0b.3 The fretting hand and the plucking hand

Work through these

• Press the string down onto a fret with the pad of the index finger, close behind the fret rather than on top of it.

  Pressing directly over a fret chokes the note and pressing far behind it makes the pitch flat. The right place is a narrow band you find by ear over a few sittings.

• Pluck the sarani string with the index finger of the right hand and let it ring.

  The right hand plucks inward, toward the palm, with the finger rather than with the wrist. A note that sounds thin usually means the string was struck rather than pulled.

• Pluck one of the side strings with the little finger, keeping the other fingers where they were.

  The little finger sounds the drone and the beat while the rest of the hand is busy with the melody, which is why it is trained separately from the start. It feels awkward for weeks and then stops feeling like anything.

• Play one note, then the next fret up, without letting the first note buzz as you move.

  Moving between frets cleanly is the whole of the first month, and buzzing is the signal that the pressure came off before the finger arrived. Slow it down until the join is silent.

• Pull the string sideways along a fret and hear the pitch rise.

  Deflecting the string across the fret is how a veena reaches notes between the frets, and it is the basis of everything the ornaments do later. It needs the left hand to be strong, so it starts now and stays gentle.