Indian Musical Instruments

Indian music is one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. India's classical music tradition is millenia long and remains important to the lives of Indians today as a source of religious inspiration, cultural expression, and entertainment.

The instruments below contains some of the south and north Indian instruments. This page is categorized into "strings" and "percussion" instruments.

Strings

These instruments are played by strumming, plucking or bowing the strings.

Sitar

This north Indian instrument is played by strumming and plucking the strings. Listen out for the sympathetic strings that sounds together with the melody.

Sarangi

This north Indian instrument is played by bowing across the strings. Listen out for the sympathetic strings that sounds together with the melody.

What are sympathetic strings?

They are strings tuned to ring when certain notes are played on the main strings. It does not require the player to touch the strings at all.

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Carnatic Violin

This is a normal western violin being used in south Indian music. The musician normally holds the violin lower and faces it forward.

Veena

This is a south Indian instrument. There are only three symphathetic strings, so the resonance is less obvious compared to the sitar.

Sound is produced by plucking the strings.

Santoor

This north Indian instrument is played by hitting two wooden mallets against the stings. Listen out for the distinctive sound of the mallet hitting the strings.

Percussion

These instruments are played by tapping the instruments within the hand.

Tabla

This north Indian instrument consists of two slightly different sized drums. Different sounds are created by using the fingers and palm in different configuration. This video also shows the musician saying out the tabla syllables.

Mridangam

This south Indian instrument is a double sided drum. Different sounds are created by tapping the palm and fingers differently on the drum.

Ghatam

This is a clay pot used as a percussive instrument in south Indian music. The clay pot contain small amount of metal. Besides using different part of the pot, musicians also uses the palm, fingers and heel of the hand to produce different sound.

Kanjira

This is a south Indian instrument that sounds like a tambourine. It is not tuned to a specific pitch unlike the Mridangam or Ghatam. The pitch can be changed by using the left to apply pressure on the rim. Water is sprinkled on the drum to get more bass.