Discover What Awaits You
Expanding Familiar Repertoire Build solo confidence to bring poetry couplets into a classic qawwali kalaam. Learn how Qawwals extend familiar refrains through repetition, poetic improvisation, pacing, and emotional variation.
Punjabi Kaafi and Folk Poetry Explore the lesser-studied Punjabi poetic traditions that made Qawwali more direct, participatory, and emotionally accessible. Some of these poems are the reason qawwali is expanded like it has!
Advanced Girah, Alaap, and Sargam Understand how singers use melodic improvisation and poetic insertion to sustain emotional movement and rhythmic freshness inside a composition. Optional homework to develop your vocal strength.
The Architecture of Collective Energy Study how pulse, tempo, repetition, chorus work, and group participation gradually intensify the emotional atmosphere of the mehfil.
The One Guiding This Circle
Sonny K. Mehta
Lead Instructor | Riyaaz Academy
Sonny K. Mehta, founder of Riyaaz Qawwali, has spent over 20 years using the power of sacred sound to facilitate emotional and spiritual connection. Having shared this ancient craft at institutions like Harvard, Dartmouth, University of Chicago and NPR, Sonny now creates a sanctuary for students to explore their own voices. A life-long student of music, Sonny himself has been learning music for over 35 years. In this 8-week journey, he bridges high-level performance expertise with vocal healing, helping you move from a silent listener to a resonant, grounded artist.
Deepen your understanding of Qawwali
Building on the foundations established through Chaap Tilak, Aaj Rang Hai, and Man Kunto Maula, this intimate continuation masterclass moves deeper into the living mechanics of Qawwali performance. Designed for returning students, the program expands beyond foundational participation into deeper repertoire, artistic mentorship, poetic improvisation, and collective musical development. Students will strengthen their ability to sustain refrains, deliver poetry independently, improvise within repetition, and participate more actively in the emotional movement of the mehfil itself. Through Punjabi Kaafis, advanced Girah techniques, Alaap, Sargam Taan, tempo architecture, and open-chorus traditions, participants will explore how Qawwals keep familiar compositions emotionally alive across extended performances. Alongside weekly classes, students will continue building a shared community identity through small-group learning, collective singing, and a concluding shared meal/mehfil experience rooted in the communal traditions of Qawwali.
Classes resume June 23rd. This time you'll learn:
Week 1: Expanding the Refrain, Improvisation with Poetry Couplets Build solo capacity to deliver poetry couplets and learn how Qawwals transform familiar refrains into longer emotional journeys through repetition, pacing, and variation. Week 2: Punjabi Kaafi and the Folk Poetic Tradition Enter the lesser-studied world of Punjabi kalaam and explore how Punjabi poetry brought directness, accessibility, and communal participation into Qawwali traditions. Week 3: Mera Piya Ghar Aaya Study how longing, return, and celebration are expressed through folk-devotional structure and open chorus singing through this kalaam associated with Bulleh Shah traditions. Week 4: Advanced Girah with Alaap and Sargam Taan Learn how Qawwals insert Alaap and Sargam Taan into repetition to build rhythmic flow, sustain emotional movement, and keep compositions dynamically fresh. Week 5: Tempo, Pulse, and Emotional Lift Understand how acceleration, rhythmic emphasis, breath synchronization, and collective clapping intensify emotional energy within a mehfil. Week 6: Mast Qalandar and Collective Chorus Experience how repetition, folk rhythm, and communal response transform singing into shared ecstatic participation through one of the most enduring Qawwali traditions. Week 7: Sustaining the Arc Develop the ability to maintain emotional momentum across longer-form Qawwali structures through layering, return, controlled expansion, and reliance on collective group energy. Week 8: The Living Mehfil Participate in a full guided Qawwali arc integrating poetry, improvisation, chorus work, rhythmic build, emotional escalation, and collective release together, concluding with a shared meal and intimate mehfil experience.
Class Flow & Information
Join us for eight consecutive weeks of guided practice and reflection. We will gather every Tuesday from 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM throughout June, July and part of August 2026. Opening Session: June 23th Location: West University / Bellaire Area. Venue switching every 4 weeks.
Seize the Moment
Unlock the transformative power of Qawwali and elevate your skills to new heights. Join our exclusive continuation of the masterclass and continue your journey within a vibrant community of Qawwali enthusiasts in Houston.
$489.00
For Any Questions
Feel free to reach out to Faryal at 346-528-8072, to discuss any questions you may have.