Thank you for your interest in my upcoming 8 week in-person Western kirtan training. My intention through this course is to give you the skills, practice, and confidence to be able to lead a Western styled kirtan like Krishna Das or other American kirtan leaders do.
General Approach
I will be teaching basic Western music theory, not the Sargam/raga approach from India. For those of who do not intend to sing classical Indian songs, then I believe that having a foundation in Western music theory is very helpful to boost your self-confidence as a musician, especially if you’ve never studied or practiced music before.
Sargam
However, the curriculum includes introducing the basics of Sargam. There will be exercises where you will be singing chants in Sargam. Then should you ever do decide to explore the vast world of East Indian music, you will have a minuscule bit of familiarity.
Western Music Theory
In this course, I’ve had feedback from many students that the music theory portion is a bit overwhelming. No worries, there’s only 4-5 main points to remember that will prove to be very helpful in your music journey. The rest, you can put aside for a future time – just focus on the hands-on practice.
Be a Creator, Express Your Melodies and Songs
However, in my mind, when one has a basic foundation in Western music, then they have a foundation to be somewhat comfortable in a Western music milieu collaborating with other musicians. And, they have the tools to create their own music. My intention is give graduates the tools to become creators, rather than just copiers. Most likely, you have your own melodies flowing through you, which may yet be expressed, but need to be, as you add your unique and essential piece to the universal unfolding of love.
Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
I feel that my approach is, in many ways, quite innovative. The curriculum and course content/videos create an environment where beginners can learn to play, sing, on time and on pitch and lead kirtan relatively quickly and easily.
Due to the many years of developing this methodology and intellectual property, I have asked as a requirement of this course, that students sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to keep the techniques, methodology, and approach that I teach you with, confidential. I will print out the NDA to be signed at the first class.
What does this mean? You are welcome to practice leading kirtan with your family and friends. Use a personal notebook where you’ve written out the chants, the chords and the fingering, but please don’t bring the course content materials outside the course. In the case where you may need to bring the melody sheets with the graphic hand/fingering, kindly don’t let anyone copy them whether digitally or otherwise.
If they ask you what you’re learning you could say “Oh, just the regular Western music theory stuff, intervals, chords, major and minor scales and Harreson uses a unique and helpful system with the use of music scores, videos and a methodology that I find easy to follow and learn with.”
If friends and family ask to see my teaching material or music scores, then I would ask you to say “Oh, I’ve agreed to keep that confidential to protect Harreson’s intellectual property. And it’s a fabulous system that he’s created which is helping me learn quicker and easier than I thought I could. I recommend that if you want to learn with a great system that makes it easy to learn how to play, how to sing on pitch and on time, then go see Harreson about his next 8 week kirtan training.”
The NDA means that I’m asking you not to show folks who are not in the training or haven’t taken my training, any of the course material, especially the videos and music scores. It’s best to bring a notebook where you can handwrite the chants, the chords and the fingering to use while you are practicing in a potentially public place.
The NDA means that I’m asking you not to teach my material or methodology. The NDA means that I’m asking you to keep all video links and videos confidential and not to share them. The NDA means I’m asking you not to transmit any of my teaching material over email or digitally.
I do think that I’ve created a special method that really helps a student learn faster. And I don’t want folks copying all my hard work.
Multi-Faith, Non-sectarian
I take a multi-faith non-sectarian approach to kirtan. I strive to present a high standard of Sanskrit pronunciation without needing to be perfect, and an open inclusive view that all the faiths which advocate a loving compassionate God have mantras and protective phrases in their own tradition.
The course curriculum includes learning 2 Sanskrit chants, 1 Sanskrit invocation, and 1 English chant.
Corrections From Harreson
Some people don’t like hearing corrections, especially regarding their singing. I do my best to provide gentle supportive corrections that will help steer you away from non-beneficial habits. I hope that you would be open to my suggestions as I believe they will save your time and speed up your music learning / kirtan leading process.
Right Handed Playing
Left-handed folks are asked to use their right hand to play the harmonium/keyboard. While a bit more troublesome initially, previous other left-handed students have adopted well with some effort.
What to Bring
Bring water and a binder with space for 36 plastic sheet protectors. For the in-person class, I will be providing paper handouts of the relevant music theory. It would be wise to bring a notebook and pen and be ready to take notes. A pencil would be handy in case you need to erase your initial notes on the paper handouts I give you.
You’re welcome to audio and video record the teachings on your phone if you can commit to keeping them confidential. I would appreciate that you keep them confidential.
Bring your phone. If you have room on your phone to install some apps, then there’s 2-3 essential apps (metronome, vocal pitch monitor).
Jam Packed – Do Your Best to Attend the First Six Lessons
The course will cover playing the harmonium, basic singing skills, and basic leading kirtan skills. That’s a lot to cover in 8 weeks. I will be giving hands-on practice during each class, asking each student questions to test their retention/knowledge of the music theory, and I will be asking folks to play the harmonium and when it’s time, to sing and lead, for the class.
While I have recordings of the class to view post-class, if you’re able to be present to a class, whether in-person or online, then I can provide individual instruction to you. This individual instruction will help you avoid wasting time with non-beneficial habits and quicken your time to feeling satisfied with your progress.
If you have no previous experience in music or leading singing, I have structured the course to give you the practice to cultivate the skills needed. Of course, the more you practice outside of class, then the easier the new content will be for you.
Recording/Missed Classes/Out-of-town:
As well as the pre-recorded instructional videos, I’ll record the classes so that if you’re out of town or can’t make the class for health or other emergency, then you can access the recording and still be able to keep up with the class.
I will have deemed that you have attended the class, if I have provided you the links to the recordings and videos.
Quizzes
I do some informal quiz and test your knowledge of what we learned in the previous classes. It’s very casual and is not marked. Don’t stress too much about the quizzzes, use them as motivation to study and build your music foundation.
What to Practice On
You will need some sort of keyboard to practice on after class. It doesn’t have to be a harmonium.
For the in-person class, I have enough harmoniums for everyone. No need to effort to bring your own (unless you want me to have a look at it). You don’t have to buy a harmonium before the class starts. I should be able to loan everyone ($0 no charge if returned with zero damage) a digital keyboard for the length of the course, for the home practice of those in the BC Lower Mainland.
A digital keyboard is sufficient if you don’t have a harmonium to practice on at home. The keys on a digital keyboard are wider than a harmonium’s so you will notice that once you start playing on a harmonium.
For myself, while teaching, I use an old 2011 Casio LK280 keyboard which has keys that light up, to enable one to see which keys are being pressed. A more modern Casio CT-S100, S195, S200, S250 or S300 are smaller, more portable keyboards (which hopefully comes with an AC adapter), can many times be found in Facebook Marketplace for less than $100 CAD.
I recommend the Casio CT-S195/200/300 as a light easily carryable keyboard which has organs sounds which emulates the harmonium drone to a degree. Except for the Casio CT-S100 (only 32 note), all the rest of the Casio keyboards mentioned above have 48 note polyphony which is sufficient for good sound.
One advantage of practicing on a digital keyboard is that it has a volume control (and headphone jack). You won’t be bothering roommates or neighbours with the drone sound (whether your voice does, that’s a different matter!).
In the last class, I will go over some things to look out for in terms of buying a harmonium.
A Supportive Environment For Progress, not Perfection
I will do my best to provide a supportive environment to provide you with a solid foundation in music, to bring out the kirtan facilitator in you, and to water the existing seeds of devotion inside you.
Please be ready to face your limitations and fears, whether it’s thinking you’re not a singer, you don’t like your voice, or are scared of being seen in public, or needing to perform to perfection.
I myself have started from scratch with no music nor vocal training. However a desire to sing for God and the years of on-the-job-in-the-fire leading Vancouver Community Kirtan have taught me some useful skills and knowledge.
After Graduation
After completing the 8 week course Western kirtan training, as a graduate, you are eligible to lead kirtan at a future Vancouver Community Kirtan (VCK) event. It is in the kirtans that you lead in public, in front of an audience, that really tests you and also gives you confidence and progress.
Post-graduation: Free Mentorship
I will mentor you free for two practice group sessions to help you lead your debut kirtan at a VCK event. Should you need further mentorship, you could pay for private individual instruction.
Post-graduation: Monthly Kirtan Practices
I have monthly kirtan practices for my graduates and current students, in-person in Vancouver or online. I won’t provide any feedback regarding one’s leading practice. However, I will make suggestions on how to be a supportive response singer.
A Transformative Journey
I look forward to accompanying you on your kirtan journey. While there is a certain proficiency in music that is required to lead kirtan and not have people throw tomatos at you, the main thing to keep in mind is your soul’s journey.
Kirtan is aimed to evoke an emotion – an emotion of bhakti, of devotion to God. Perhaps that is not your main conscious motivation at this time. That’s alright – something (your soul) has pulled you to kirtan.
Freedom, wholeness, and everything wholesome and worthwhile resides in God. Strengthening our connection with God is the most worthwhile endeavour we can pursue with our body, minds, hearts, spirits, time and energy.
It is a soul’s epic journey of wholesomeness and wholeness, supported by God to soften and open your heart, connect you the ever-nourishing source of goodness which is God. Once on this journey, it is wise not not leave it for too long.
The next course starts Wednesday evening, April 15th – June 3rd, 2026. For in-person, please come early around 6:45 pm if you can, so that we can start on time.
Contact Harreson For Registration
Should you decide that you’d like to try my particular path of Western kirtan training, I would be happy to hear from you and can provide further details for registration/payment/logistics.
If you need to remove yourself after starting, the drop-in rate is $100 for every class (whether attended online/in-person or having been given access to the pre-recorded/recorded material).
You can text/call Harreson at 604 377 2372.