10 Indian Musical Instruments

Musical Instruments are anything that produces sound. These objects are a medium
through which music is created — the origin and history of musical instrument date from the
beginning of the human race and culture. there are many types of musical instruments that
people engage in like digital pianos, Indian instruments etc.
There are a diverse number of instruments originating from India since ancient times. These
instruments are referred to as Indian Musical Instruments which have been popular since the
beginning of the 16th and 17th century. Indian musical instruments are even popular
today as means of creation of soulful, melodious music for weddings, bhajans, kirtans,
and other religious rituals and prayers.
These instruments are divided into four main categories – chordophones (string instruments),
aerophones (wind instruments), membranophones (drums) and idiophones (non-drum
percussion instruments).

If you are planning to get on for yourself, it is necessary to get all the musical instruments
information, so you get a product your penny’s worth. Few of the most famous ones are
dholak, tabla music, sitar music, flute or bansuri.

This article highlights some of the most popular Types of Indian Musical Instruments,
which you can read about in the next section.
We have also provided a comprehensive buyer’s guide along with the detailed review of
the top ten Indian Instruments available on Amazon. You can also find the answers to
some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
 Types Of Indian Instruments

Dholak
The Dholak is a two-headed drum that produces sound when struck by hand. It
originates from South Asia and is mainly used as an Indian Folk Instrument to produce sound
during weddings and prayer rituals on which one can dance or sing.

The two surfaces of the dholak which produces sound on striking are of different sizes. The
smaller surface is made using goat skin for sharp notes while the larger surface is made using
buffalo skin for low pitch. The instrument hence ensures a combination of bass and treble
with rhythmic low and high pitches. The body of the instrument is constructed using wood
like Sheesham and may have a traditional rope with screw-turnbuckle tension.

Sitar
A sitar is a stringed instrument consisting of a pear-shaped body with a long, hollow
wooden neck and bridge. It has a varying number of strings that come in the numbers of 18,
19, 20 or 21. The number of playing strings are six or seven while the remaining below are
sympathetic strings that ensure its distinctive timbre. It produces a rich sound when the
strings are plucked which resonates due to its design.
The sitar consists of a hemispherical base made out of a dried and hollowed gourd
(tumba), a long half-round frame of wood (dandi), a second resonator, and wooden pegs that
run through the length of the sitar. The number of frets on the dandi range from 16 to 24.
The Sitar is a very popular instrument originating from the Indian sub-continent. It has
flourished under the Mughal Era since the 16th and 17th century. The name was derived
from the Persian instrument called the ‘setar’ which means three strings. This Indian
instrument is popular all over the world since it has appeared in popular tracks of the western
bands, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Door to name a few.

Tabla
The tabla is a membrophonic percussion instrument that consists of two single headed drums
that are different from each other in shape and size. The two barrel shaped drums are called
‘baya’ or ‘bahina’ meaning left and the ‘daya’ or ‘dahina’ meaning left. The daya is a bit
smaller than the baya and is played by the musicians right hand while the baya is played by
the left hand. Both the drums consists of hoops and wooden dowlels to tighten the tension.

The musician requires to use his palms and fingers in various ways in order to obtain
variation in the pitch and sound of the instrument. The tabla has always been an important
part of the Hindustani Classical music and is still popular among Indians for bhajans,
kirtans and other devotional traditions. It is also a popular qawali instrument used by sufi
musicians in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
The tabla is an instrument of fingers, whereas pakhavaj is an instrument of an open hand (thapi).
Therefore the rhythmic patterns which can be played on the tabla with unimaginable speed are
impossible to produce in pakhavaj.
The tabla consists of two drums, the bayan or the left drum and the dayan or the right drum, but the
collective name for both the drums is tabla. The left is a small spherical drum, which resembles the
shape of the kettle drum. It is made either of clay or metal such as copper, bronze or even a thin iron
sheet. The right hand drum or dayan is made of seesam, khair, neem or mango wood, but preference
is given to seesam wood The goat skin stretched across both the drums is made of multiple
membranes, one full and the other on the periphery of the full skin called kinara or chanti. This
parchment, called pudi or chhavani, is tied to a plaited strip called gajra. Gajra is made by joining four
or five leather braces made of goat or cow skin. Gajra is fixed to the mouth of the drum by means of
leather braces called baddhi, made of buffalo skin. These braces are tied to another ring at the bottom
of the instrument. There are sixteen holes or ghar to which the braces are tied at equal distance,
giving the instrument an equal tension at all the points. Beneath each pair of leather bracing, a small
tuning block of wood (gatta) is kept.

Veena
The veena is another instrument originating from the Indian sub-continent. It belongs from
the family of stringed instruments and has widely been used in Indian, Carnatic and
Hindustani Classical music. The veena has evolved over time in design to include lutes,
zithers and arched harps.

In order to play the veena, the musician needs to wear a plectrum on the first and second
fingers which he uses to pluck the melody strings at the same time the drone strings are
played with the little finger of the playing hand. There are different types of veena like the
Rudra Veena, Saraswati Veena, and the Vichitra Veena to name a few.
It is one of other major types of veena popular today. The others include chitra veena, vichitra
veena and rudra veena. Out of these the rudra and vichitra veenas are used in Hindustani music,
while the Saraswati veena and the chitra veena are used in the Carnatic music of South India. It
can be used to play either traditional music or contemporary music.
Veenas ranged from one string to one hundred, and were composed of many different materials
like eagle bone, bamboo, wood and coconut shells.

In southern India the body of the tambura is made of a hollow piece of jackwood (wood
from the jackfruit tree), while in the north it is fashioned from a gourd. It is held in a vertical
position, and the musician plays the instrument by plucking the strings while seated behind
it.

Tanpura
 A pair of female pitched tanpuras (smaller) A male pitched tanpura

The Tanpura is another stringed instrument that resembles the body shape of a Sitar but it has
no frets. Itoriginatess from India and is a popular instrument in various forms of Indian
music. However, it does not play any melody, instead the instrument sustains the melody of
another instrument or singer. It consists of four to five metal strings, plucked one after the
other in a regular patter to produce harmonic resonance on the basic key notes.

Bansuri

Bansuri is a side blown flute that has its origin from the Indian sub-continent. The
instrument is a single hollow shaft of bamboo consisting of two ends, one closed and
another one open. It also consists of six to seven finger holes covering two and a half octave
of music. The musician creates musical notes by tapping the finger holes and blowing in the
blow hole present a few centimeters away from the closed end.

Damru
The damaru is a two headed drum with its body made of wood. It has a height ranging from a
few inches to a little over a foot. The instrument consists of beads and knots in the leather
cord which produces sound as it strikes the surfaces. You can play it single-handedly by
waving the instrument using a twist wrist motion.

It is a very popular in Hinduism and Buddhism. The damaru is known to be the instrument
of Lord Shiva who is said to have created the whole world using the spiritual sound
produced by this instrument.

Manjira

It is also referred to as Taal, Gini, and Jalra. The majira consists of two small hand cymbals
made using brass or bronze that is connected to each other using a leather or cotton cord. The
two cymbals are clashed against each other to produce high-pitched percussion sounds. This
is very commonly used for prayers and rituals before gods and goddesses.