Bansuri

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Image:7and6holebansuri.JPG The bansuri (Hindi: बांसुरी) is a transverse alto flute of India and Pakistan, made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha, and is depicted in Buddhist paintings from around 100 AD. The North Indian bansuri, typically about 14 inches long, was traditionally used as a soprano instrument primarily for accompaniment in lighter compositions including film music. Its introduction for serious Hindustani Classical Music is credited to Pandit Pannalal Ghosh.

1 The bansuri in the Krishna love play tradition
2 The Bansuri in Hindustani Classical Music
3 Playing
4 Famous bansuri players
5 Notes, References and Sources
6 External links
7 See also

[edit] The bansuri in the Krishna love play tradition

The bansuri is intimately associated with Krishna's rAs leelA or love play; the tunes on his flute are poetically associated with driving the women of Braj mad. This story also forms the core theme for hundreds of songs, particularly thumris, including the following, which has been sung by Chhanulal Mishra among others:

ab na bAjAo shyAm

bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm

(eri) vyAkul bhAyi brajabAla

bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm

nita meri galin me aayo nA

Ayo to chup ke rahiyo

bansi ki teri sunAiyo nA

bansi jo sunaiyo to suniye

fir shyAm hame ApnAiyo nA

ApnAiyo to suniye lalan

fir chhoro hAme kahin jAiyo nA

bansuriya na bAjAo shyAm

enough! now stop

playing on your flute, dark lover

this braja girl's heart is aflutter,

i ask you, please stop playing

don't come to my lane all the time

and if you have to come,

just don't play your flute

I am warning you now:

if you have to play that flute

then you'll have to be mine

you won't be able to go elsewhere

so will you stop playing now?

[edit] The Bansuri in Hindustani Classical Music

Pandit Pannalal Ghosh (1911-1960) elevated the Bansuri from a folk instrument into serious classical music. He improvised with the length and number of holes and eventually came up with longer bansuris with larger bores and a seventh hole placed 90 degrees around from the line of the other six holes. Longer bansuris provided better coverage in the lower octaves. A bansuri player is able to achieve the complexities of Raga music such as microtonal inflections, ornamentation, and glissando by varying breath, fast movement while playing both half and full holes, and covering the holes gradually.

World renowned Padmasri Pandit Vijay Raghav Rao, composer, conductor, choreographer and poet is one of the leading exponents of the flute in hindustani classical music today. Other noted exponents of the bansuri include Pandits Hariprasad Chaurasia and Ronu Majumdar and Saeen Ditta Qadri.

Other names by which a bansuri is known in India are bansi and murali. The word bansuri originates in the sanskrit bans [bamboo] + swar [musical note].

There are two varieties of bansuri: the transverse, and the fipple. The fipple variety is usually played in folk music and is held away from the lips like a whistle. Because of the flexibility and control it offers, the transverse variety is preferred in classical music.

Bansuris vary in length. They range from about 12 inches up to about 40 inches. 20-inch bansuris are common.

Another common and similar Indian flute played in South India is the venu.

Madhuramurali is a formation of two words viz. madhuram and murali. Both are sanskrit words and very familiar in India (Bharat).

Madhuram in sanskrit means - The sweet, the most liked, Greatest happy,the most blissful, the most lovingful, the most sacredful, the sincereful, the heartful spiritual experience which everyone wishes and everyone gets.

Explanation - The world itself is madhuram. Thy sun, thy moon, thy sky, thy stars, thy hills, thy rivers, thy valleys, thy people and thy hearts, thy love and affection, thy prem, thy supreme, thy supreme prem.

Madhuram means Lord Krishna's Eyes, Lord Krishna's nose, Lord Krishna's lips, Lord Krishna's face, Lord Krishna's forehead, Lord Krishna's thilak, Lord krishna's ear, Lord Krishna's ear Kuntalas, Lord krishnas lotus hands, Lord Krishna's lotus feet everything madhuram.

Murali means - The oldest indian musical instrument - flute, the media thro' which everybody gets happiness. When music comes from the flute which is played by the supreme Lord Sri Krishna himself, the Madhuramurali comes.

The enchanting of real life by Chanting of thy Lords name or hears thy name, or thinking thy name, by any means experiencing thyname which is nothing but thyself.

Thy lord, thy name, thy prem.

[edit] Playing

The index, middle, and fourth fingers of both hands are usually used to play the six hole bansuri. For the seven hole bansuri, the fifth finger (pinky) of the right hand is usually used.

The sound from a bansuri comes from resonance in the air column inside it. The length of this column can be varied by closing or opening the holes. At the same time, keeping a hole half-open helps in getting a flat note. The 'sa' (on the Indian saptak scale, or equivalent 'do' on the octave) note is obtained by covering the top three holes from the mouth-hole. The higher and lower octaves are played by changing one's embouchure. The flat portion of fingers, and not the tips, are used to cover the holes as this gives better control and ease while playing the half-holes. While playing, the sitting posture is also important and care must be taken so that the back is not strained for long hours. Bansuris of different sizes are used to play different octaves. The longer bansuris with larger bore are usually for lower octaves and the slimmer ones for higher octaves.

In order to play diatonic scale on a bansuri, it is important to find where the notes lie. For e.g. in a bansuri where Sa or the tonic, played always by closing the first three holes, is equivalent to D, you can play sheet music by creating a finger notation that corresponds to different notes.