At Shanti Mandir Pakhawaj is taught in the Parampara tradition by Deepak Tiwari who also performs the video demonstrations.
The Contents of this page are listed below, so you can choose to just scroll down the page, or click on one of the links to go directly to the selected section.
GO TO PARTS OF THE PAKHAWAJ
GO TO PLACEMENT, POSTURE & TUNING
GO TO RIGHT OR LEFT HANDED?
PARTS OF THE PAKHAWAJ
PLACEMENT
Sit cross legged and place the Pakhawaj centred evenly in front of you with the small drum head on the right if you are right-handed. A soft, thin mat can be placed underneath to help seat the Pakhawaj. The right side can be raised slightly by placing a small rolled up piece of cloth under it.
POSTURE
Sitting in a cross legged position with the drum in contact with the knees allows for better control of the drum which can move during playing. In addition to this, by having the drum as close as possible to the body the posture can be held upright avoiding back strain. With the body centred on the drum the arms should drop softly toward the drum heads as symmetrically as possible to avoid back strain caused by leaning one way or the other. Holding the wrists in a relaxed but firm, straight position is important to prevent strain.
TUNING
Instruction to be added here.
RIGHT OR LEFT HANDED
The instruction given here is for right handed players, that means the small side of the Pakhawaj is played with the right hand. Left handed people usually flip the drum so that the small side is played with the left hand, if you do this, simply reverse the instructions provided.
