Playing Indian music on western concert flute?

[arkhazard]

Hi. I have a Yamaha 221 flute and I wanted to know if I could play Indian music, like ragas, on it with the normal ABCDEFG notes. I don't know any music like that and I was wondering if anyone knows how to do this. Thanks!

[fluteguy18]

The music from that region of the world is largely passed down through aural tradition. Furthermore their scale is different than the 7 tone scale of the western world, so notating it for a western instrument would be extremely challenging. At the moment there isn't any sort of authentic printed music beyond an anthology that is more of a study of the music rather than sheet music. It focuses on the history, traditions, and then recordings of the pieces without printed notation.

Source: many hours of research for customers looking for the same exact thing.

[dogster]

I actually do this on a open flute i have been practicing Ragas for 4 years now and its not easy since most of the music is in C# too . I also play the Bansari Flutes I have one in D and in C# . The slurring and bending of notes is easier on the Bansari flutes .

Doug

[arkhazard]

Thanks! I really appreciate the replies. I tried to match the notes, but I couldn't really do it. Should I get a bansari flute? Is it hard to learn? (As in the fingerings)

[dogster]

Bansari flutes are very difficult to play and they all have different tunings . You need to get a teacher for them . I think western flute open hole would work but this isn't easy either both have their challenges

Good Luck

Doug

[pdorsey]

Is there a place to find bansuri music written out in western notation?
I am OK, with doing the blending and ornamentation by ear... but having a "lead sheet" to avoid learning a new notation system would be nice.

Paul

[Classitar]

There is a lot to look at : If you do a Google Image search on bansuri music sheet music