Instrument-Specific Technique: Tuning, Fingering, Bowing or Mizrab Stroke and Tone
The paper tests tuning, fingering, bowing or mizrab stroke, and tone production on the candidate's own instrument - bansuri, violin or sitar.
Bansuri
- Pitch is fixed by the maker; the tonic is chosen by fingering, not by tuning. Closing the three upper holes yields Sa.
- The cork/stopper position governs octave tuning; binding thread fine-tunes individual notes.
- Tone depends on airstream angle and speed across the blow-hole; overblowing gives the taar saptak and lip coverage corrects intonation.
- Half-holing gives komal and tivra notes; sliding a finger produces meend.
Violin
- Held below the chin and resting on chest/shoulder; strings tuned Sa–Pa (sometimes Sa–Ma), with pegs plus fine tuners.
- The index finger anchors Sa; continuous finger slides produce meend and gamak.
- Bow contact point near the bridge gives power, near the fingerboard gives softness; speed, pressure and hair angle shape tone.
Sitar
- Mizrab on the right index finger; “da” is the inward stroke on the baj string, “ra” the outward.
- Six or seven main strings (baj, jod, pancham, chikari) plus 11–13 tarab strings tuned to the raga's notes.
- The curved jawari bridge creates the characteristic buzz; meend and kan come from pulling the string across the bridge with the left hand.
Worked example. Playing tivra Ma on a six-hole bansuri: partly uncover the Pa hole (half-hole) while keeping the airstream steady. Reasoning: the flute cannot be retuned from raga to raga, so every komal and tivra note must be produced by fingering, never by tuning.
Traps. Tuning the sitar's tarab only to Sa–Pa and ignoring the raga's komal notes; describing the Western chin-rest hold for the Hindustani violin; confusing the cork's octave function with the thread's note-tuning function; holding the sitar mizrab between thumb and index.