Indian musical instruments
Strings, winds, drums and clappers: the Natya Shastra's four families of instruments, each tied to a region, a genre and a famous player.
What the paper can ask
- Four classes: chordophones (strings), aerophones (wind), membranophones (skin drums) and idiophones (solid percussion), matching tat, sushir, avanaddha and ghan.
- Strings: sitar, sarod, santoor, veena, rudra veena, sarangi, tanpura; winds: shehnai, bansuri, nadaswaram, pungi.
- Drums: tabla, pakhawaj, mridangam, dhol, dholak; idiophones: ghatam, khartal, manjira, jal tarang.
Why exams ask
Which maestro plays which instrument, which drum accompanies which genre, and the names of the two tabla drums are asked.
The full story
The Natya Shastra divides instruments into four families: tat (strings), sushir (wind), avanaddha (skin drums) and ghan (solid percussion). Strings include the sitar, sarod, veena, santoor, sarangi and the drone tanpura; winds the bansuri, shehnai and nadaswaram; drums the tabla (a pair of a small right-hand drum and a larger bass drum), pakhawaj, mridangam and thavil; solid percussion the ghatam (clay pot), manjira and jal tarang.
Test yourself
1.Pandit Shivkumar Sharma popularised which hammered dulcimer of Kashmir?
Correct. The santoor, traditional in Jammu and Kashmir and used in Sufiana Mausiqi, was popularised by Shivkumar Sharma.
Not quite. The santoor, traditional in Jammu and Kashmir and used in Sufiana Mausiqi, was popularised by Shivkumar Sharma. It goes into your error book.
2.Which fretless lute of Hindustani music is associated with Ali Akbar Khan and Amjad Ali Khan?
Correct. The sarod is a fretless lute with a metal fingerboard, which allows continuous glides (meend).
Not quite. The sarod is a fretless lute with a metal fingerboard, which allows continuous glides (meend). It goes into your error book.
3.Ravi Shankar introduced which instrument to Western audiences, along with tabla player Alla Rakha?
Correct. Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha introduced the sitar to the West from the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Not quite. Ravi Shankar and Alla Rakha introduced the sitar to the West from the late 1950s and early 1960s. It goes into your error book.