Music Classes – Bodywork – Webshop
by Michael Winkler
I do offer private lessons, workshops and weekly classes for Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) & Qigong as well as for Indian and Western Music on the Bansuri and the Guitar.
Beside that I am selling my own made Bansuris and teaching materials via the webshop on this website (still under construction).
My musical background is Jazz and Rock Guitar, but later on I moved more and more towards my second instrument, the Indian Bamboo Flute, the Bansuri.
Parallel to that I practice Taijiquan & Qigong (Chinese Martial- and Healing Arts) since 2003 and started teaching this since around 2007. More details on my vita can be found on the page “about me“.
Please use the top menu to explore the offers on this website, newsletter sign up can be found on the bottom and the contact information … here.
Hope to see you soon and kind regards,
Michael
Hindustani & Jazz Music – Bansuri – Guitar – Taijiquan (Tai Chi) – Qigong
Music Training & (w)holistic Bodywork
The chinese Term Gōngfu 功夫 (Kung Fu) is build of two parts: gōng (功) and fu (夫).
Translating them literally gong is work, and fu ability or skill. So unlike most people might think, the real meaning of Gongfu (Kung Fu) is not the particular martial art from Shaolin, and it also does not only mean martial arts in general.
“Gongfu” actually is a generic term to describe any art or skill that needs to be practiced and refined over time. Some people did interpret the term like the mathematical integral between the work and the time put into that work:
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Then the term “Jazz” can also be interpreted in a much broader sense than only a particular style of music. From a certain perspective, Jazz actually is not a style of music at all, but rather a way of musical approach to all sorts of styles.
So within the World of Jazz we do find particular styles like the Classic Swing, Bebop, Hardbop, a hughe variety of Latin styles, Bossa Nova, Acid Jazz, etc etc.
All those styles have very different feelings and expressions. What makes it “Jazz” is more or less the way HOW these styles are incorporated. So surely one obvious aspect there is that we present a theme (main melody) over a particular chord form (or not), and then have improvised solos on those so-called heads.
In this approach there is a similarity to the Hindustani Music, the Classical Music of North India. Main difference though is that the Indian Music does never change the root note (a drone provided by the tanpura), where in almost all western styles of music we have chord progressions and root notes are changing all the time, even when staying one key. This will be explained in further article in the blog section of this website, in case please check it out.
So on this website I want to promote the practice of a variety of arts, as a way of life and personal path. This can reach from just practicing a hobby all the way to (w)holistic and spiritual self-development, healing and finding some new purposes of life.
I offer online lessons, workshops and more for the North-Indian bamboo flute, the Bansuri, Guitar lessons and training for Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method (Tai Chi Chuan) and Qigong.
Bansuri for Hindustani & Jazz Music – Online Private Lessons, Group Classes, Workshops and more
The North-Indian bamboo flute, the Bansuri, is mainly know from the Hindustani Music. But actually this instrument is fully mature, and it can be used for any style you want.
So I am working a lot on it to get it introduced in the Jazz field as well, which is my musical background as a guitar player. Still, as I started to discover that instrument along with the North-Indian Music I am offering also introductions for the Hindustani Music on the Bansuri.
Note for Beginners
When you begin to play it does not matter too much what kind of music you want to play later on. The very first steps are to get sound out of the flute and become able to control all the notes.
Later on we can dig into the musical worlds of India or the West, which is in certain ways very different and for instance intonation wise not really compatible. But the Bansuri is a very flexible instrument in this, so it can be used for both.
Chen Style Taijiquan Practical Method (Tai Chi Chuan) and Qigong – (not only) for Musicians
Taijiquan is a classical martial art from China, and Qigong is (w)holistic body- and energy work. The second is kind of the “yoga from China” we might say.
I am disciple of lineage holder Master Chen Zhonghua, and I brought this style of Taijiquan to Germany in the year 2011. In 2017 I handed over the school in Berlin, as we went abroad to live in India. But these days we had to move back to Germany.
So today I can offer classes, workshops and private online lessons for Taijiquan and Qigong again.
These training systems are great for healthcare in general, but as a musician playing this big flute, the Hindustani Bansuri, my previous training in those arts turned out to be super useful in many ways.
So today I want to share those methods and skills especially with professional musicians as well.
This website is still very much under construction, for now please sign up for the newsletter and/or check my old websites:
https://www.sound-of-bansuri.com
https://www.the-taiji-family.com