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India’s premier fretless lute offers a unique blend of capabilities, combining smooth glides with an emphatic plucking timbre

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–Raga instruments (full list)–

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—Amjad Ali Khan (Miyan ki Malhar)—

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“The most vivid moment in music I remember is my first experience of hearing Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Before that, I had heard very little of the sarod…It was a moment of epiphany and total grace. As I was listening, my life changed, with music moved to the centre of the universe. I was hooked, and never looked back. It’s like falling in love; how can you explain it?…Teaching freely, with openness, is a major Maihar preoccupation. This can perhaps be traced to the difficulties Allauddin Khan, the paramahamsa-like saint-musician, encountered in learning…he was compelled to choose the sarod in a veena-dominated tradition, which confined its teaching to its kin alone. But his ingenuity incorporated the possibilities of veena into the sarod, remodelling it for the purpose. Nuances of the veena came into the sarod-baaj, and later years saw the promotion of sitar, surbahar, and sursingar…” (Rajeev Taranath)

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—Sarod Basics—

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(Allauddin Khan teaches Ali Akbar in 1933)

 

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• Notable performers: Prattyush Banerjee (1969-), Wahajat Khan (1969-), Brij Narayan (1952-), Amjad Ali Khan (1945-), Kalyan Mukherjea (1943-2010), Buddhadev Dasgupta (1933-2018), Rajeev Taranath (1932-), Bahadur Khan (1931-1989), Sharan Rani (1929-2008), Ali Akbar Khan (1922-2009), Radhika Mohan Maitra (1917-1981), Hafiz Ali Khan (1888-1972), Allauddin Khan (c.1862-1972)

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—Debasmita Bhattacharya (Bhimpalasi)—

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• Get started with learning raga! •

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—Classifiers—

• Form: 17-to-25-string fretless lute, pitch-controlled with the fingernails/tips, and plucked with a coconut-shell plectrum
• Origin: adapted from the Afghan rabab in the 19th century
• Scale length: ~700mm (~27.5”)
• Range: ~36 semitones (~3 oct.)
• Sa pitch: Maihar sarodiyas such as Ali Akbar Khan and his disciples usually set their Sa as C – but Senia-Bangash khalifa Amjad Ali Khan prefers a low A# (although he does tune up to C in some instances) [see my Survey of Sa Tunings for more].

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—Setup—

• Tuning:

(as per his son Alam Khan’s demo)

• More Info •

• https://www.darbar.org/article/debasmita-bhattacharya-interview

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—Amaan Ali Khan demo—

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Q

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• Hindustani Instruments: Anandi | Bansuri | Bass-Veena | Bazantar | Bulbul Tarang | Cello | Chaturangi | Dilruba | Electric Guitar | Esraj | Fretless Guitar | Harmonium | Jal Tarang | Jori | Mandolin | Mohan Veena | Nal Tarang | Pakhawaj | Piano | Rabab | Rudra Veena | Sagar Veena | Santoor | Sarangi | Sarod | Saxophone | Shehnai | Sitar | Surbahar | Sursagar | Sursingar | Swarmandal | Tabla | Tabla Tarang | Tanpura | Tar Shehnai | Taus | Vichtra Veena | Violin

–Survey of Sa tunings–