About
This page contains tutorial videos and written guides for playing chants used in SRF contexts on harmonium and other kirtan instruments. These resources are intended to be a companion to the primary sources for the chants, which are the Cosmic Chants book (published by Self-Realization Fellowship) and recordings published on the SRF YouTube channel and other SRF streaming channels.
All of the repertoire on this site is either a Cosmic Chant or a bhajan (traditional Indian devotional chant) that has been used in SRF contexts.
Learn by watching and listening
These videos can serve to help people who are not adept at reading musical notation and prefer learning visually. The videos show fingerings that work well, how to play legato (continuously keeping a note pressed), and examples of how to incorporate tasteful chords, drone notes, and rhythmic tapping. Most of the videos include accompaniment by a metronome, which is a crucial tool for learning to render the chants with the correct rhythms and be able to maintain a consistent rhythmic pulse. There are videos conveying each chant at the tempos suggested in the Cosmic Chants book, and at other tempos. Using the YouTube settings on each video, they can be slowed down to make it easier to see which notes are being played and to watch the finger patterns.
And for those playing kirtan, this site will provide the basic musical knowledge and patterns that work well for each instrument in a kirtan.
Training for the SRF Encinitas Temple meditation leaders and kirtan committee
This page is an informal educational offering created by the SRF Encinitas Temple Kirtan Committee for use in training the meditation leaders committee and kirtan players. It also serves as a resource for devotees who want to learn SRF chants for their own devotional practices at home.
To make it easy for the Encinitas Temple meditation and kirtan leaders to access, we have organized the materials into this website format. And since we have received many requests from other SRF members to have access to this material, we have made these materials available to all, but with the understanding that each SRF Temple and Center should consider their minister-in-charge or monastic counselor to be their primary resource for any guidance regarding rendering chants at that Temple or Center.