Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became my disciple.
When I began competing with the other artists in New York, I discovered classical North Indian music.
I think it was John who really urged me to play sitar on 'Norwegian Wood,' which was the first time we used it. Now, Paul has just asked me recently whether I'd written any more of those 'Indian type of tunes.' He suddenly likes them now. But at the time, he wouldn't play on them.
I'd play with these Indian players, the tabla and sitar.
I like African music, and I'm a huge Ravi Shankar fan.
'When I'm Sixty-Four' hasn't worn well, but George Harrison's 'Within You Without You' is awesome.
The strangest part of Indian music is its lack of chords: There's no such thing as major or minor, and it's unusual to hear more than two different pitches at the same time.
My father had a sitar made for me that was half the size of a normal one.
Indian classical music was born when time barely existed. It developed further within the structures of royal courts and a system of patronage where the ruler or the feudal master determined all.
I'd love to perform in India, but I don't book the gigs. It's one of the few places I haven't played. One of the Indian instruments that I love is the sitar. I played it on some of my songs, including 'Pyramid of Cheops' and 'Crucify.'
I appreciate very much Vilayat Khan, the sitar player, and Bismillah Khan, the shehnai player; and among the tabla players, of course, Alla Rakha, Kishan Maharaja, and all these people.
I've been writing Indian music for a while. Indian music is about Mother Earth, and mine is no exception.
Even though my father had a really successful career before the '60s, that kind of insane pop-culture splash that happened was so massive. People hear the sitar and immediately think, you know, flying carpets and tie-dyed T-shirts and wafting smoke.
Indian classical music is charming and currently there are a wide range of musicians who bring great classical tunes to the Bollywood industry.
My memories of mealtimes are a real bleed of music and food. Music never really stopped in the music room, because everyone would move out to the table with their sitars.
