What I listen to: Amjad ali Khan, musician

Published on Thursday 13 November 2008 19:04

I ENJOY all kinds of music, but when I am travelling I listen to European symphonies. Symphony is something very rare in Indian music. I am a solo sarod player and so I rarely play in groups, therefore listening to the symphonies of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart is fascinating for me – I am very fond of the European symphony. Mind you, if there is a long flight or train journey I often use the time to listen to recordings of my own live concerts, because I want to know where I went wrong!

I listen to sarod music played by my sons for much the same reason – I want to know where they are going wrong! The sarod has 11 sympathetic strings which resound and make a harmony whilst one plays on the four main strings and this makes it a very complex instrument to play. I have been teaching my sons the sarod since they were born. Amaan is the elder son and Ayaan is younger by two years. I listen to their music a lot to try and help them learn.

When I am eating at home with my family, we listen to old Indian spiritual music called Qawwali. It is Sufi devotional music. The songs are mostly in Urdu or Punjabi and each one is around 30 minutes long. There are few great singers of the Qawwali style; the great master is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – we listen to him a lot in our household.

You will be surprised to know that when I'm preparing for a concert I need absolute silence. If I am listening to anything at all it makes my mind work, I become like blotting paper and absorb what I am listening to rather than concentrating on my own performance.

So, on the day of the concert I am like a patient, I am in bed and I need total silence, I just think and sing inside, whilst I prepare for my concert.

• Amjad Ali Khan and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra perform Khan Samaagam, a concerto for sarod, concertante group and chamber orchestra, at City Halls, Glasgow on 21 November and at the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh on Saturday 22 November. Tel: [phone] or see www.sco.org.uk