Indian Bamboo Flute (Bansuri)

Bansuri Tuning

2012-03-10T07:32:00.001-08:00

Generally Bansuri are tuned to kalyan scale, because in india it is played as top 3 holes closed as “Sa”

So if you assume it as “Sa” and Ratio 1:1

Then lower Ni will be 15:8 low than this “Sa”

Lower Dha will be lower 5:3

And lower Pa will be lower 3:2

And the tuning will be

3:2(1.5)/5:3(1.67)/15:8(1.88)/1:1(1)/9:8(1.13)/5:4(1.25)/45:32(1.41) (Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa-Re-Ga Tivra Ma)

Now if you play this bansuri with 3 holes closed as Sa than everything is OK.

But if you play this bansuri with all holes closed as Sa then the ratio changes (dividing all by 3:2,From Sa onwards divide by 3:2/2=3:4)

1:1(1)/10:9(1.11)/5:4(1.25)/4:3(1.33)/ 3:2(1.5)/5:3(1.67)/15:8(1.88)—(Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni-Sa)

You see Re is Flat here if you play all holes closed as Sa

So to conclude tuning depends on how you play if you play 3 holes closed as Sa then tuning is shown above(first one), in short 3 holes closed then tuning kalyan and all holes closed Sa then tuning bilawal

The Making of a Bansuri

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Although, the flute is a relatively simple instrument in terms of design, the process of making a professional quality flute can be quite complex.

Bamboo, the raw material is a product of nature and its physical properties like density, thickness, internal diameter etc are not uniform. These factors need to be kept in mind while making a flute and their effect on the character and tone of the instrument can only be judged by experience.

The flutes are carved out by hand. The process begins with selecting the right piece of bamboo. The ratio of length vs diameter is an important factor in this. Other considerations are the thickness of the bamboo, the desired scale and the number of knots present.

The bamboo is then cut to a length slightly longer than what is finally required and the knots are removed.

After this, a position for the blowing hole is decided keeping in mind the curvature and the physical structure of the bamboo.

The blowing hole is then made by burning the bamboo with a hot iron rod. A cork is fixed inside the tube near the blowing hole in such a position so that the main note and its octave can be played with maximum ease.

Measurements are made and the bamboo is again cut to achieve the correct pitch. Similarly, other holes are marked and burnt into the bamboo.

The next step and the most complex one is that of tuning the flute. The flute has to be tuned by adjusting the size of the holes. The holes can only be widened and not shortened, so if an error is made at this stage, the entire flute goes waste. This is where the skill of a seasoned craftsman is put to use.

The flutes are tuned strictly to the pure diatonic scale and not to the tempered, chromatic scale.

Once the flute is tuned it is washed and dipped in a mixture of various oils and antiseptic solution for over 24 hours. After this, the oil is allowed to drain for another 24 hours.

The flute is now ready to be played and some final touches are added.

Uttari Gunkali Raag

2012-03-03T10:38:00.000-08:00

Uttari Gunkali
Thaat: Bhairavi
Jati: Sampooran- Sampooran (7/7)
Virjit Notes: none
Vadi: Sa
Samvadi: Ma
Vikrat Notes: R, G, D, N komal
Time: Morning
Aroh: S r g m P d n S*
Avroh: S* n d P m g r S

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 6 - Playing Half Notes

2012-03-03T09:18:00.001-08:00

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 5 - Playing Scales with Key Change - Practical

2012-03-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 4 - Playing Scales with Key Change - Theory

2012-03-03T09:17:00.001-08:00

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 3 - Playing Natural Scale

2012-03-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 2 - Holding and Producing Sound

2012-03-03T09:15:00.001-08:00

Learn to Play Bansuri - Part 1 - General Information

2012-03-03T09:15:00.000-08:00

How to Play the Bansuri (Bamboo Flute)

2012-03-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

Bansuri Bapu Flute Fusion

2012-03-03T08:36:00.002-08:00

Comparison Of Notations By Indian and Western Music

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By comparison, using the common tonic "C" for a western musician:

Carnatic Swara	Carnatic Notation	Hindustani Swara	Hindustani Notation	Western E.T.
Sa	S	Sa	S	C
Shuddha Ri	R1	Komal Re	r	D♭
Chatusruti Ri	R2	Shuddha Re	R	D
Shatsruti Ri	R3			D♯
Shuddha Ga	G1			D
Sadharana Ga	G2	Komal G	g	E♭
Antara Ga	G3	Shuddha Ga	G	E
Shuddha Ma	M1	Shuddha Ma	M	F
Prati Ma	M2	Teevra Ma	M+	F♯
Pa	P	Pa	P	G
Shuddha Dha	D1	Komal Dha	d	A♭
Chatusruti Dha	D2	Shuddha Dha	D	A
Shatsruti Dha	D3			A♯
Shuddha Ni	N1			A
Kaisika Ni	N2	Komal Ni	n	B♭
Kakali Ni	N3	Shuddha Ni	N	B

Note:
In Pakistan and Indian Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni Are also called as below.

The word Shuddha are also called Teewar

Sa    Is Also Called Kharj
Ga Is Also Called    Gandhar
Ma    Is Also Called Madham
Pa     Is Also Called    Puncham
Dha   Is Also Called    Dhewat
Ni    Is   Also Called Nikhad

Raag Bhairvin

2012-03-01T06:28:00.003-08:00

Bhairvin. Raag Bhairvin is one of the most popular ragas amongst the masses. It is an early morning raag but due to its immense popularity, musicians perform it at any time of the day. It belongs to the Bhairvin thath and is more associated with light classical genres such as thumris and ghazals. Many folk and film melodies are composed in this raag. The raag uses flat notes but some musicians make use of sharp notes to add beauty.

Ascent. Sa Re (flat), Ga (flat), Ma Pa Ga (flat), Ma Pa Dha (flat), Ni (flat), Sa.	Descent. Sa Ni (flat), Dha (flat), Pa Ma Ga (flat), Re (flat) Sa.
Vaadi. Sa	Samvadi. Ma or either Pa.
Chalan. Dha Dha Pa Ma Ga Ma Ga Re Sa- Dha Ni Sa Ga Ma Dha Dha Pa Ga Ma Ga Re Sa.	Pakar. Ma- Ga- Sa Re Sa- Sa Re Sa- Dha Ni Sa.

RAGA Megh

2012-03-01T06:28:00.001-08:00

Megh. One of the oldest raags in Indian classical music. Megh belongs to the kafi thath and is associated with the rainy season. Notes Ga and dha are omitted in this raag. Its vadi is Sa and samvadi is Pa.

Ascent. Sa Ma Re Pa Ma Pa Ni (flat) Sa	Descent. Sa Ni (flat) Pa Ma Re Sa
Vaadi. Sa	Samvadi. Pa
Chalan. Re Sa Ni Sa- Re-Sa-Re-Pa- Ma Re Re Sa. Sa Re Re- Ma Re- Ma Ma- Ni Pa -Pa Ni- Ma Pa- Ma Re- Pa Ma Re- Sa-Re-Re Sa	Pakar. Re Re Sa Ni Sa- Ma Re Pa- Ma Re Ni Sa.

RAGA Aiman

2012-03-01T06:27:00.001-08:00

Aiman or known as Yaman. An early evening raag which comprises of seven notes. Raag Aiman is derived from the Kalyan Thath. Its vadi note is Ga and samvadi is Ni. Its unique feature is the use of the sharp Ma note.

Ascent. Ni Sa Re Ga Ma (Sharp) Dha Ni Sa	Descent. Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma (Sharp) Ga Re Sa.
Vaadi. Ga	Samvadi.Ni
Chalan. Sa Re- Sa- Sa Re Ga- Re Ga- Ni Re Ga- Re Ga- Ni Re Ga- Re Sa- Sa Re Ga Re Sa- Ni Dha Pa Ma Dha Ni Dha Ni- Re Ga Re Sa.	Pakar. Ni Re Ga Re Sa. Ma Re Ga Re Sa (special taan)

RAGA Darbari

2012-03-01T06:26:00.002-08:00

Darbari. A very famous raag, said to be created by the celebrated Mian Tansen. Darbari belongs to the Asavari thath, its Vadi is Re and Samvadi is Pa. Ga is weak in ascent and Dha is avoided in the descent. It is sung mostly in the lower and middle octaves. Its time of performance is late night usually during midnight. The speciality of the raag is that Ga and Dha are performed with "Andolan", in a way which seems that the notes are gliding.

Ascent. Ni Sa Re Ga (flat) Re Sa Ma Pa Dha (flat) Ni (flat) Sa	Descent. Sa Dha (flat) Ni (flat) Pa Ma Pa Ga (flat) Ma Re Sa.
Vaadi. Re	Samvadi. Pa
Chalan. Re Sa re ni sa re dha ni pa Dha ni Sa Re sa re ni sa re- ga-ga ma re- Sa ni Sa re- dha ni-pa-ni pa-dha-ni sa	Pakar. Sa dha ni pa- ma pa- dha ni- re

Raga Malkauns

2012-03-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

Malkauns belongs to the Bhairvin thath and consists of five notes. Re and Pa notes are omitted from this raga.Ga, Dha and Ni are Komal Swaras. Its vadi is Ma and samvadi is Sa. The raag is performed during the night.

Ascent. Sa Ga (flat) Ma Dha Ni (flat) Sa.	Descent. Sa Ni (flat) Dha (flat) Ma Ga (flat) Sa.
Vaadi. Ma	Samvadi. Sa
Chalan. Ma Ma Ga Ni Sa Ni Ma ni Dha Ma Dha Ni Sa Ma Ma Ga Sa.	Pakar. Ni dha ni sa- sa ma ga- ga ma- dha ma- ga sa.

Raga Yaman

2012-02-27T02:23:00.000-08:00

Raga Bihag - A Concert at India Community Center

2012-02-27T02:22:00.002-08:00

Raga Ahir Bhairav

2012-02-27T01:57:00.001-08:00

RAGA BASANT

2012-02-27T01:48:00.002-08:00

Raga Maru Bihag

2012-02-27T01:44:00.001-08:00

Famous Raags

2012-02-26T10:39:00.003-08:00

Raagas

Although the total number of raags in Hindustani classical music was as big as 300, several of them have been lost over the centuries. About 100 raags are known and performed these days. The following list contains most of them.

Complete formats, bandishes and popular songs have been provided for many raags. Names of such raags are underscored. Simply click on the name of a raag to see its complete details. Audio clips are also provided to illustrate several details. We’ll keep adding details for more raags with time.

While classification of most raags in thaats is universally accepted, opinions vary among the experts for some raags. The same is true about performance times of some raags.

The list is sorted alphabetically by raag name. You can sort the list by thaat or performance time by clicking on the column headers.

Raaga	Thaat	Performance Time
Adana	Asavari	Night
Ahir Bhairav	Bhairav	Morning
Asavari		Morning
Bageshri	Kafi	Night
Bahar	Kafi	Night
Bairagi Bhairav	Bhairav	Morning
Basant	Poorvi	Night
Basant Mukhari		Morning
Bhairav	Bhairav	Morning
Bhairavi	Bhairavi	Any Time
Bhankar	Bhairav	Morning
Bhatiyar	Bhairav	Morning
Bhimpalasi	Kafi	Afternoon
Bhinna Shadja	Khamaj	Night
Bhoopal Todi	Bhairavi	Morning
Bhoopali	Kalyan	Evening
Bihag	Kalyan	Night
Bilaskhani Todi	Bhairavi	Morning
Bilawal	Bilawal	Morning
Chandani Kedar	Kalyan	Night
Chandrakauns		Night
Charukeshi
Chhayanat	Kalyan	Night
Darbari	Asavari	Night
Desh	Khamaj	Evening
Deshkar	Bilawal	Morning
Desi	Asavari	Morning
Dhani	Kafi	Any Time
Durga	Bilawal	Night
Gara	Khamaj
Gaud Malhar	Kafi	Monsoon
Gaud Saarang	Kalyan	Afternoon
Gorakh Kalyan	Khamaj	Night
Gunakri	Bhairav	Morning
Gurjari Todi	Todi	Morning
Hamir	Kalyan	Night
Hansdhwani	Bilawal	Evening
Hindol	Kalyan	Morning
Jaijaiwanti	Khamaj	Night
JanaSammohini
Jaunpuri	Asavari	Morning
Jhinjhoti	Khamaj	Night
Jogiya	Bhairav	Morning
Kafi	Kafi	Any Time
Kalavati	Khamaj	Night
Kalingada	Bhairav	Morning
Kamod	Kalyan	Evening
Kedar	Kalyan	Night
Khamaj	Khamaj	Evening
Kirwani		Night
Lalit	Poorvi	Morning
Madhuvanti	Todi	Afternoon
Madhyamad Sarang	Kafi	Afternoon
Malgunji	Kafi	Night
Malhar	Kafi	Night
Malkauns	Bhairavi	Night
Malkauns Pancham	Bhairavi	Night
Mand	Bilawal	Any Time
Maru Bihag	Kalyan	Evening
Marwa	Marwa	Afternoon
Miyan Malhar	Kafi	Monsoon
Multani	Todi	Afternoon
Nand	Kalyan	Night
Nat Bhairav	Bhairav	Morning
Pahadi	Bilawal	Evening
Patdeep		Afternoon
Piloo	Kafi	Any Time
Poorvi	Poorvi	Afternoon
Puriya	Marwa	Evening
Puriya Dhanashri	Poorvi	Evening
Rageshri	Khamaj	Night
Sham Kalyan	Kalyan	Evening
Shankara	Bilawal	Evening
Shivranjani	Kafi	Night
Shri	Poorvi	Afternoon
Shuddh Kalyan	Kalyan	Evening
Shuddh Sarang	Kalyan	Afternoon
Sohni	Marwa	Morning
Tilak Kamod	Khamaj	Night
Tilang	Khamaj	Evening
Todi	Todi	Morning
Vibhas	Bhairav	Morning
Vrindavani Sarang	Kafi
Yaman	Kalyan	Evening
Yaman Kalyan	Kalyan	Evening

How to hold a bansuri

2012-02-26T10:31:00.002-08:00

Different people have different ways of gripping the flute. The only thing that you should keep in mind is that you should be comfortable while holding the instrument.

If you are right handed then you would use the left hand to cover the top three holes of the flute and the right hand for the bottom three or four holes depending upon what style of playing you follow.

There are at least two common ways of holding the flute - The Pt. Panna Lal Ghosh style and the Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia style.

Pt. Pannalal Ghosh Technique

In this style the holes are covered by the tips of the fingers. By using the finger tips to close the holes the right hand can be stretched to cover the seventh hole of the bansuri. The following picture shows Pt. Pannalal Ghosh holding the flute.

Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia Technique

In this style, the flat portion of fingers, and not the tips, are used to cover the holes.

In order to understand this style better, role over the following image to see what portions of the fingers are used to cover which holes. Also, keep in mind that the lines on your fingers should not be over the holes as that will lead to leakage of air.

Playing your first note

2012-02-26T10:23:00.002-08:00

As with any other woodwind instrument the first step is the toughest. You will need a lot of patience initially and you might have to put in a lot of effort to play your first note properly. Once you are able to do that, then the fun begins.

The first step is to get a clean tone out of your flute. I'm sure, at some point or the other, you would have tried blowing into a bottle or a pen cap; Blowing into a bamboo flute is exactly the same. So try that out - just blow into the blowing hole and see if you are able to produce a sound.

Remember that you cannot get a sound by blowing straight into the hole, you have to blow at an angle in such a way that some portion of the air goes inside the flute and some of it goes outside. It is a personal thing and I have seen that this comes very naturally to some people and some people like me have to struggle with this. Personally, I spent about three months just blowing into the flute and trying to get the correct tone out of it.

I suggest you do not worry about how you are holding the flute at first and concentrate only on getting a clean sound without covering any holes.

Here is a simple trick that I learnt when I was starting out. This is what helped me. I could not explain this in words so I asked my cousin to help me take it on video...