Surbahar

The surbahar (also known as bass sitar) is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of North India. It is related to the better-known sitar but has a lower tone. The surbahar is over 130 cm (51 inches) long, uses a dried pumpkin as a resonator, and has a neck made of teak with very long frets that allow a glissando of six notes on the same fret by the method of pulling. Image File history File links Summary a picture of a surbahar Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Summary a picture of a surbahar Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 The sitar (Urdu: ستار, Hindi: सितार) is probably the best-known South Asian instrument in the West. ... Guitar and lute Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the strings. ... Hindustani (हिन्दुस्तानी/ہندوستانی) Classical Music is an Indian classical music tradition that took shape in northern Indian subcontinent circa the 13th and 14th centuries AD in the courts of Delhi Sultanate[citation needed] from existing religious, folk, and theatrical performance practices. ... Dark green region marks the approximate extent of northern India while the regions marked as light green lies within the sphere of north Indian influence. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 The sitar (Urdu: ستار, Hindi: सितार) is probably the best-known South Asian instrument in the West. ... Pumpkins Pumpkin attached to a stalk A pumpkin is a squash fruit, usually orange in colour when ripe. ... Species Tectona grandis Tectona hamiltoniana Tectona philippinensis Teak (Tectona), also called jati is a genus of tropical hardwood trees in the family Verbenaceae, native to the south and southeast of Asia, and is commonly found as a component of monsoon forest vegetation. ...

Its neck is made of tun (Cedrela tuna), or teak wood. The neck is fixed on a large pumpkin used as a resonator, and the instrument can emit low frequencies (less than 20 Hz). The surbahar has four rhythm strings (cikari), four playing strings (the thickest is 1 mm in diameter) and 15 to 17 unplayed sympathetic strings. All these strings lie on a flat bridge. This type of bridge considerably amplifies the sound and the spectrum, as the vibrating string hits the flat part of the bridge. The strings are played by way of a metallic plectrum fixed on the index of the right hand, the mizrab. Sympathetic strings are strings on musical instruments which begin resonating, not due to any external influence such as picking or bowing, but due to another note (or frequency). ... A plectrum (plural: plectra) is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ... Two mizrabs A mizrab as worn on the index finger A Mezrab (also spelled mizrab) is worn on the finger of a Sitar player as shown. ...

The surbahar was developed around 1825. Its invention is generally attributed to Ustad Sahebdad Khan, although recent research shows that it may actually have been invented by a lesser known Lucknow-based sitarist named Ustad Ghulam Mohammed.[1] 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... now. ...

A surbahar solo may be seen in a scene from Satyajit Ray's 1958 film Jalsaghar. (Bangla:সত্যজিৎ রায়) (May 2, 1921 - April 23, 1992) was an Indian film director, regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of twentieth century cinema for his subtle, austere and lyrical style of film-making. ... Jalsaghar (1958), known in the U.S. and Europe as The Music Room, is the 4th feature film directed by Satyajit Ray. ...

External links

• Surbahar page at Ragascape.com
• Surbahar Video Performance by Beenkar Suvir Misra, Raga Chandrakauns Alaap, 10 mins
• Surbahar Video Perfromance by Beenkar Suvir Misra , Raga Chandrakauns Jod and Jhala, 10 mins
• Surbahar page at Chandrakantha.com
• Surbahar.com

See also

• Sitar
• Hindustani classical music