Santoor

A santoor is a hammered dulcimer from Kashmir: a trapezoid walnut box with about a hundred strings. Twenty-five wooden bridges carry the strings in sets of four, and the player tunes each set to one note, so one stroke sounds four strings together.

The player sits with the santoor in front and strikes the strings with two light wooden mallets. A struck string cannot bend, so the player suggests a glide with fast strokes on neighbouring bridges. The santoor accompanied Sufiana Mausiqi, the Sufi music of Kashmir, until Pandit Shivkumar Sharma brought it to the classical concert stage.

The sitar is plucked and slides between notes. The santoor is struck and cannot slide, so it moves in runs and repeated strokes.

The sitar is a long-necked lute with a gourd body, movable curved frets and sympathetic strings beneath the playing strings. The santoor is the hundred-stringed instrument of Kashmir: a flat wooden box strung with metal strings, struck with a pair of light wooden mallets.

On the sitar you hear a phrase held and bent, the way a singer does. On the santoor each note rings on after the hand has moved. See what is a sitar and what is a santoor.

You can learn the santoor with KalaSudha online and in workshops; every beginner starts at Foundation level. The first stage covers seated posture and the loose grip that lets each mallet bounce off the strings. We teach children as well as adults, so ask us about the age to start a child and about a santoor size for a younger learner.

Coming back to the santoor after a long break, you start again where you left off. The levels in our courses make that possible, once your teacher has reviewed where you stand.

When buying a student or professional santoor, compare the layout of bridges and strings first, then the wood and how long it seasoned. Choose the layout your teacher plays, since each style sets its own number of bridges and strings. Before you buy, check that each bridge sits square on its felt pad, and that every course tunes to one clean unison.

KalaSudha sells professional walnut santoors from established Kashmiri workshops, and concert instruments from master craftsmen. Ours suit the student and the concert player: ask us for a quote, or for a santoor made to order.

KalaSudha sells the santoor to buyers outside India, by quote or made to order, and delivers it worldwide. We pack your santoor for international shipping; ask us about a case and insurance.

Any santoor can come to us for service and repair, in any country and wherever you bought it. We also supply strings and spare parts. For help with your santoor after the sale, use the chat on any page or email [email protected]. Ask us too about gift vouchers, class sets for schools or a flight case for travel.

A good gift for someone learning an Indian classical instrument suits the instrument they play and the stage they have reached, so ask their teacher if you are unsure. An instrument of their own, or a better one, also makes a gift: KalaSudha sells every instrument by quote or made to order. For something smaller, ask us for a case, or for strings and spare parts to suit their instrument.

Lessons make a gift as well. KalaSudha teaches online and in workshops, and beginners start at Foundation level: see our courses.

Ask us about gift vouchers.

Sources disagree on the wood of the santoor. A Greater Kashmir column names seasoned mulberry for the traditional Kashmiri box, and a retailer names walnut and mulberry, with sheesham on some modern instruments. Whatever the timber, it must be seasoned for years before carving, or it may crack under the tension of the strings. Ask the maker which wood was used and how long it was seasoned.

The traditional Kashmiri santoor carries 100 strings in courses of four over 25 bridges, with each course tuned to one note. Shivkumar Sharma reworked his concert instrument to 31 bridges and 91 strings, giving three clear octaves with chromatic tuning. Bhajan Sopori's model carries more, and counts vary between makers and players.

Each course of a santoor has several strings that sound one note, so the player brings every string in a course to the same pitch. The traditional Kashmiri santoor has 100 strings in 25 courses of four. Shivkumar Sharma's 31-bridge, 91-string instrument is tuned chromatically across three clear octaves, and string and bridge counts vary between makers and players.

A santoor player strikes the strings with a pair of light mallets, called mezrab or kalam. Shivkumar Sharma held the mallets between the index and middle fingers. He also played the santoor on his lap rather than on the traditional wooden stand, to reduce disturbing resonance; the instrument weighs about 8 kg.

Playing meend, the glide between notes, is hard on the santoor, because its strings are struck with mallets. So is gamak, the ornamental oscillation. That was the main obstacle to raga performance on the instrument. Bhajan Sopori answered it with thick strings pressed to imitate meend and heavier mallets for sustain, and his style draws on dhrupad, with long alap and meend.

Two musicians are most credited with bringing the santoor to the Hindustani classical stage: Shivkumar Sharma and Bhajan Sopori. Before the mid-20th century it was widely regarded as a folk instrument. Sharma reworked it for three chromatic octaves. Sopori (1948 to 2022), of the Sufiana gharana, developed a separate style with added strings, a gourd and sympathetic strings.

Yes, the santoor belongs to the family of hammered dulcimers: box zithers whose strings are struck with a pair of light mallets. Its relatives include the Persian and Iraqi santur, the Chinese yangqin, the Hungarian cimbalom and the German Hackbrett. In Kashmir the santoor was used for centuries mainly to accompany singers of Sufiana Mausiqi, the Sufi-related classical music of the region.

You can book a santoor player through KalaSudha for a concert, event or recording session. Send us your request through our page to book Indian classical musicians. You can hear our artists before you book, in KalaSudha's recordings and concert videos.