My Music, My Life

My Music, My Life chronicles the extraordinary career of India’s best-known musician. Through his relationships with George Harrison and Philip Glass in the 1960s, Ravi Shankar brought Indian classical musical to the world stage and became one of the most influential musicians of the era, even performing at Woodstock in 1969. Here, Shankar describes in his own words his transformation from a young traveling dancer to a Grammy Award–winning, internationally recognized musician. At once a compelling memoir, a history of Indian classical music, and a manual on how to play the sitar, the book is as much about living a musical life as it is about the art of music. Originally published in 1968, this edition features a new foreword by Philip Glass, stunning, never-before-published photographs, and a new final chapter detailing Shankar’s hope for the preservation of Indian classical music.

Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitarist and composer, is a singular phenomenon in the classical music worlds of the East and West. He has written music for Yehudi Menuhin, Jean Pierre Rampal, Phillip Glass and George Harrison. The international award-winning musician is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is a member of the United Nations International Rostrum of Composers. He is known for his pioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West. He lives in California and India.