Course Curriculum
Ocean of Sound:
Details coming soon...
Reflections from Ocean of Sound Students:
"This course inspired in me, a deeper connection to the healing benefits of Indian music and with that, a deeper connection to the heart opening aspects of singing and playing the harmonium. Allison's teachings are well paced and clear. Her teaching style is heart based and you can easily feel her love of the practice through the screen. And don't even get me started about the MUSIC LIBRARY! I am so grateful to have found Allison and this program.Ocean of Sound is a brilliant resource for anyone wishing to explore the truly bottomless ocean of bhakti."
-Sri Devi Melissa Urey
"Allison has helped me fall more into love with Indian music, and has taught me things that have helped me better understand how to play it more skillfully myself. I've had a harmonium for ten years, but now I really understand so much more about chanting and playing and I'm excited to keep learning more as I dig into the music library packed full of songs to learn!"
- Paula Crossfield
"It was such a wonderful course! I found it very approachable. I was able to quickly learn chanting fundamentals and also love that at my fingertips are endless possibilities for building my skills and practice! After being intimidated by the harmonium for some time, I was so pleasantly surprised about how this class went and how interwoven into my practice playing the harmonium has become."
- Lauren Thie
In your private sessions we can focus on:
- How to play the harmonium
- How to read the charts in the music library. It's easy!
- Building your repertoire of kirtan music, stotrams, or bhajans
- Sanskrit Pronunciation
- Indian raga scales for harmonium and vocals
- Voice opening practices
- Coaching on how to lead kirtan
- Coaching on how to optimize audio to avoid distortion when live streaming your kirtan
- Learn a song you love but aren't sure how to play it?
What Chanting can do for your wellbeing:
- increased focus and attention
- mood regulation
- decreased effects of anxiety and depression
- increased levels of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA in the brain
- stimulates the vagus nerve and activates the parasympathetic nervous system functions of rest and digest
- social cohesion and strengthening of community
- aid in our ability to overcome emotional challenges
The Music Library:
Includes over 80 video tutorials focused on playing the harmonium + transliterated pronunciation. The songs are those Allison learned at ashrams, chants she composed, and songs learned as upayas on the suggestion of her mentors.
The Chant Book
The transliterated chant book mentions authors for longer form songs when known. Many Indian composers wrote beautiful songs and denied any credit, instead giving authorship to a more well known name so that the song would have credibility and have more likelihood of being sung.
The path of discovery
If you know how to read the charts, then you will be able to read the charts in this music library right away and suit them to your own voice. If you need help reading the charts or with basic instruction you can work one on one with Allison on this or save your technical questions for the Q&A's. Some chants are quite simple and you’ll be able to play them straight away. Others will take more practice of scales and development of your ear and listening skills before you can play them.
Stay curious
If you want to pronounce Sanskrit well, listen to more Indian artists. Here’s a list of some favorite Indian and Pakistani vocalists to listen to for pronunciation and vocal technique. Check them out on YouTube or Spotify.
- Kishori Amonkar
- Jagjit Singh
- Mehdi Hassan
- Swami Haridhos Giri
- Subhadra Desai
- Shruti Sadolikar
- Kaushiki Chakraborty
- M.S. Subbulakshmi
- Anup Jalota
- Senior Dagar Brothers\
Tempo matters
When putting all the pieces of the library together, a metronome is essential. Any free app or old school metronome will do. I use iTablaPro.
What is Sanskrit?
Sound and oral transmission are highly revered in India. Sanskrit is not a language of semantics where the word simply implies the meaning of something. Instead, Sanskrit is a language where the sound itself creates the meaning. To this end, pronunciation is very important.
What is a Harmonium?
The harmonium is a French instrument developed in the 1840's by Alexandre Debain. It was adopted by Indians and Middle Easterners because of its vibratory nature. Essentially a pump organ, harmoniums have reeds that create tones when air blows through.