| Kamala Shankar | |
|---|---|
| Origin | India |
| Genres | Indian classical music |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Shankar guitar |
| Website | kamalashankar-rajeevjanardan.com |
Kamala Shankar (born in 1966 in the Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu), is a Hindustani classical guitar player. She is married to sitar player Rajeev Janardan, with whom she performs.[1] Shankar is the first woman to have been awarded a doctorate in guitar.[2][3]
Kamala was trained in music by her mother from the age of six, and went on to study with khyal singer Channulal Mishra and sitar maestro Bimalendu Mukherjee. She received a doctorate of music (guitar playing) from vichitra-beenkar Gopal Shankar Mishra at Banaras Hindu University, and also holds bachelor's degrees in both vocal music and zoology.[2]
The guitar has only recently begun to be adopted to Indian classical music, and many players modify the instrument with their own developments to better suit the idiom. In this, Shankar is no exception. Her model, the Shankar guitar (built by Bishan Das Sharma of instrument makers Rikhi Ram and Sons, New Delhi), is made from a single block of wood, with thicker walls and no sound hole. It has four melody strings, four chikari (rhythm strings) and 12 taraf (sympathetic strings).[1][3] The guitar is named after Shankar Bhagwan. Shankar calls it a "modified version of the Hawaiian guitar".[4]
^ Meend over Matter, The Music Magazine, 7 January 2002.