Raga Retreat Resolution India March 9–15

Raga Retreat India is an online raga retreat devoted to Indian classical music, led by Byron Bay-based slide guitarist, composer and teacher Shivam Rath. It is presented as six nights and seven days of intensive study, with the sessions held over Zoom. It suits anyone drawn to the raga tradition who wants sustained time with a working musician and educator rather than a single workshop.

What to Expect

The focus is the raga tradition, the melodic system at the heart of Indian classical music. A raga is a framework that defines a scale, its characteristic phrases, its ornaments and its aesthetic conventions. In performance, a musician improvises within that framework, so each rendition is its own while staying true to the tradition's core principles.

A retreat format allows the kind of sustained engagement this music asks for. Over the seven days, the study is intensive and centres on the raga tradition itself. Shivam brings traditional raga training together with yogic philosophy and meditative practice, so music is approached both as artistic expression and as a sound practice, not only as technique.

About Shivam Rath

Shivam Rath is a slide guitarist, composer, producer, music teacher and retreat facilitator based in Byron Bay. He describes himself as a second-generation Indian-Australian musician who integrates traditional raga training with yogic philosophy and meditative practice. His approach treats music as both artistic expression and a sound practice.

His main instrument is the 22-string Indian slide guitar, which he performs as the Crystal Slide, also called the Chaturangi. He describes it as a combination of the sitar and the Hawaiian slide guitar, shaped by the Indian classical system, with sympathetic strings that resonate with the scale or mode being played. He has played it for close to two decades and still feels like a student of it. He describes Crystal Slide as an evolving musical practice inspired by the flowing meend, the glide, of Indian classical music.

Before You Go

The retreat is held online, so you take part from wherever you are through a Zoom meeting. Early Bird places can be claimed with a refundable deposit, which lets you hold a spot ahead of the retreat.