Instruments of Hindustani Music: Classification, Structure, and Tuning
Instrument questions test classification, part names and tuning logic. You must know which family an instrument belongs to and why its drone or main strings are tuned as they are.
Core rules
- The fourfold classification is tat (string), sushir (wind), avanaddha (membrane percussion) and ghana (solid).
- Tat: sitar, sarod, sarangi (bowed), tanpura and veena. Sushir: bansuri, shehnai and harmonium (free reed). Avanaddha: tabla, pakhavaj and dholak. Ghana: jaltarang and manjira.
- Sitar parts include tumba, dandi, gulu, pardas, jawari and tarab strings. Its tuning is not a fixed chromatic scale.
- Tanpura has four strings, usually tuned Pa-Sa-Sa-Sa or Ma-Sa-Sa-Sa. Choose Pa when the raga has a strong Pa; choose Ma when Pa is omitted or weak.
- Tabla: the dayan is tuned to Sa or Pa, the bayan to a lower Sa; the gatta helps set pitch.
Worked example
Choose a tanpura drone for Kafi. Kafi uses komal Ga and komal Ni, with shuddha Ma and Pa present. Pa is available and stable, so Pa-Sa-Sa-Sa is safe. If a raga omitted Pa, Ma-Sa-Sa-Sa would be preferred. Reason: the drone should reinforce a stable swara, usually vadi or samvadi, and must not introduce a vivadi.
Traps
Harmonium is sushir even though it has keys. Jaltarang is ghana, not avanaddha. Sarangi is a bowed tat instrument; do not confuse it with sarod. Do not tune tanpura to all twelve notes. Tabla is a pair, not a single drum.