Indian Slide Guitar
Indian slide guitar refers to modified forms of the Hawaiian guitar or lap-steel guitar adapted for performing Hindustani classical music ragas. It was popularised in the 1960s by Brij Bhushan Kabra, whose landmark recording Call of the Valley (1967) with Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia introduced the guitar’s fluid glissandi and melodic range to classical audiences. Following Kabra’s innovations, Indian musicians developed custom slide guitars with extended string sets, sympathetic resonances and modified bridges to reproduce the subtleties of raga performance.
Indian Slide Guitar
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Indian slide guitar refers to modified forms of the Hawaiian guitar or lap-steel guitar adapted for performing Hindustani classical music ragas. It was popularised in the 1960s by Brij Bhushan Kabra, whose landmark recording Call of the Valley (1967) with Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia introduced the guitar’s fluid glissandi and melodic range to classical audiences. Following Kabra’s innovations, Indian musicians developed custom slide guitars with extended string sets, sympathetic resonances and modified bridges to reproduce the subtleties of raga performance.
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wikidata · Q136763013 · wikipedia · Indian slide guitar
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Overview
Artists such as Debashish Bhattacharya, Debasis Chakroborty, Manilal Nag, and Barun Kumar Pal have expanded its repertoire and technique, integrating the instrument within both classical recitals and contemporary fusion projects. Performance technique generally involves sitting on the floor with the instrument placed horizontally, a raised nut and bridge, and a steel or glass bar used for continuous pitch slides. These modifications allow characteristic ornaments such as meend (glissando), gamak, and andolan (slow oscillation), bridging the gap between plucked and vocal styles in Hindustani classical music.
Indian Slide Guitar is a guitar.
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- “Indian slide guitar”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q136763013: Indian Slide Guitar
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Somasundaram, Kannan. Sliding guitar gently weeps. The Times of India. 13 April 2018.
- 2.Call of the Valley. AllMusic.
- 3.Evocative Music from a Unique Instrument on Debashish Bhattacharya’s “The Sound of the Soul”. Acoustic Guitar. 6 June 2023.
- 4.Elias, Adam J. The Secret World of Hindustani Slide. Premier Guitar. 8 June 2012.
- 5.Elias, Adam J. Saraswati Sings: The Slide-Guitar in India. University of Washington. 2016.
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