Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

MUSIC

STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

Till about a century ago the sitar was not even considered respectable. It was the Rudra Veena or been which was the favoured instru- ment. The sitar came into its own in the later half of the 18th century in the hands of great masters like Amir Khan, Barkatullah Khan, Bahadur Khan, Masit Khan and Gulam Raza. Tastes in music were also changing with dh.ru- pad singing and pakhawaj giving way to the khayal and the tabla. A lyrical approach began to be preferred which resulted in the music of the sitar gaining in popularity over the sono- rous veena. Masit Khan and Gulam Raza were the creators of styles which form the main bases of today's playing.

SAROD

SITAR

The sarod is an ancient stringed instru- ment. In India many stringed musical instru- ments were known as Veenas, such as Shat- tantri veena, Rudra veena, Kachhapi veena, Vipanehi veena, Chitra veena. Some scholars are of the view that the sarod is the Chitra veena or Kachhapi veena of earlier times. Sculpture from the 2nd to 6th century AD and paintings from the 5th to 15th century AD indicate th6 Sarod's prevalence from Nagarju- nakonda and Amaravati in the South, Ajanta in the West, Gandhara in the north-west as well as western Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The sarod in use today has 21 to 25 metal strings of varying thickness. Of these, the four main playing strings carry the melody, two (called Chikari strings) serve to accentu- ate the percussion rhythms and four drone strings are tuned to the chief (dominant) notes of the chosen raga. The remaining strings are sympathetic strings for resonance and are placed below the main strings and are tuned chromatically to resonate with the chosen raga. Every note which is played has a string tuned to it for resonance. The plectrum used for plucking the strings is triangular in shape and is made of duly seasoned coconut shell. The first string is of steel and it is tuned to Madhyama or Panchama (flat F of G) the second wire is also of steel and it is tuned to Sadja of the Madhya Sthana (G), the third wire is of brass. It is tuned to Mandra Madhyama (F flat), the last string is of brass and it is tuned to the Sadja of the Mandra Sthana (C). Unlike the sitar, the sarod has no frets or any other markings and therefore it has to remain in the correct position in the lap of the performer so that, while playing, the accuracy of the fingering on the steel plates, which has no frets is not disturbed; otherwise the fingers would produce faulty notes. The performer is able to produce accurate notes after years of intensive practice and knowledge of correct fingering technique. The sarod has a deep and rich tone and is easily able to blend with that of other instru- ments. As such, it is being used as an impor- tant instrument in Indian orchestras.

The sitar is the most popular stringed in- strument of north India. It has existed in its present form for approximately 700 years. It developed from the Veena, the ancient Indian musical instrument. It contained only three strings at first, so it was called seh-tar (Persian for three strings). The sitar of today is fashioned from sea- soned gourd and teakwood. It has a track of 20 metal frets with six or seven main playing strings above them and 19 sympathetic strings. The instrument is tuned to the raga being played. The main strings are plucked by a wire plectrum worn on the index finger on the right hand. The main parts of a sitar are : 1. Tumba- round or flat gourd (belly or sound box) 2. Tabli - a piece of thin wood that covers the cut portion of Tumba. 3. Gulu - the shoulder (skandha) i.e., the middle portion. 4. Danda - the keyboard of the instrument, on which the frets minimum 17 and maxi- mum 19 in number are fitted with guts on it. Generally sitar is available in the follow- ing three sizes : 1. Small size sitar - width of the tabli 10 to 12", length of danda about 3 feet. 2. Medium size sitar - width of the tabli 12 to 14", length of danda about 3V 2 feet. Width of the danda about 4". 3. Big size sitar or Surabahara - width of the tabli 14 to 16", length of the danda 4 feet or slightly above. Surabahara : A stringed instrument of northern India. It was the invention of late Ustad Omrao Khan of Patiala, a renowned veena player of second half of 19th C. It has 17 frets. Its body is made of teak, deodar and chir wood. There are seven strings - four of steel and remaining of brass or copper.

Born in 1921, Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro, brother of the celebrated dancer Uday Shankar, became a disciple of Ustad Al- lauddin Khan. He remained with him for six years at Maihar in Central India. When the Beatle George Harrison came to India as his disciple he became an international figure, taking Indian music to the West. He has at- tempted a fusion of the two types of music. He has attempted orchestration as Director of the National Orchestra and conductor of the AIR Vadya Vrinda. The only Indian to be men- tioned in the World Encylopedia of Music, he raised 25 million dollars through a concert for Bangladesh. He has been described by Yehudi Menhuin as "one of the world's greatest mu- sicians". Abdul Halim Jaffar Khan and Vil- ayat Khan are also sitar maestros. Other Eminent Sitar players : Yusuf Ali, Wahid Khan, Mushtaq Ali Khan, Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (L), Imrat Hussain Khan (also Surbahar) (L), Balram Pathak, Uma Shankar Mishra (L), Nikhil Banerjee.