Sarod
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Image:Ali Akbar.jpg The sarod (Hindi:सरोद, Bengali: সরোদ) is an Indian classical musical instrument. It is similar to the Western lute in structure. In terms of prominence and popularity amongst connoisseurs of Hindustani classical music, it occupies a position second only to that of the sitar.Contents |
[edit] Origins
Many scholarly and anecdotal accounts consider the ancestral source of the sarod to be the rebab, a similar instrument originating in Afghanistan and Kashmir. The sarod is essentially a bass rebab.<ref name=bassrebab>Courtney, David. Darod. David and Chandrakantha Courtney. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.</ref> The rebab was modified by Amir Khusru in the 13th century. Dr Lalmani Misra opines in his Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya that the sarod is an amalgamation of the ancient chitra veena, the medieval rebab and modern sursingar.
However, there are speculations among the sarod community, notably from Ali Akbar Khan, that a similar instrument might have existed almost two thousand years ago in ancient India. They refer to instruments which resemble the sarod found in carvings of the 1st century in the Champa temple, as well as in paintings in the Ajanta Caves.
Amjad Ali Khan’s great great great grandfather Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a musician and horsetrader, who came to India with the Afghan rebab in the mid-1700s and became a court musician to the Maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh). It was his descendants, and notably his grandson Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash who became a court musician in Gwalior, who gradually transformed the rabab into the sarod we know today.<ref name=amjadalisite1>Broughton, Simon. Tools of the Trade: Sarod. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.</ref> The sarod in its present recognizable form dates back to c.1820, when it started gaining recognition as a serious instrument in Rewa, Shahjahanpur, Gwalior and Lucknow. In the twentieth century, the sarod received some finishing touches from Allauddin Khan, the performer-pedagogue from Maihar best known as Ravi Shankar's guru.
[edit] Design
The design of the instrument depends on the school (gharana) of playing. There are three distinguishable types, discussed below.
- The conventional sarod is a 25-stringed lute-like instrument — four main strings used for playing the melody, two drone strings, two chikari strings and fifteen sympathetic strings.<ref name=strings1>Sarod. Indian String Musical Instruments. newkerala.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.</ref> Its body traditionally hand-carved from a single block of tun (Indian mahogany) or teak wood. It has a steel fretless fingerboard. The bridge rests on the belly of the instrument, which is covered in goat skin. This version has four melody or playing strings and three rhythm strings, with the remainder being sympathetic (tarab) and jawari strings.
- A second type is that designed by Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. Khan's design is shorter, and has nineteen strings. The strings include four main strings, two jod strings (tuned to Sa or "do" in the solfege system), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of the upper octave) and eleven tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so") and lower Sa, giving the instrument a range of three octaves.
- The third version was devised by Radhika Mohan Moitra. This style of sarod can be made of teak or tun wood, and has 23 strings. The main difference in comparison to the Amjad Ali Khan style of sarod is that this style of sarod has a low Pa ("so") string. This string can be used as a melody string or as a jawari string.
Sarod strings are made either of steel or phosphor bronze. Most contemporary sarod players use Roslau, Schaff or Precision brand music wire. The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum (jaba) made of polished coconut shell, or other materials such as bone.
[edit] Playing
The lack of frets and the tension of the strings makes it very technically demanding to play, as the strings must be pressed hard against the fingerboard.
There are two schools of sarod playing. One involves using the tip of one's fingernails to stop the strings; certain strength and stiffness of the fingernails is a prerequisite for accuracy of pitch. The other uses a combination of the nail and the fingertip to stop the strings against the fingerboard.<ref name=amjadalisite1/> The technique which uses the fingernails produces a ringing tone, while the the fingertip technique produces a flatter tone.
[edit] Well known sarod players
[edit] Senior performers
[edit] Contemporary performers
[edit] Notes
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[edit] References
- McNeil, A (2005), Inventing the Sarod: A Cultural History, Seagull, ISBN 8170462134
[edit] See also
de:Sarod fr:Sarod hi:सरोद nl:Sarod nn:Sarod fi:Sarod sv:Sarod
