#LifeIsMusic: Get to know the beauty of Sarod

Sarod means beautiful sound or melody in Persian. It has a unique sound. The soulfulness is adds to Hindustani Classical music is unmatched.

Along with the sitar, it's one of the most popular string instrument in Indian classical music. Sarod has a deep, heavy, and husky sound as oppose to the lighter texture of the sitar. Sarod's fretless fingerboard allows Sarod to produce meend, the art of sliding from one note to the next in a gradual progression, quite easily. This is the reason Sarod is the most expressive instrument.

It is believed that Sarod is a descendant of Afghan rubab. It is often referred to as a 'Bass rubab'. Legend has it that Sarodmaestro, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s ancestor Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, a musician and a horse trader, came to India with the rubab in the mid-18th century.

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Sarod is a string instrument similar to the Sitar in its basic mechanism. Though the basic form of the Sarodre mains the same, there are many intricate differences in the instrument depending on the gharanas it comes from. Followers of Baba Allaudin Khan from Maihargharana use Sarodmade out of sheesham wood that has four main strings to play raagas. Followers of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, who hails from the Senia gharana, use Sarod made out of teak wood.“Sheesham gives a more mellow tone to the Sarod, while the teak wood Sarod has a sharper tone,” says Pandit Rajan Kulkarni, who comes from the Maihargharana. The soundboard made of goatskin stretched over the resonator and the fingerboard made of steel is what gives this instrument its unique sound. There are usually 17 to 25 strings on the Sarod depending on the gharana it belongs to. Four or five of these strings are the main strings used to play the raaga. There are two chikari strings that are used to keep the tempo. The main strings and the chikari strings pass over a bone bridge known as ghora. The nine to eleven sympathetic strings along with two drone strings pass through a row of holes in the bridge. Thus the drone and sympathetic strings run under the main and chikari strings. These strings are usually made of steel. Most artists prefer the German or American-made strings. The sympathetic and the chikari strings have pegs on the side of the finger board, and the remaining strings are pegged on the pegblock above the fingerboard. The Maihargharana Sarods have an extra metal resonator at the neck of the instrument.

You can read the complete article about innovative instruments here.

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