This is Josh Bakehorn with sitar and surbahar master Ustad Imrat Khan.

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SOME BASICS ABOUT INDIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

    Here is some very basic information about a few of the instruments used in Indian classical music. These are enormously expansive subjects, but I will give you a short overview of them.

Sitar

    The sitar is the most popular of all Indian instruments. It is indeed a most grand instrument. The sitar has a body made of a seasoned gourd and a long neck made of tun or teak wood. There are usually seven main playing strings above the arched frets, and eleven to thirteen sympathetic strings below the frets. These sympathetic strings give a magical shimmer to the melody when they resonate in tune with the main playing strings. There are two separate bridges on the sitar. A large bridge is for the main strings, while a smaller bridge is for the sympathetics. These special flat bridges, usually made of bone, are what give the sitar that exhilarating buzz.
    When purchasing a sitar, many things must be considered; how much you want to spend, the quality you desire, what you intend to do with the sitar, etc. If you intend to seriously learn to play the sitar, I suggest you buy a professional sitar from the start. The money you spend on it alone will be encouragement enough for you to keep up with it! Actually, for exactly all that they are, sitars are incredibly inexpensive, especially when you find the right source. The best place to buy ethnic instruments at the lowest retail prices available is the Ultimate Ethnic Musical Instrument Source. This is an online web-store with a huge assortment of great instruments.

    The sitar is tuned starting with the second string all the way to the chikaris, and then the melody string last. Thus, the notes would be Sa (C, octave below middle C), Sa (same as first), Pa (G, two octaves below middle C), Pa (octave above last), Sa (middle C), Sa (octave above middle C), then the melody string (first string) is Ma (F, below middle C). Sometimes the order of the drone strings is switched, but basically this is the traditional manner of tuning. The sympathetic strings are tuned to a scale of the particular raga or tune you will be playing.
    To learn to play the sitar is a complicated matter all its own. It is optimal to study with a guru, but that is more or less impossible for many people outside of India. I have been playing sitar for almost three years, teaching myself with books and videos, and I am still getting the basics down. You will progress very slowly without a guru, however, the process of mastering the sitar will never be quick anyway. I have picked up more by ear than anything else. If you don't have a guru, then read, read, read, and especially listen to and watch as much Indian music as you can. You will be amazed at what you can pick up just from listening and watching. Buy a sitar here!

Hear Josh play Sitar!

    Tablas are the set of two drums which often accompany the sitar. Tablas are not used so much for the rhythmic foundation as with drum sets in Western music. Tabla's role in Indian classical music is much more free, and to the Western ear, may sound confusing at times (good tabla players often play at speeds unheard of in the Western world).
    The high pitched drum, to which I'll refer simply as the tabla (meaning "treble"), is made preferably of shisham, tun, or teak. The lower pitched drum, to which I will refer as the dagga (meaning "bass"), is most often made of brass. Aluminum is sometimes used in cheap students models, but I highly discourage the purchase of such instruments. You may want to save a little money in your musical endeavors, but this is not the place. Buy a nice set. The aluminum daggas are too light weight to produce the tones correctly and they dent more easily. Also, the tuning straps on a cheap set of tablas will probably be of poor quality and dried out, making them too inflexible for proper use. Bolt tuning tablas, which don't use the straps, are also available, and I prefer them to the strap tuning.
    The tabla is usually tuned to the tonic of the raga. The dagga needs to be tuned very low, to produce the pitch changes. It is best to tune the dagga to a pitch complementing the tabla in the raga.
    The heads of tablas, commonly called the puddi, are the most critical part of the tablas. These heads are more complex than any other drum head. The actual playing area of the puddi consists of three separate pieces. These different parts contribute to the tabla's very distinct sounds. It is very important that the heads be high quality to produce proper sounds. That is another reason to buy a nice set. Cheap sets will have pathetic heads.
    One of the things that first fascinated me about tabla is the undulating pitch of the dagga. The dagga's pitch can be manipulated by pressure from the wrist. Both drums have specific techniques and sounds which are difficult, yet fun, to learn.
    Mastering tabla is just as difficult as the sitar, and like the sitar, it is best to have a guru. In order to even remotely begin to produce the sounds correctly, one should at least purchase an instruction video on tabla to see how to produce some of the sounds, called "bols", on the tabla, if there is no guru available.  Such videos can be purchased at various places on the net. They are rather expensive, but worth it considering what the cost of a live tutor can be, and you can always watch the video over and over. Buy tablas here!

Hear Josh play Tabla!

Josh practicing esraj.

    The esraj and dilruba can be very squeaky instruments. The traditional bow for these instruments is much heavier than bows for violins and cellos, and this usually causes the beginner to put too much pressure on the strings with the bow, which can cause excessive squeakiness. It is best to get accustomed to putting light pressure from the bow on the strings. You can also use a cello bow in place on the traditional bow, if it is more suitable to you.
    The esraj and dilruba are both tuned just like a sitar. The main melody string is Ma (F), the two next strings are Sa (C), and the last is Pa (G). Sometimes they can also be tuned Ma, Sa, Pa, Sa, with the last Sa an octave above the first. The sympathetics on both the dilruba and esraj are, like the sitar, tuned to the raga being played, in a scale. The dilruba actually has 2 sets of sympathetics, the regular sympathetics, and another set sometimes called the jawari strings. These jawari strings have a buzzing bridge which makes them ring louder. Sometimes these are tuned to the raga and any notes not being used in the scale, to make accidentals ring out, too. Buy an esraj or dilruba here!

Hear Josh play Esraj!

The sarangi is the most popular bowed instrument of India. Like the sitar, the sarangi's history is quite old. This instrument began as a voice accompaniment, but gained a reputation as a wonderful solo instrument. The sarangi, when played by a master, is capable of closely imitating the nuances of the human voice.
   This instrument is made of a block of tun wood, with a goat skin stretched over the body. There are 3 main playing strings and 30 to 40 sypathetic strings.
    The technique used to play the sarangi is to play the main strings with the tops of the fingernails of the left hand. It is bowed with a heavy bow like the ones used for the esraj and dilruba. Buy a sarangi here!

    Josh Bakehorn is a unique and talented individual with a wide variety of skills. He has years of musical experience and a vast array of musical knowledge. Josh has studied a huge assortment of musical styles, including classical, ragtime, Indian classical, opera, rock, progressive, blues, and more.

    He plays piano, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, recorders, fife, accordion, concertina, mandolin, sitar, tabla, esraj, tambura, harmonium, psaltery, and he sings. He plays many different musical instruments as a result of his quick pace in learning and his need for variety. By having good knowledge of many instruments, he is able to understand how and why different instruments work together well and how to get the most out of each one individually. It also helps him be more inventive and innovative by allowing him to apply different techniques to the various instruments, making him incredibly versatile. Josh composes his own music and records it in his simple personal studio. His first official album will be available fall of 2001.