thanks for your response.  I have considered these options, but was
saving them as a last resort, because I feel as if I need the
discipline of regular classes and a teacher (previous experiences with
lessons at home didn't really work out for me).  However, if you were
able to come up with some really good resources, I wouldn't mind at
least taking a look.  Thank you!

vka2b

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 02 Nov 2006 10:54 PST

Howdy vka2b,

I understand the challenges of the "self teaching" route, but, as you have
found out, it can be more of a challenge to find personal bansuri lessons.

Here are some possible "in person" resources.
http://chandrakantha.com/teachers/new_jersey.html

Name: Mitch Greenberg
Email: mgreen@goes.com
Field: Bansuri & Shehnai
Address: 510 1/2 Warren St. Hackettstown NJ 07840
http://www.goes.com/~mgreen
Telephone: (908) 850-5993

Name: Jayanta Banerjee (Bansuri)
Email: jayanta_banerjee@hotmail.com
Field: Bansuri
Address: 115 Winding Hill Drive, Hackettstown, NJ 07840
Telephone: 973-476-5921

One more "in-person" possibility.
http://lite.mayyam.com/indcmusic/29490.1677.11.23.23.html

"I am a flute teacher, and presently live in the Philadelphia PA area, if any
one is interested.

My name is Ram Nath, and my work phone number is 610-878-7857."

There do appear to be a number of resources to aid the "at home" experience,
some of which are free.

PLAYING THE BANSURI: A Manual for the North Indian Flute Video & Manual
http://www.shakuhachi.com/PG-Whittier.html

Know Your Raga - Bansuri Lessons
http://www.knowyourraga.com/bansuri/lessons/

How to play the Bansuri
http://www.buckinghammusic.com/indianmusictutorials/pages/bansvid.html

Bansuriflute.com online lessons area.
http://www.bansuriflute.com/lessons/lessons.htm

There is the possibility of interactive tutoring, some with videoconferencing,
with musicians in India.  There have been cases of people paying for lessons
they have never received, and there might be technical issues, so you probably
want to approach this method with caution.

Learn Indian Music at home.
http://www.indianmusiclessons.com/Dipankar.html

More information can be found on the above site.
http://www.indianmusiclessons.com/MoreInformation.html

Music via Internet... 
http://www.chennaionline.com/cityfeature/internetmusic.asp

"Mr. Dhasarathy, from Chennai, is teaching flute for the past one year, only
through this [intenet] method."

For more information contact: ktdasarat99@yahoo.com OR ktdasarat99@vsnl.net

If the above will work for you, please tell me and I will post it as the
answer to your question.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by vka2b-ga on 02 Nov 2006 18:01 PST

Hi denco-ga,

Thanks a lot for your response.  As I mentioned, I've explored the
lessons-at-home path.  I posted a message to Google Answers because I
wanted an in-person lesson.  As such, if you don't mind, I would like
to hold out a little longer to see if anybody is able to find any
in-person teachers in my area.  I do appreciate your search, but I
would feel silly paying for something I already explored.  I looked at
the in-person links you found, but those would be over 2 hours from
the DC/MD/VA area so they are not practical for me.  Let's just hold
out a little longer before making this the official answer...thanks!

Hello vka2b-ga, 

I am part of Acandemny of Indian Culture and Arts. Our school does
offer beginner level lessons in bansuri. The teacher is Mr. John Bell.

Pls find details on the school, located in Sterling, VA - on our
website : http://www.aica-dc.org/.

If the class does not suit your needs/expectations, I can suggest
couple of excellent bansuri teachers in this area.

Thanks,
Soumyo

I am also looking for a bansuri flute teacher in the DC area. I live
in MD. I would appreciate if you could share any info you get here or
elsewhere.

Vijay.

Hi Soumyo,

Thanks so much for your message.  Sorry for the delayed response -- I
did not know that you had written to me until I decided to check my
Google Answers page (I hadn't received any other comments for quite
some time).

I looked at the website you pointed me to.  It appears to me that
these classes are geared more towards younger students and that I
would be in a class with multiple people (seems more like a
classroom).  If possible, I would like to take private lessons.

Please let me know what options you are aware of.  At the very least,
I am very excited to see that even any sort of lessons are an option
-- I was beginning to think that I had no options in the area.  Thanks
again!  I look forward to your response...