Private Bansuri Lessons

Learn Online From The Comfort Of Your Own Home

The absolute best way to learn Indian classical music is through private, one-on-one lessons with a knowledgeable teacher. All the famous Indian classical musicians learned in this manner (the guru-shishya parampara).

While the internet provides a massive amount of Indian music knowledge through free videos, all that information is transmitted uni-directionally: from the teacher to the student, with virtually zero opportunity for the teacher to listen to the student play and provide critical feedback.

In a private lesson, you learn music catered to your personal needs and desires; and the teacher listens to your playing and corrects your errors and provides a multitude of ways for you to improve your playing. As such, private lessons are an essential component of reaching your musical potential.

Bansuri Bliss Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger on a cold January day in Plitvička Jezera National Park, Croatia, 2009.

“Just a note to say that I’ve started doing private lessons with Kerry and they’re the best thing. In just two classes he’s accelerated my learning and is, miracle of miracles, getting me to finally nail gamaks. If you’ve ever considered doing private classes with Kerry, I recommend you go for it!”
— Bansuri Bliss Member Chas Newkey-Burden, UK

My Commitment & Your Commitment

I love to give private lessons. But I only have so much time to give private lessons, given that:

I have other musical commitments and interests;
I direct a nonprofit (SAVE THE FROGS!) and a website consultancy (Zero2Webmaster); and
I like to exercise, spend time with family and friends, etc…

I am also not dependent on private lessons as my sole source of income, as I have other activities that are more financially productive.

I give private lessons primarily:

As a service to dedicated students who want to learn; and
To accomplish my dual goals of spreading the music and of creating students who play amazing bansuri.

As such, I have higher expectations of students who take private lessons than I do for those who solely attend group sessions or learn from my online materials.

So if we embark on private lessons, you do your best to practice daily (the more, the better). And I’ll do my best to ensure your bansuri playing improves as rapidly as possible.

Summary:
I don’t have time to teach you if you don’t have time to practice…but I will make time to teach you if you will make time to practice.

Dr. Kerry Kriger playing bansuri at Crater Lake, Oregon, July 2009

Private Lessons With Dr. Kerry Kriger

Private lessons with me (Dr. Kerry Kriger) last at least one hour.

You can decide what raga you would like to learn, or I can choose.

I will provide you with a multitude of ways to improve your playing, and a plan for how and what you should practice.

You will receive a video recording of the lesson (if you request it).

You will receive written notes of the key points you learned if they do not already exist in Bansuri Bliss Academy.

Generally speaking, I only give private lessons to Bansuri Bliss Members. If you are dedicated enough to seek private lessons, then you should also be taking advantage of the wealth of information available to Bansuri Bliss Members. There is no conceivable reason why you should not become a Bansuri Bliss Member if you are truly interested in learning bansuri. As a member, you will gain full access to Bansuri Bliss Academy, which holds an abundance of Indian classical music tutorials not available anywhere else. You will also gain access to weekly Bansuri Bliss Members Lessons (led by me) through which you will learn additional concepts and meet other bansuri players.

Dr. Kerry Kriger playing bansuri in the jungles of Suriname, 2008.

More About Private Online Bansuri Lessons

We will focus on learning ragas and the fundamentals of Indian classical music (e.g. alap, taans, jhala, alankars and compositions in various taals).

You will be receiving the knowledge passed down to me from my guru Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao, combined with a touch of my own teaching style acquired from having taught numerous students from a wide variety of musical backgrounds over the past decade.

Lessons are one hour minimum…they may go longer if we are in the mood and our schedules allow.

You will receive an abundance of personalized feedback on your playing: tips, corrections, suggestions and improvements.

You will become fully competent in reading and writing Indian classical music and will receive PDF’s of compositions and exercises that will keep you busy and provide you with enjoyable music to play for months, years and possibly decades to come.

If you practice what I teach you, you will soon be a far better musician than you are today.

We will meet online. I will make sure I find time in my schedule and good internet; you will need to do the same.

You’re too busy? We are all busy and we probably always will be. It’s a matter of where your priorities are and how intelligently you make use of your waking hours. I will provide time management advice and encouragement as needed and if requested.

“I did a lot of research, and for me, I thought you’d be great to learn from because you seemed very passionate about bansuri. You also have a westernized approach to teaching as you can explain things simply, succinctly and in an engaging way.”
— Bansuri Student Akshay S., India

Dr. Kerry Kriger playing a raga on the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, 1997

Your Investment

Private lessons are:

$60 if you pay for a single lesson
$55 if you pay for six lessons upfront (Total: $330)
$50 if you pay for twelve lessons upfront (Total: $600)

Your level of commitment is the true determinant of how skilled a bansuri player you will become, so I recommend you commit to twelve lessons and enjoy the financial savings and increased musical knowledge and skill that comes with that commitment.

For six or twelve lessons, contact me and I will send you an invoice payable by credit card, debit card or ACH/wire.

All lessons are backed by the Bansuri Bliss 100% Satisfaction Guarantee, so if you aren’t satisfied with your lesson, simply request a full refund.

Please contact me if you wish to begin. I hope to be teaching you bansuri soon!

— Bansuri Bliss Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger

Dr. Kerry Kriger playing a raga on the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi, 1997

What Dr. William Sheldon Says About Private Bansuri Lessons With Me

“As a former college professor and, for some portion of a long career, the Director of a Teaching Learning Center, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about, practicing, and researching what makes great teaching and great teachers.

Kerry Kriger is a great teacher!

Great teachers do not just pontificate and demonstrate their superior knowledge– anyone can do that. Rather they find the place where their students are at, and devise ways to take them the next step from where they are. Kerry is wonderful at that. In my experience with him, playing at the initial part of our session every week, he quickly identifies places where I have both progressed, (and to which he gives wonderful encouragement) and where there is the next needed step, and devises our lessons around that identification. It is always a challenge, because I am stretching during the lesson to try and understand and perform the next thing. It is at times overwhelming and even a little bit frustrating but at the same time tremendously fun. During a recent lesson, for example, in which I was challenged to begin to understand rhythms, Kerry came all the way back to just putting down the flute and doing single time and double time progressions with our voices, me copying him. It was both difficult and immensely satisfying. And this is the stuff of all of my individual sessions with him.

What he has repeatedly stated is that his goal in stretching his students is to make them better. And after working with him for several months, I am decidedly better. I am accomplishing and understanding aspects of music that I did not even know existed prior to my studying with him. In addition to our studies on the flute he has identified and recommended music for me to listen to, and I am understanding and appreciating more of the subtleties and complexity of Indian classical music than I could have imagined. Many years ago I spent a year studying with another teacher, and I have progressed more in three months with Kerry then in that entire time previously.

Combined with the enormously rich resource of the structured online lessons in his Academy that Kerry can use as a reference point for practice in between sessions, there is everything that the student needs to progress and to enjoy the music and the bansuri. I have had the luxury of doing weekly lessons, which I would highly recommend, but if you can do one every two weeks or even one a month with assignments and practice in between it will be an enormous contribution to both your ability to play beautiful music and your enjoyment. I cannot recommend lessons with Kerry enough. They will make you better, inspire you to practice and improve, and most importantly empower you to enjoy at a higher level your time spent with music.

I have been blessed with wonderful teachers in many aspects of my life and at this point in which I am now interested in learning music for the first time in my life, Kerry is a wonderful gift.

He has the option of a free introductory lesson to see how you might work together. I urge everyone to take advantage of the opportunity and give it a try. I am confident you will be delighted with the result.”

— Dr. William Sheldon, New York, August 15th, 2020