Musical Instruments Picturesque

Musical Instruments

Bansuri: The Bansuri is one of the few woodwind instruments in the cache of Hindustani instruments. It is a small bamboo flute that has no keys or tone control. There are usually six or seven holes in the flute. This flute is said to symbolize the sound of the peacock and is the expression of the soul’s journey searching for love. Lord Shri Krishna likes it very much.

Guitar / Mohan Veena: The guitar is a string instrument of the chordophone family constructed from wood and strung with either nylon or steel strings. The modern guitar was preceded by the lute, vihuela, four course renaissance guitar and five-course baroque guitar, all of which contributed to the development of the modern six-string instrument.

There are three main types of modern acoustic guitar: the classical guitar (nylon-string guitar), the steel-string acoustic guitar, and the arch top. The classical guitar is often played as a solo instrument using a comprehensive finger picking technique. The tone of an acoustic guitar is produced by the vibration of the strings, which is amplified by the body of the guitar, which acts as a resonating chamber. Electric guitars, introduced in the 1930s, rely on an amplifier that can electronically manipulate tone. Electric guitars have had a continuing profound influence on popular culture.

Guitars are recognized as a primary instrument in variety such as blues, bluegrass, country, flamenco, folk, jazz, jota, mariachi, metal, punk, reggae, rock and soul.

Manjira: It is known by several names among them are Jhanja, Tala and Mondira. It is a set of hand held cymbals made of brass. Basically it is used in temples at the time of Bhajan, Kirtana and also in Odisha it is used in ‘Vadi Pala’ and in Bihar also.

Mridangam: It is percussion from India of ancient origin. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music and new music ensemble.  During a percussion ensemble, the mridangam is often accompanied by the ghatam, kanjira, and the morsing. The Mridangam is the classical double sided drum of South India and is used as an accompaniment for vocal, instrumental and dance performances. The term Mridangam is derived from the Sanskrit words "Mrid Ang" which literally means "Clay-Body," indicating that it was originally made of clay.

Piano: The piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of Keyboard. The piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal. Pressing a key on the pianos keyboard causes a felt covered hammer to strike steel strings. It is widely used in western music for solo performance.

Santoor: The Santoor is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut, with seventy two strings. The special-shaped mallets (mezrab) are lightweight and are held between the index and middle fingers. A typical Santoor has two sets of bridges, providing a range of three octaves. The Indian Santoor is more rectangular and can have more strings than the Persian counterpart, which generally has 72 strings. In ancient Sanskrit texts, it has been referred to as Shatatantri vina (100-stringed vina).In India, the santoor was used as an accompaniment instrument to the folk music of Kashmir. It is played in a style of music known as the Sufiana Mausiqi. The Sufi mystics used it as an accompaniment to their hymns. Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and Rahul Sharma are the most renounced person in this type of musical instrument.

Sarangi: It is a bowed, short-necked string instrument from South Asia which originated from Gandarbha folk instruments. It is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice – able to imitate vocal ornaments such as gamakas (shakes) and meend (sliding movements). The word sarangi is combination of two Sanskrit words: saar (summary) and ang (form, herein different styles of playing instrumental music for e.g. gayaki ang) hence meaning the instrument that can summarize every style of music or playing. Sarangi now enjoys the status of a solo classical instrument due to the single-handed efforts of Ram Narayan.

Sarod: It is an instrument which is derived from the rabab. It has a metal finger board with no frets. It is played with a pick made of coconut shell. It has numerous strings.  The Sarod is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet, reverberant quality. The most notable players with sarod are Amjad Ali Khan and Ali Akbar Khan.

Sitar: Sitar is a long necked instrument with an interesting construction. It has a varying number of strings but 17 are usual. These strings are plucked with a wire finger plectrum called ‘Mizrab’. Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar has popularized this instrument around the world.

Shehnai:  The shehnai, shahnai, shenai or mangal vadya, is wind instrument, a double reed conical oboe, common in North India, West India, Iran, and Pakistan, made out of wood, with a metal flare bell at the end. Its sound is thought to create and maintain a sense of auspiciousness and sanctity and, as a result, is widely used during marriages, processions, and in temples of West India, although it is also played in concerts. The South Indian equivalent of the shehnai is the nadaswaram. This tube-like instrument gradually broadens towards the lower end. It usually has between six and nine holes. It employs one set of quadruple reeds, making it a quadruple reed woodwind. By controlling the breath, various tunes can be played on it.The Shehnai has a range of two octaves, from the A below middle C to the A one line above the treble clef (A3 to A5 in scientific pitch notation).

Tabla: It is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in the classical, popular and religious music of Indian subcontinent and in Hindustani Classical Music. The instrument consists of pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres. Playing technique involves extensive use of fingers and palms in various configurations to create different sounds.

Violin: Violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest pitched member of the violin family of string instruments. The violin is held horizontally and is angled to the left of a straight forward position. Violin is available in many sizes.

Match the following Instruments with Gurus:

INSTRUMENTS                    NAME OF THE GURU

1.      Violin                                      a. Amjad Ali Khan / Budhdev Das Gupta

2.      Tabla                                       b. Bismillah Khan

3.      Sarod                                      c. Dr. L. Subramaniam / M.S. Gopalkrishnan

4.      Shehnai                                   d. Zakir Hussain / Alla Rakha

5.      Sitar                                        e. Vishwamohan Bhatt

6.      Mohan Veena / Guitar              f. Pandit Ravi Shankar

7.      Flute                                        g. Hari Prasad Chaurasia

8.      Santoor                                    h. Sabir Khan

9.      Sarangi                                     i. Shiv Kumar Sharma

10.  Piano                                       j. S. Balachander

11.  Saraswati Veena                      k. Gopalan Gownder

12.  Mridangam                              l. Kartic Trivedi

ANSWERS

1-c, 2-d, 3-a, 4-b, 5-f, 6-e, 7-g, 8-i, 9-h, 10-l, 11-j, 12-k