Cineplot Music

Sarangi

Sarangi

Sarangi is sometimes called the Indian violin but shaped differently and larger in size. Sarangi has been used for long time as the main accompaniment in North Indian vocal music. It can particularly play the sedulous ape to North Indian classical music as it can emit tonal sounds akin to human voice and also execute all the variations and gamaks of the human voice. The tone of the instrument is somewhat mellow. The instrument is made out of one block of wood and is about 2 ft. in length. The main strings of the sarangi are four— one being made of brass and three out of gut. The lowest pitch is of the brass string. The main strings are tuned to Sa, Pa, Ga, or Ma to suit the notes of a raga. The instrument is played with a bow. Like violin the bow is used with right hand and the fingers are used to stop the strings. However, the instrument is placed vertically from the top placed in the lap of the performer unlike the violin. It has more pitch range than the violin but not comparable to the fine tone of the violin. Sarangi is a principal instrument of accompaniment for khayal, dhrupad, thumri, dadra, and even ghazal singing. Formerly the sarangi was not usually played as a solo instrument but mostly under the influence of All India Radio several eminent and distinguished sarangi players and maestros in their own right emerged as solo sarangi instrumentalists and broadcasters like Ustad Bundu Khan, Pandit Ram Narain and Gopal Mishra (of Banares), Bade Sabir Khan, Ustad Sabri Khan, Ustad Ghulam Sabir (of Lucknow), Ustad Abdul Latif Khan (of Bhopal), and Pandit Inder Lal.

In addition to the main strings these are as many as thirty-five sympathetic strings attached to pegs on the side of the finger board and tuned systematically. Unlike the sarod which is played more or less horizontally resting on the thighs and legs of the performers, sarangi is played in an up-right position like a cello in front of the performer who, however, sits or squats on the ground and sarangi is held in the sitting position resting between the thighs or lap of the performer. There are no frets in sarangi which results in great elasticity of movement of the left hand fingers on the playing strings.

How it Sounds?

Instruments