Music Room

Instruments in South Asia

South Asia is a part of the world where music is a rich and important part of the culture. This section features some of the typical instruments used.

Sitar (Right) – This is perhaps the most famous Indian musical instrument. Used mainly in north Indian Hindustani classical music, it is a wooden gourd-shaped stringed instrument that is usually more than four feet long. There are up to 20 strings on one, but only seven are played most of the time.  The most popular players today are Ravi Shankar, his daughter Anoushka Shankar, Nikhil Banerjee, and Vilayat Khan.

(Right) Chris Hale of the Christian band Aradhna plays the sitar (www.aradhnamusic.com).

Tabla (Left) – This is the most common percussion instrument in north India, and it is also used in Pakistan. The tabla consists of two drums – a bigger one with a metal body and a smaller one that is usually wooden. The drumheads have slightly raised black circles on them. These circles enable the production of many different types of sounds depending on where the drums are hit and which fingers hit where. Famous players are Zakir Hussein and his late father Alla Rakha Khan.

Sarod (Right) – This stringed instrument is similar to the sitar and also has no frets. It is usually carved from one single block of wood, generally teak. The sarod has eight to 10 main strings, plus up to 15 other strings that make the sound fuller. Prominent current players are Allauddin Khan and Ali Akbar Khan, who runs a school of Indian music in northern California.

From the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives. Permission given for educational and instructional use.

Tanpura (Below) – The tanpura provides the ever-constant drone in music across India. This wooden gourd is held upright on the floor, and the player plays across its four or more strings throughout a classical piece.

 

From the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives. Permission given for educational and instructional use.

Dholak (not pictured) – These barrel-shaped drums appear throughout South Asia in folk and festival music. They are played on both ends.

Harmonium (Right) – Despite having Western origins, the harmonium may be the most used instrument in northern India. It is also found in Pakistan and Bangladesh and is similar to an accordion that one plays on the floor. Many vocalists use it to aid their singing. Reeds in the harmonium help play the different notes once a player strikes a key.

Madal (Left) – This dholak is found predominantly in Nepal. It has two drumheads and is barrel-shaped. Each head has a distinct tone and helps provide a bass line for the songs it accompanies.

 

Mridangam (Right) – This barrel-shaped drum is most common in south Indian Carnatic classical music. The mridangam is made of a single block of wood and may be up to two feet in length. Its right head is smaller than the left, and each head also has a black circle on it like the tabla to increase the number and intensity of tones it can play.

Public domain image.

Veena (Right) – Though the sitar and tabla are the most popular instruments, and the harmonium is the most used, many Indians consider the veena the most meaningful. According to Hindu belief, Saraswati, the goddess of music, dance and learning, plays the veena. Today, the veena is more prominent in south India. Having 24 frets and usually made of jackwood, the veena typically has a carved head of a dragon on one end. Four strings go over the middle of a complex bridge up the veena with three drone strings going over the side of the bridge. One distinguishing characteristic of the veena is a second gourd sticking out of its arm that gives it more resonance.

Photo of veena player Veena Dhanammal and her veena. Public Domain.

Flute (Bansuri) (Right) – Typically made of bamboo, the flute is usually bigger in north India than in south India. Hariprasad Chaurasia is currently the most famous Indian flute player.

Bansuri. Permission granted to use.

Mandolin (Not pictured) – South Indian U. Srinivas adapted this Western instrument to augment Carnatic classical music with much success.

Sarangi (Left)– The Western violin is often used in Carnatic (south Indian) classical music, but this bowed instrument is most common in Hindustani (north Indian) classical music. It is also used in folk music. Indian musicians believe the sarangi is the closest instrument to the human voice, but it has never attained the popularity of other instruments because historically it was used by lower castes and immoral elements. The sarangi is more than two feet long and is carved out of a solid piece of wood. It can have 36 strings: 11 main playing strings and 25 sympathetic strings that aid the instrument’s resonance. It is usually played upright with the bottom of the sarangi resting on the player’s upper leg.

 

Etching of man playing sarangi. Public Domain.

Santoor (Not pictured) – The santoor sounds like a hammered dulcimer and looks like one too. Played with two wooden sticks, the santoor hails from the Kashmir Valley in far northern India and has folk roots, but it has become a popular classical instrument as well. It usually has between 80 and 100 strings and is played on a stand or in one’s lap. Shiv Kumar Sharma is currently the best known santoor player.

Shehnai (Not pictured) – This is the most popular Indian wind instrument. Originally from ancient Persia, the shehnai’s name means “king of the wind instruments”. About 50 centimeters long and usually made of teak wood, it has seven holes and two reeds. This instrument is more of an acquired taste for Western ears, as it is much shriller than an oboe. The most famous shehnai player in recent times was Ustad Bismillah Khan, who died in 2006.