Harmonium Kirtan Course Curriculum

Easy Beginner Package

Beginner Package

Intermediate Package

Advanced Package

Essential Gaudiya Bhajans Package

Easy Beginner Package

For Whom:
● People who want to play harmonium for bhajans or kirtan, but have had no formal
training as such.

Key learnings from course:

● After this course, students will be able to:
● Develop a better comfort level of using harmonium
● Develop confidence to lead kirtans for 15-20 mins on harmonium (or more,
depending on capacity)
● Be able to do pranam mantras, Hare Krishna mahamantra tunes that you can
use daily for your ​sadhana
● Develop a better memory bank for Hare Krishna melodies
● Be able to play a tune based on combination of audio & written sargam notation
● Have a better sense of navigating the harmonium keys
● Take up a customized level course for further advancement

Curriculum:
Week 1:
● Pranam1 + Hare Krishna (4 up/down)
Week 2:
● Pranam4 + Hare Krishna - based on Raag Asavari
Week 3:
● Tune 1a - classic prabhupad tune - Hare Krishna
Week 4:
○ Ga27 - Shri Ram Jai Ram (also works for Hare Krishna + Jai Jagannath)
○ Ga25 - Hare Krishna (also works for Sri Ram Jai Ram + Jai Jagannath)
○ Ga26 - Jaya Jagannath (also works for Hare Krishna + Shri Ram Jai Ram)
Week 5:
● Tune3 - Hare Krishna
Week 6:

1
 ● Tune4 - Hare Krishna - Raag Darbari Part 1
● Tune15 - Raag Bhairav - Morning (1 part)
Week 7:
○ Tune5 - Hare Krishna
Week 8:
○ Tune6 - 2 parts - Hare krishna
Week 9:
○ Re55 - hare krishna - based on Jai Jai Radhe Jai Jai Shyam
Week 10:
● Tune 12 - 2 parts - Hare Krishna
Week 11:
○ Sa53 - hare krishna - simple
Week 12:
● Pa1 - Hare Krishna - Catchy Mayapur Tune

Success Criteria:
● Overall quality of presentation
● Ability to influence heart of listener through devotion
● Absorption while singing
● Sense of rhythm/timing
● Consistency
● Playing the right notes
● Quality of singing
● Control of pace
● Single time/double time singing

Beginner Package
For Whom:
● People who want to play harmonium for bhajans or kirtan, but have had no formal
training as such.

Key learnings from course:

● After this course, students will be able to:
● Develop a better taste for ​harinaam​ using harmonium
● Develop confidence to lead kirtans for 30-40 mins on harmonium (or more,
depending on capacity)
● Be able to do pranam mantras, Hare Krishna mahamantra tunes and simple
Gaudiya Vaishnav bhajans that you can use daily for your ​sadhana
● Develop a better memory bank for Hare Krishna melodies

2
 ● Develop a better sense of syncing singing/harmonium playing with mrindang &
kartals
● Be able to play a tune based on combination of audio & written sargam notation
● Have a better sense of navigating the harmonium keys
● Be able to sing single time/double time & vary pace in kirtan
● Take up the intermediate level course for further advancement

Curriculum:
Week 1:
● Pranam2 - based on Sansar Davanal​ and/or
● Pranam3 - very common - with Srila Prabhupad's Hare Krishna Tune
Week 2:
● Ma16 or Sa48 - hare krishna - Srila Prabhupad CD vintage collection
Week 3:
○ Ga46 - Hare krishna - Bhakta Shyam Berkeley - Raag Kalavati - Late night
Week 4:
● Re14 Narsimha pranam
Week 5:
● Tune 12 - 2 parts - Hare Krishna​ or
● Ma18 - hare krishna - Raag Darbari - Evening - Gopal iskcon dwarka​ or
● Re55 - hare krishna - based on Jai Jai Radhe Jai Jai Shyam​ or
● Re53 - simple tune for hare krishna, shri ram, jai jagannath
Week 6:
● Re41 - Damodarashtakam - version 1
Week 7:
○ Ga28 - Madhav prabhu - 2 parts
Week 8:
● Jaya Radha Madhav Jaya Kunjabihari
Week 9:
○ Sa56 - hare krishna - Bayasgalan​ or
○ Pa1 - Hare Krishna - Catchy Mayapur Tune
Week 10:
● Gaur aarti
Week 11:
● Sa38 - hare krishna - simple
Week 12:
● Sa4 - Hare Krishna - crowd singing

Success Criteria:
● Overall quality of presentation
● Ability to influence heart of listener through devotion
● Absorption while singing
● Sense of rhythm/timing

3
 ● Consistency
● Playing the right notes
● Quality of singing
● Control of pace
● Single time/double time singing
● Sense of sync with mridangam & kartal

Intermediate Package
For Whom:
● People who have graduated from beginner level course or at approximately at that level
(adjudged through screening)
● Who want to advance further by learning more mahamantra tunes, learn multipart,
longer kirtans or Gaudiya Bhajans

Key learnings from course:

● After this course, students will be able to:
● Develop an even deeper taste for ​harinaam​ using harmonium
● Inspire others even better for kirtan
● Improve confidence to lead kirtans for 1 hour on harmonium (or more, depending
on capacity)
● Improve Kirtan memory bank and utilize it for their ​Sadhana
● Develop capacity for doing multi-part kirtans
● Connect kirtans to each other for a smoother kirtan experience
● Play kirtans based on classical Indian raags
● Play more Gaudiya Bhajans
● Figure out simple tunes based on hearing
● Improve sense of varying pace, single time/double time, alternating between
parts
● Potentially teach others beginner course
● Take up advanced course

Curriculum:
Week 1:
● Tune14 - Chipkali (chords)​ or
○ Sa43 - hare krishna - chords - Raag chayanat - evening - East Europe tune
Week 2:
● Sansar davanal - Sri Gurvashtakam
Week 3:
● Re20 - Hare Krishna - Bada Hari Das (Sa11 variation)
Week 4:
● Ga2 - Hare Krishna - Bhaktivedant Manor tune
Week 5:

4
 ● Guru pooja Re20.mp4
Week 6:
● Pa2 Gaur Aarti.mp4
Week 7:
● Jai Jai jagannath sachira nandan
Week 8:
● Tulsi Pranam and Aarti - Namo Namah Tulasi Krishna Preyasi
Week 9:
● Hari haraya namah krishna yadavaay namah
Week 10:
● Manasa Deho Geho Jo Kichu Mora
Week 11:
● Sa13 - Hare Krishna - Rag Gujari Todi - Morning - Anant Nitai Das
Week 12:
● Sa6 - Hare Krishna - Raag Mishra Bhopali - evening - Anant Nitai Das
Week 13:
● Ma8 - Hare Krishna - Raag Puriya Dhanashree - Evening - Jagjit Singh

Success Criteria:
● Overall quality of presentation
● Ability to influence heart of listener through devotion
● Absorption while singing
● Sense of rhythm/timing
● Consistency
● Quality of singing
● Control of pace
● Single time/double time singing
● Sense of sync with mridangam & kartal
● Ability to recall multiple tunes
● Ability to connect Kirtans together
● Ability to play multiple parts and alternate between them
● Ability to figure out tunes based on hearing

Advanced Package
For Whom:
● People who have graduated from intermediate level course or at approximately at that
level (adjudged through screening)
● Who want to advance further by learning more raag based mahamantra tunes, longer
kirtans or Gaudiya Bhajans

Key learnings from course:

● After this course, students will be able to:

5
 ● Develop an even deeper taste for raag based ​harinaam​ tunes using harmonium
● Inspire others even better for kirtan
● Improve confidence to lead kirtans for 2+ hour on harmonium (or more,
depending on capacity)
● Improve Kirtan memory bank and utilize it for their ​Sadhana
● Figure out multi-part kirtans based on hearing
● Play more Gaudiya Bhajans
● Teach others beginner and intermediate level courses!

Curriculum:
Week 1:
● Sa26 - Hare Krishna - Raag Kalavati - Midnight - Radha Raman Temple Vrindavan
Week 2:
● Re34 - Hare Krishna Kirtan - Raag Yaman - Late Evening/Night - Pitambari baba
Vrindavan
Week 3:
● Re34 - Hare Krishna Kirtan - Raag Yaman - Late Evening/Night - Pitambari baba
Vrindavan​ ​continued
Week 4:
● Re33 - Hare Krishna - Raag Bhopali - 6-9pm - Pitambari Baba Vrindavan
Week 5:
○ Re33 - Hare Krishna - Raag Bhopali - 6-9pm - Pitambari Baba Vrindavan​ continued
Week 6:
● Re29 - Hare Krishna - Raag Prabhat - Swaroop Damodar Prabhu
Week 7:
● Sa23 - Hare Krishna - Raag Shivranjini - Late Night/Midnight - Anant Nitai Das
Week 8:
● Sa23 - Hare Krishna - Raag Shivranjini - Late Night/Midnight - Anant Nitai Das
continued
Week 9:
● Sa19 - Hare Krishna - Raag Bhairavi (version 2) - Late Morning - Anant Nitai Das
Week 10:
● Sa19 - Hare Krishna - Raag Bhairavi (version 2) - Late Morning - Anant Nitai Das
continued
Week 11:
● Ga17 - Hare Krishna - Raag Sughrai - Afternoon - Anant Nitai Das
Week 12:
● Ni3 - Hare Krishna - Raag Marwa from Barsana - Dusk - Anant Nitai Das
Week 13:
● Ni5 - Hare Krishna - Raag Malkhaus (version 2) - Late Night/Midnight
Week 14:
● Ga22 - Hare Krishna - Raag Kafi/Mishra Kafi - Late evening - Anant Nitai Das
Week 15:

6
 ● Dha9 - Hare krishna - Raag Yaman - Radha Raman temple

Success Criteria:
● Overall quality of presentation
● Ability to influence heart of listener through devotion
● Absorption while singing
● Sense of rhythm/timing
● Consistency
● Quality of singing
● Control of pace
● Single time/double time singing
● Sense of sync with mridangam & kartal
● Ability to recall multiple tunes
● Ability to connect Kirtans together
● Ability to play multiple parts and alternate between them
● Ability to figure out tunes based on hearing

Essential Gaudiya Bhajans Package

For Whom:
● For devotees who want to play frequently played bhajans for enhancing their daily
sadhana

Key learnings from course:

● After this course, students will be able to:
● Develop a sweeter taste for ​leading gaudiya bhajans​ using harmonium
● Develop confidence to lead kirtans for 30-40 mins on harmonium (or more,
depending on capacity)
● Develop a better sense of syncing singing/harmonium playing with mrindang &
kartals
● Have a better sense of navigating the harmonium keys
● Take up intermediate level course for further advancement

Curriculum:
Week 1:
● Guru pooja Re20.mp4
Week 2:
● Sansar davanal lidha loka - Sri Gurvashtakam - Morning sandhya tune
Week 3:
● Gaur aarti
Week 4:
● Jaya Radha Madhav Jaya Kunjabihari

7
 Week 5:
● Re14 Narsimha pranam
Week 6:
● Tulsi Pranam and Aarti - Namo Namah Tulasi Krishna Preyasi
Week 7:
○ Re41 - Damodarashtakam - version 1
Week 8:
● Ni14 - Jagannath ashtakam
Week 9:
○ Gauranga karuna Koro
Week 10:
● Jai Radhe Jai Krishna Jai Vrindavan
Week 11:
● Sri krishna chaitanya prabhu doya Koro more
Week 12:
● Naadiya Godrume Nityanand Mahajan

Success Criteria:
● Overall quality of presentation
● Ability to influence heart of listener through devotion
● Absorption while singing
● Sense of rhythm/timing
● Consistency
● Playing the right notes
● Quality of singing
● Control of pace
● Single time/double time singing
● Sense of sync with mridangam & kartal