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10 Best Facts about Ali Akbar Khan

Ali Akbar Khan was an Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod.

Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he also composed numerous classical ragas and film scores.

known more familiarly as Khansahib he was regarded as a 鈥渕usician鈥檚 musician.鈥� He was the master of the sarod and was known for his incredible breadth of artistry and knowledge.

Khan was trained by his father, the master Alauddin Khan, and began performing at age 13, soon becoming the court musician to the maharaja of Jodhpur.

Let鈥檚 look at the 10 best facts about Ali Akbar Khan.

1. Ali Akbar Khan Trained under his Maestro Dad

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His father was the primary court musician for the Maharaja of Jodphur.

Khansahib began his studies with his father at the tender age of 3, learning vocal music.

 he studied drums with his uncle, Fakir Aftabuddin. Although he tried playing a wide variety of instruments, he felt most comfortable on the sarod. 

Ali Akbar Khansahib (as he is properly called)  first public performance at 14 years.

The Maharaja of Jodhpur appointed him a court musician at 20 years old.

The title “Ustad,” the Persian word meaning “master musician.” was conferred to him.

2.  His Family Traces their Classical Music Heritage to a 16^th Century Guru

His family traces its North Indian tradition to Mian Tansen, a musical genius and court musician of Akbar, a Moghul emperor of the sixteenth century.

Tansen is regarded as a rishi, or saint, who gave new life to the classical instrumental music of India. He was a 16^th century musical genius and court musician for Emperor Akbar.

There are many accounts of music healing the ailing, as well as starting fires and bringing rain. That is why it was studied with intense dedication.

Ali Akbar’s father, the late Allaudin Khan, was the chief disciple of Wazir Khan, a direct descendant of Tansen and is acknowledged as one of the greatest figures in North Indian music in the twentieth century.

A strict teacher, Allaudin Khan taught some of the most celebrated Indian artists, including sitarist Ravi Shankar, flutist Pannallal Ghosh, his daughter Annapurna and his son Ali Akbar.

3. He Produced the First Western Album of Indian Classical Music

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He first visited the United States in 1955, at the request of Yehudi Menuhin, and performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

That same year, he also made the first American recording of Indian music and the first television performance of Indian music, on Alistair Cooke’s Omnibus show.

In 1971, Khan performed with his brother-in-law, Ravi Shankar during Ravi and George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden.

Subsequently, he toured extensively in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and North America.

Performance highlights include the East-West Encounter in Tokyo and at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in New York; the Festival of India at Philharmonic Hall; Expo ’67 in Montreal; and the Berkeley and Monterey jazz festivals with saxophonist John Handy.

4.  Ali Akbar Khan Collected a Ton of Awards

Khan received numerous awards including the Best Musician of the Year Award for Hungry Stones film soundtrack, 1960; President of India Award (India鈥檚 highest award for the arts), 1963; President of India Award, 1966; The Grand Prix du Disque, 1968; Gold Disc Award for Concert for Bangladesh, 1971; Padma Bhusan Award from the Government of India, 1971; Padma Vibhusan Award (highest honour presented to a civilian in India), 1988; Kalidas Sanman Award, Madya Pradesh Academy of Music and Fine Arts, 1991; first Indian musician to receive MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, 1991; Mahatma Gandhi Cultural Award, 1992; The Bill Graham Lifetime Achievement Award, Bay Area Music Awards Foundation (BAMMIES), 1993; Governor鈥檚 Award for Outstanding Achievement, The Recording Academy, 1998; Indira Gandhi Gold Plaque, Asiatic Society of Calcutta, 1998.

5.  Ali Akbar Khan  Founded Music Schools

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In addition to being a performer, composer and recording artist, he continued the teaching tradition of his father.

He settled in the United States in the early 1960s with his wife, Mary J. Khan, who played the tabla drum that traditionally accompanies the sarod or sitar.

In 1956, Khan founded the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in Calcutta. Teaching in the United States since 1965, he opened the Ali Akbar College of Music in Berkeley, CA.

In 1967, inspired by the extraordinary interest and abilities of his Western students, Khan founded the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California.

Khan taught six classes a week for nine months a year. In the early ’90s, the school opened branches in Fremont, CA, and Basel, Switzerland.

Through the college, more than 7,000 American devotees have seriously pursued North Indian music.

6.  Ali Akbar Khan was a Master of the Sarod

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The sarod is a 25-string, lutelike instrument made of a teak or mahogany body with a goatskin hide stretched over it and a metal fingerboard.

Ten of the strings are played with a coconut-shell plectrum and 15 are sympathetic strings, which vibrate while the melody is being played on the primary 10 strings.

The sarod has two resonating chambers that produce contrasting types of sound.

7. He Could Play 75,000 Ragas

Over the course of 20 years, Ali Akbar learned more than 75,000 ragas from his father.

Ragas are the melodic motifs that are the basis of Indian music and have remained part of an oral tradition that is customarily passed along within families.

The ragas are keyed to a particular time or day or year.

Although they are a primary component of disciplined improvisation, the musician must learn the techniques to improvise from them.

8. Ali Akbar Khan鈥檚 rigorous Sarod mastery Timelines

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Learning the ragas and mastering the instrument are both difficult challenges.

Ali Akbar says, “If you practice for 10 years, you may please yourself, after 20 years you may become a performer and please the audience, after 30 years you may please even your guru, but you must practice for many more years before you finally become a true artist-then you may please even God.”

Ali Akbar Khan practised for more than 70 years.

9. His Father and Trainer  Baba Allaudin Khan was Hard to Please

Khan continued his studies with his father until his father was over 100 years old, though the elder Khan often beat his son for what he saw as a lack of dedication.

The state of Jodhpur gave Khan his first title as a young man, that of Ustad, or Master Musician.

His father was not amused with his son’s title. 

Late in his life, Allauddin Khan gave his son a title of his own, that of Swara Samrat, or Emperor of Melody.

Khan understood his father鈥檚 delayed praise for his skill on the sarod.

10. Ali Akbar Khan’s Son Alam Khan is a Musician too!

Born and raised in the U.S., Alam lives in California and now teaches advanced instrumental classes at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael besides pursuing an active career as a performing musician and caring for his family.

He may not be a frequent performer in India but his style of  play reminds all of his illustrious father.

From 1996 to 2006, he accompanied his father at concerts all over the world while also pursuing a musical career as a soloist.

His collaborations with the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band, The San Francisco and Fremont symphonies, and film composer and performer Michael Andrews exhibit his interests in various genres of music.

He is also a founding member and primary composer of the world music group 鈥楪rand Tapestry鈥�. Alam went on to release 鈥業mmersion鈥�,(2018) a new classical music album after a lengthy break.

India is a nation replete with rich history, numerous languages, diverse cultures, multiple religions, and expressive arts.

The Indus Valley civilization, consisting of modern-day India and Pakistan, was one of the three earliest and most widespread civilizations of human history.

Indian classical music dates back to ancient times, almost four thousand years ago.

Ali Akbar Khan is a name that is virtually synonymous with the sarod. 

He is one of the first people to take the instrument into the international arena.  This is due to his untiring efforts as a performer and an educator.