In this video, Prasant discusses what is unique about music made naturally for meditation, self discovery and Self Realization as opposed to other categories of music made with other intended goals or different styles less suited for meditation.
As Prasant has talked about the simplicity of working with sound to realize our inherent Peace and Beingness, then shouldn’t any sound or music work just as well? The answer is multi faceted. From the perspective of of the limited “i,” the ego, that has taken certain positions within itself and harbors likes and dislikes etc. the subtle qualities of the music will have a noticeable effect on the mind on multiple levels. In the realm of the absolute Truth, the depths and natural Truth that we are, all of this is one and the same. So you can continue to abide in the Self or rest as pure awareness while listening to intense heavy metal music or a catchy pop song, after all that is what is always taking place, knowingly or unknowingly. It is all arising within you. But it will likely be more difficult and identification with the ever excited outgoing I-thought may be more possible.
Prasant explains that it is similar to intake of food and the qualities that result from those choices. The body remains to play out its existence before, during and after Realization, so ultimately there is tangible benefit in working with music that has a conducive intention or is created spontaneously from natural Being or Peace when it comes to resting as your own nature, the Self of all. That which allows your mind to feel at rest, peaceful and at ease, is best for this purpose.
In this unique raga meditation for Self Realization, Prasant allows for spontaneous phrases to arise that do not adhere to a particular raga or scale. What came out is a fountain of phrases from various ragas that mix and merge with each other in unexpected ways arising from and returning to Silence. For those familiar with Carnatic music, you may consider relaxing and experiencing the music as pure feeling rather than attempting to recognize every raga that comes out.
With every sound, dissolve the identity and thoughts and with every Silence, dive deeper into the natural feeling of Being. This effortless Being is where all happens spontaneously and deep Peace and Silence is felt to be what we are.
Download Prasant’s meditation albums free and contact Prasant at the links below.
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
While sitting for this spontaneous raga meditation on tenor saxophone, this deep and beautiful melody from the Ethiopian Tizita minor came out. It turns out that it coincides with a rare Carnatic (South Indian Classical) raga called Japaniya. Here it is played mostly in a Carnatic style, but no particular attempt was made to tether it to a particular way of playing but just to naturally allow for Silence, Rest and Peace. It is very conducive for deep and restful meditation coupled with alert inner exploration. This arising is likely inspired by playing with wonderful Ethiopian-American vocalist and long time friend, Meklit, who just released a new EP, Ethio Blue at a concert on March 9th. The title track makes use of this rich and haunting Tizita minor that has a deep history in Ethiopian music. Special thanks also to keyboard artist Kibrom Birhane who plays this beautifully in this ensemble.
Something special about this particular unfolding is that the meditation came out in two phases. The first slowly allow for listening and returning to the moment and facilitating absorption in the sound of music. After about 3 minutes, there is a short silence and then a deeper section appears that allows to enter Silence through the music and sound as a vehicle. You don’t need to make any effort while meditating with this, but just simply listen and allow.
A message for this meditation: You are guided at every step and every moment by a perfectly clear inner Truth. It guides both thought and action with Stillness. It is the Source of everything. Don’t worry and allow actions to be performed while always seeing the Truth alone.
0:00 Opening raga meditation, 1st Phase: Listening and enjoying 3:29 Second Phase of raga meditation: Entering and rest in Silence and Peace 9:45 Sitting in Silence Download Prasant’s meditation albums free and contact Prasant at the links below.
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
Prasant’s music is available on all major platforms, but you can download it directly from him here. It’s also a great way to support his work: https://music.prasantmusic.com/
Happy Lunar New year everyone! I’m glad to share a full Carnatic saxophone lesson/tutorial on Youtube on how to structure a raga alapana in short, medium and long lengths. Hopefully this should demystify the process a little bit. If you haven’t reached improvisation yet, it might be a good introduction. For intermediate/advanced practitioners or those who might be interested in the raga approach of my Guru, Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, this should be very useful. There is plenty of music to illustrate in ragas Bilahari, Hamsadhwani, Kalyanavasantham and Bhairavi.
Enjoy the video and feel free to share if you like and subscribe if you haven’t yet. Thanks!
In this video, Carnatic saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan shares a clear explanation on how to structure a raga alapana (raga improvisation played before a composition). It is broken into 3 different types: the short sketch raga of about a minute, a medium length raga for up to 5 or 6 minutes and a longer one of 5 to about 15 minutes. Prasant explains and demonstrates on the saxophone the approach for each of these and how to navigate these raga alapana structures while still enjoying the spontaneous aspect of improvising.
The style of Prasant’s Guru, saxophone pioneer, Dr. Kadri Gopalnath is emphasized, which is special in that he would explore the lower octave early in the raga alapana. This method can be applied to any instrument or voice and is not limited to the saxophone. While all music practitioners can benefit from the material shared here, some level of comfort with improvisation, especially in the raga form will be useful in getting the most value out of this video.
Along the way, there is quite a bit of music played, including ragas like Bilahari, Hamsadhwani, Kalanavasantham and Bhairavi. So please enjoy the music as well!
0:00 Overview of the 3 lengths of raga alapana covered here 2:22 How to do the sketch raga alapana (Bilahari and Hamsadhwani ragas demonstrated on the saxophone) 6:27 How to do the medium length raga alapana (Kalyanavasantha raga demonstrated on the saxophone) 14:49 How to do the long length raga alapana (Bhairavi raga demonstrated on the saxophone). Opening and lower octave 21:42 Moving up from the lower octave and using the first 2 anchor notes 24:50 Upper Sa and onwards in the longer length raga 27:00 Concluding the raga alapana in Bhairavi 28:41 Final melkalam (high speed phrases) in the raga conclusion 31:22 Summary of what we covered and concluding remarks
If you found this useful, please subscribe to this channel, like and share to help support more of the work. You can also message Prasant directly and listen to his albums through the website below:
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
Enjoy this brief Sri Ragam Meditation on the saxophone for Self Realization and Profound Peace. Music that naturally arises from the source of sound, the Silence itself is extremely helpful for allowing us to settle back in to our own nature, the Self. The Self is ever present in perfect completeness at all times, but we momentarily get distracted by arising thoughts and their resulting identities, culminating in the identification with the ego or I-Thought. By dissolving our attention into the sound and then resting in its silent Source, we allow the i to dissolve and the Self to be realized. No particular method or approach is required while listening to the music. Simply relax and allow.
It begins with a very brief talk, the music meditation in Sri raga and a brief silent sitting. Thank you for being here!
0:00 Intro talk on this Sri raga meditation on saxophone 1:21 Saxophone raga meditation begins 9:30 Brief silent sitting meditation (natural resting in Silence)
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
Rest naturally in your own Being, the Self in this saxophone raga meditation for Peace and Self Realization. Simply allow the sound to arise in your field of experience and notice it spontaneously dissolve in silence and arise again. As this is happening, rest deeper and deeper into your own natural Silence. This dissolving is of sweetness and is easy. It is not necessary to concentrate or make any effort.
Recognize: Recognize your are the pure awareness, the Self. Rest: Rest in the Self, your own Being. Realize: Realize you have always been This and all is This alone.
This video is from a live Music Satsang during #navaratri time. It includes a deep meditation in raga Kharaharapriya and ends with a rendition of the krithi Himagiri Tanaye in raga Shuddha Dhanyasi. If you would like to know more about livestreams and Satsang with Prasant, or would like to view to full Satsang with talk and Q&A, please visit: https://prasantmusic.com/satsang/ or contact Prasant at https://prasantmusic.com/contact/.
Download Prasant’s meditation albums free at the links below. All music and video is original, by Prasant Radhakrishnan during the live performance.
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
Did you know that both beginners and experienced musicians alike can experience some form of stage fright or nervousness before a performance? Here are 3 simple steps and 3 practical tips to overcome stage fright, anxiety and fear long term, not just temporarily. These feelings can affect us outside of music performance as well, so you will learn how to apply this understanding to your daily life and discover a deeper freedom of being.
If you find this useful please subscribe and share this video and channel!
Here are some topic covered in the video:
0:00 Intro and brief raga improvisation 0:50 The journey of practicing music and the relationship between individual practice and performing in front of and with people 2:13 The 1st step to overcoming stage fright, anxiety and fear: Discovering an innate aspect of you that does not have stage fright and is witnessing your experience. You can call this Awareness, Pure Witness, or Beingness for example. Guided exploration and explanation to discover that this Awareness is aware of your arising experiences but is not caught up or affected by them. 5:35 Step 2: Recognizing that your arising experiences and sensations, including stage fright, anxiety and fear, have may have an important function. 8:17 Recap of Steps 1 and 2 8:29 Step 3: How to overcome stage fright, anxiety and fear by not resisting or clinging to the experience, sensation, emotions or thoughts, and allowing it to arise and pass through. As this passes through, continue to rest in the feeling of Awareness. 10:09 Practical tip 1: After step 1-3, when you get ready to play, use a few long tones to relax and center yourself before playing. 10:35 Practical tip 2: Answering the “what if?” and other pre-performance fears, ie: what if I forget everything I practiced? Be better prepared for your performance by practicing in advance, and enough that you can play effortlessly. 13:14 Practical tip 3: If possible, choose songs to perform that are appropriate for your skill level and that you can realistically and comfortably perform well in the time you have to prepare. Why chasing a very difficult piece or musical accomplishment may not always be the best choice. 13:53 What the deepest function of music really is. 14:59 How to apply this understanding and technique to day to day life anxiety and fear 16:25 Two causes for anxiety and fear and how to handle them. 17:35 Examples to illustrate the mental tendency of clinging to experience that prevents anxiety and fear from dissipating.
Glad to share a full song from our Carnatic saxophone concert at the 2023 San Francisco International Arts Festival: Pariyachakama in Vanaspati ragam, Rupaka talam. As always, enjoyed playing with my musical brother Rohan Krishnamurthy in a duet. It’s truly a meditative and introspective composition by Saint Thyagaraja set to the ideal raga. We are so lucky to have these compositions as natural vehicles for inner realization and happiness.
For shorter clips, you can check out our Instagram: @prasantmusic and @rohanrhythm
This Carnatic saxophone and mridangam duet rendition includes raga alapana (solo melodic improvisation), krithi (the full composition) and swaras (improvisation with the melody and rhythm within the context of the song).
Prasant and Rohan celebrated playing together for over 25 years during this concert. They first played together in the Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana in 1997. Special thanks to SFIAF and Brava Theater staff for hosting the concert and also recording this clip. If you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share this video and channel.
Happy to share this new saxophone raga meditation with you in raga Sriranjani. You’re welcome to use this video for formal sitting or play it in the background while you work. Those with a musical background can improvise along with me for an active meditative absorption.
Enjoy and experience effortless Absorption (Samadhi) in Supreme Sound (Naada) and Silence in this 20 minute music meditation on saxophone. Samadhi in most cases is considered a difficult height to attain through meditation practice, however through music and sound it is surprisingly effortless. All that is needed the effortless experiencing or hearing of sound and complete letting go into the sound. This letting go is such that there is the feeling that there is nothing but sound. Subsequently dropping into the Silence, deeply rest in your own feeling of being. The cessation of mental movement will naturally occur and the awake awareness that is ever present reveals Itself. This may happen on its own without any effort put forth by you.
Download Prasant’s meditation albums free here. All music, video clips and images of nature taken in this video are original.
Prasant Radhakrishnan is a versatile saxophonist steeped in both South Indian Classical (Carnatic) and jazz music. A disciple of Carnatic saxophone pioneer, “Padmashri” Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, Prasant had the privilege of apprenticing with him for several years since 1996. He had further training with Dr. T.R. Subramaniam as well as mentorships with other senior artists in India. His parallel exploration of jazz led him to express original music arising from both Carnatic and jazz as well as traditional Carnatic music on the saxophone. Prasant has shared music around the world through albums, performances, artist residencies, lecture demonstrations and teaching. In addition, Prasant shares insightful and easy approaches to meditation and Self Realization through music and sound, which leads naturally Silence and Peace.
Have you ever wondered how to produce the beautiful ornamentations or “gamakas” in Carnatic music on the saxophone? After many requests, I’m glad to share this video introducing some of the core concepts and practical tips that will help you understand the basics and begin practicing them! This includes multiple types of gamakas and blending notes on saxophone. There is quite a bit covered in this video, so feel free to pause and practice or rewind and rewatch the parts you need.
This video was recorded with an inexpensive usb mic with no post processing or reverb to allow the sound to be simple and direct.
Bhairavi raga intro 0:00 Intro about gamakas on the saxophone 0:34
Encircling and downward gamakas with demo in Hamsadhwani ragam (It has 5 notes up and down) 2:17 A note on sruthi (pitch) on the saxophone 4:36 Advanced gamakas like oscillating (kampitam) and blending with demo 5:26 Instrument condition and reed strength 8:26 Gamaka speed and proportion in Carnatic music 10:26 Recommended practice approach 12:00 Advanced blending on the saxophone 12:20 The potential scope of gamakas on saxophone and Prasant’s Guru Sri Kadri Gopalnath’s immense contribution 14:05 Recap of what and how to practice with demos and variations 15:08 The future potential of the saxophone in Carnatic music 16:27 Brief Todi raga conclusion 17:46
Prasant’s music is available on all major platforms, but you can download it directly from him here. It’s also a great way to support his work: https://music.prasantmusic.com/
Prasant Radhakrishnan 