{"id":5492,"date":"2021-05-29T08:03:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nepallivetoday.com\/?p=5492"},"modified":"2021-11-15T09:13:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T03:28:39","slug":"meet-the-man-behind-nepali-e-chords-a-guitar-guru-for-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nepallivetoday.com\/2021\/05\/29\/meet-the-man-behind-nepali-e-chords-a-guitar-guru-for-thousands\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the man behind Nepali E-Chords, a guitar guru for thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kathmandu<\/strong>: He teaches guitar for thousands but he is almost entirely anonymous. In his tutorials, he appears seated on a couch, mostly with a faded T-shirt and jeans–and the guitar, of course. For his first-ever video, the man behind Nepali E-Chords chose Gurasai Fulyo<\/em>, the classic folk-rock piece by 1974AD. He begins by strumming two alternate bars of the A and B-minor chords and then a brisk, wailing solo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guitar is said to be an instrument that is easy to learn and hard to master. For beginners, after learning a few chords and strumming patterns, the logical next step is to transition to playing songs. Being able to play a song one grew up listening to can be gratifying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are thousands of channels on Youtube helping aspirers navigate the fretboard. Nepali E-Chords is one of them–perhaps the most famous in Nepal. The channel teaches popular Nepali songs, with genres ranging from adhunik and pop to rock and folk-rock, covering songs by artists from Narayan Gopal and Sad Rose to Arthur Gunn. The channel has a humble tagline: \u201cPlay Guitar Nepali Way\u201d. Its videos have been viewed over 24 million times so far. Nepali E-Chords started back in April, 2013 by an emigrant Nepali based in the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all his popularity, Poudyal has never exposed his face in any of his videos. Many of his friends and relatives still don\u2019t know that he is the man behind Nepali E Chords. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Songs like Gurasai Fulyo, Chudaina Timro Mayale and Resham <\/em>are timeless classics popular among Nepalis at home and abroad. \u201cThese songs are played in almost every Nepali event and gatherings taking place in the US,\u201d says Sajeed Poudyal, the man behind Nepali E-Chords. \u201cBut most of the time the songs would be played the wrong way. I wanted to teach them the right chords.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Poudyal is himself a musician playing with his band Mokshya Mantra for the past 20 years. He had played with a backup band for Phiroj Syangtan, the 1974AD vocalist, in Washington DC, a week prior to starting Nepali E-Chords. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cOne of the objectives of starting Nepali E-Chords was to teach guitar lessons for US-based Nepalis because there were no platforms or institutions which would teach them guitar lessons of Nepali songs,\u201d Poudyal says. Poudyal had no idea that the tutorials would attract aspiring guitarists from Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I started the channel I was totally disconnected from Nepali music scene,\u201d says Poudyal, who has been living in the US since 1998. \u201cI was clueless about the artists and songs which were popular in Nepal. So I started off with the old classics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he had played guitar for a long time, tutoring it was a new thing for Poudyal. So when he began he was apprehensive. He didn\u2019t even publicize the first few videos. He wanted to see whether people would explore them or not. They did. After a week, comments began trickling in, all thanking him for teaching the lessons. \u201cThose comments surprised me and gave impetus to carry on,\u201d Poudyal says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After eight years and hundreds of tutorials later, Poudyal still doesn\u2019t want to be known as a guitar tutor. \u201cI have never taught how to play a guitar, I have just taught them how to play songs on guitar,\u201d says Poudyal. \u201cThere is a great difference between these two things\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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