Sarangiसारंगी

The sarangi is a short bowed instrument with three gut playing strings and around 35 sympathetic strings that resonate beneath them.

Players stop the strings from the side with the backs of their fingernails. Many musicians hold that, of all Indian instruments, the sarangi sits closest to the human voice.

You can start the sarangi with KalaSudha online or in a workshop, at Foundation level. Foundation sets your posture and the sarangi's stop, made with the side of the fingernail, never the finger pads. We teach children and adults alike: ask us what age suits a child starting the sarangi, and about a size for a younger learner.

After a long break, you can return where you left off. Our courses run in levels, and your teacher first reviews where you stand.

A classical sarangi's body, neck and head are carved from a single block of wood, usually tun (Toona ciliata), and the belly is covered with the thin skin of a young goat. The arched main bridge, carved as an elephant, is ivory, stag-horn, ebony or bone and carries three gut playing strings. Sympathetic strings were traditionally copper or brass, and steel had become common by the 1980s.

A classical sarangi usually has three gut playing strings and about 35 sympathetic strings; some carry 39, and smaller ones 24 or fewer. Classical sarangis have never been standardised, so sizes and string counts vary. The bow never touches the sympathetic strings, which sound only by resonance with the bowed strings.

A sarangi can be tuned from C sharp to F sharp, sounding best with the first string at D sharp or E, but accompanists tune to the singer's pitch. The main strings take Sa-Pa-Sa or Sa-Ma-Sa, and the main sympathetic set is tuned chromatically. A full tuning, repeated several times, takes a skilled player 5 to 10 minutes.

Sarangi players stop the strings with the fingernails pressed sideways, mostly with the part of the nail just below the cuticle; the pads of the fingers are not used. Talcum powder lubricates the left hand, and practice brings heavy callousing and grooves in the nails. The Cretan lyra and the Bulgarian gadulka also use nail-side stopping.

The word sarangi names a stringed instrument in Jain texts from 1052, but no early text describes it. The first descriptions come from Akbar's period: the A'in-i Akbari of 1588 to 1589 calls it smaller than the rabab. The earliest painting of a sarangi player dates from the early 17th century, and the large classical form developed in or around Delhi in about the mid-19th century. Its best-known players include Bundu Khan, Ram Narayan, who built a soloist's career from the 1950s, Sabri Khan, who took it to audiences in Europe and North America, and Sultan Khan.

A sarangi has a skin table where the violin has a wooden top, and its player stops the strings with the side of the nail rather than the fingertip. It is held upright in front of the chest by a seated player. It also carries about 35 sympathetic strings that sound only by resonance with its three bowed gut strings.

No: the Nepali sarangi belongs structurally to the sarinda group of the wider sarangi family. It has four playing strings of metal and gut and is played by the Gaine (Gandharva) community; modern instruments often use nylon or steel strings. The classical Hindustani sarangi usually has three gut playing strings and about 35 sympathetic strings.

Most players use sarangis 50 to 100 years old, often inherited, and a new instrument needs about two years to settle. Joep Bor warned that new sarangis made for export or tourists were usually of very poor quality, and that good old instruments and skilled repairers were scarce. Either way, tone depends on set-up: bridge, skin fitting, string height and peg fit.

Check the back of a sarangi behind the string holder, where most old sarangis are bent or cracked. Check the set-up too: bridge placement and contour, skin fitting, string thickness and height, and peg fit. Sizes vary, because players ordered larger sarangis to accompany male singers and smaller ones for women singers. Instruments by the Meerut makers Masita and Abdul Aziz Behra were the most prized.

When buying a student or professional sarangi, look at how the body and neck are made, then at the bow. In The Voice of the Sarangi, Joep Bor records a body carved from one block of tun seasoned for a year. On costlier sarangis, inlays where the fingers touch keep the fingerboard smooth and stop wear. Bor also found the players of his day using light shisham bows while telling students to practise with a heavy one, which takes more control.

KalaSudha sells student sarangis and master-made concert sarangis from Meerut and Delhi makers. Ours suit the accompanist and the soloist: ask us for a quote, or for a sarangi made to order.

KalaSudha sells sarangis to players outside India, by quote or made to order, and delivers worldwide. We pack each sarangi for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance.

We also service and repair any sarangi worldwide, wherever you bought it. Strings and spare parts come from us too. Whenever you need help with your sarangi after the sale, ask us through the chat on any page or at [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.

Ask KalaSudha to book a sarangi player for a concert, event or recording. A sarangi player can accompany a singer or a Kathak dancer, or play solo, so say which you need when you book Indian classical musicians with us. You can hear our artists first in KalaSudha's recordings and concert videos.

Well-known sarangi players include Ram Narayan (1927 to 2024), who became a solo concert artist in 1956 and showed that the sarangi could hold a solo recital. Bundu Khan and Gopal Mishra also fought for it as a solo instrument.

Sultan Khan (1940 to 2011), of the Sikar gharana, toured with Ravi Shankar on George Harrison's 1974 Dark Horse tour. Sabri Khan (1927 to 2015), of the Senia gharana, was a staff artist at All India Radio.