Indian Musical Instrument

Classification of Musical Instrument

A. Percussion Instrument This group of instruments consists of stretched membranes that are struck or tapped by the hand.

Tabla Pair The tabla drum is a pair of drums most common and popular in Northern India. It is made of wood and has a head made stretched animal skin. Both drums have a black spot at the center that is made of manganese and iron dust. It is played by tapping the fingers on the surface of the drums.

Mridangam The classical drum of Southern India is called mridangam. It literally means clay-body and was originally made of clay. It is a double-headed drum that is barrel shaped. It is played between the thighs of the drum players. This musical instrument is used in playing tala.

B. Wind Instruments These instruments are played by means of blowing air to excite the resonators.

Bansuri

The flute is one of the oldest and most commonly used wind instruments in India. It could be made of different materials like bamboo, ivory, ebony sandalwood or metal. Bansuri is found in the Northern part of India. It has six holes.

Venu

Venu is a wind instrument from Southern India, It is made of bamboo. It also has 8 holes.

Nagaswaran Nagaswaran is a double-reed instrument with a conical bore that enlarges towards the end. It has 7 finfer-holes with 5 additional holes drilled at the bottom that are used as controllers.

C. Stringed Instruments These instruments are played by plucking the strings of the instruments.

Veena

The veena is the most distiunctive instrument in Southern India. This instrument is carved from a single block of jackwood which continues as long fretted neck from which another resonator is attached. Four strings are used to play the melody while the remaining three are used to play drone.

Sarod The sarod is a musical instrument that is smaller than the sitar. It has a metal finger board with no frets. The strings of sarod are plucked with a pick made of coconut shell. This instrument is mainly used in classical Indian music and known for its deep sound which contrasts with the sound of the sitar.

Tambura The tambura is a drone instrument that is made of jackwood. It has a long unfretted neck which has four to six tuning pegs inserted into the upper end of the resonator. It is held upright and placed on the lap of the player. The strings are plucked by the forefinger and middle finger.

Sitar The sitar is the most popular stringed instrument in Northern India. It s made of teakwood and seasoned gourds. It has long neck with twenty metal frets and six to seven main strings. This stringed instrument is used for solo parts in a composition.