''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. It is closely related to the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it is usually pitched two to five whole steps below the standard sitar.

Overview

The surbahar is over 130 cm (51 inches). It uses a dried

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...

as a resonator, and has a neck with very wide frets, which allow a glissando or "meend" of as much as an octave on the same fret through the method of pulling. The neck is made out of ''

toona ''Toona'', commonly known as redcedar, toon (also spelled tun) or toona, tooni (in India) is a genus in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, native from Afghanistan south to India, and east to North Korea, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. In ol ...

'', or mahogany wood. It has 3-4 rhythm strings (''chikari''), four playing strings (the broadest 1 mm), and 10 to 11

sympathetic strings Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (excep ...

. There are two bridges; the playable strings pass over the greater bridge, which is connected to the tabli with small legs, which are glued in place. The sympathetic strings pass over the smaller bridge which is directly glued on the tabli. The bridges have a slightly curved upper surface parallel to the string that the strings touch when vibrating, which results in a buzzing sound known as jawari. The body of the instrument is similar to that of a sitar, in that it is made of a large dried gourd with a carved wood face on one side and joined to the neck by a carved wooden yoke or "gulu". It differs in that most surbahars have a gourd that is larger and tilted 90º so that the bottom of the gourd is to the back of the instrument, creating a shallower and rounder body for an enhanced bass response. The instrumentalist plays the strings using a

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harps ...

of bent steel wire, the '' mizrab'', which is fixed on the index finger of the player's right hand. Three plectrums are used on the first three fingers to play the ''

dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampraday and also related to the South In ...

'' style of '' alap'', '' jor'', and ''

jhala Jhala (Hindi: झाला, ) is a term in Hindustani classical music which denotes the fast-paced conclusions of classical compositions or raga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisatio ...

'' on surbahar. In the ''dhrupad'' style, instead of performing the ''sitarkhani'' and ''masitkhani'' gats, the instrumentalist plays the slow ''dhrupad'' composition in accompaniment with ''

pakhawaj The pakhavaj is a barrel-shaped, two-headed drum, originating from the Indian subcontinent, the oldest version of double sided drums and its descendants are mridangam of Southern India and kendang of Maritime Southeast Asia and other South As ...

''. Some researchers believe that surbahar was invented around 1825. At the time, the

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

, which is considered a holy instrument associated with the goddess

Saraswati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...

, was only taught to descendants of veena players. The development of the surbahar was due in part to the desire to play in a lower range similar to that of the veena. Surbahar was invented by

Omrao Khan Omrao Khan beenkar was a vina wizard of the 18th century. He was a descendant of Naubat Khan. Early life Omrao Khan beenkar was born in Agra to Naubat Khan II. He was the nephew of Nirmol Shah and first cousin of Pyar Khan, Jafar Khan and Basit Kha ...

Beenkar and Ghulam Mohammad was his disciple. Omrao Khan Beenkar was the grandfather of Wazir Khan of Rampur. The invention is also attributed to Ustad Sahebdad Khan. Recent research shows that

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

-based sitarist Ustad Ghulam Mohammed may also have been the inventor. A similar kind of instrument , known as the ''Mahakachhapi Vina'', is also known to exist during that period.

Notable performers

Annapurna Devi (1927 – 13 October 2018) was an Indian surbahar (bass sitar) player of Hindustani classical music. She was given the name 'Annapurna' by former Maharaja Brijnath Singh of the former Maihar Estate (M.P.), and it was by this name that she was p ...

(1927 - 2018) *

Imdad Khan Ustad Imdad Khan (1848 – 1920) was a sitar and surbahar player. He was the first sitar player ever to be recorded.Wahid Khan Wahid Khan was an Indian surbahar and sitar player. He was the son of Imdad Khan and belonged to the Imdadkhani gharana or ''Etawah gharana'' of classical music. Early life Wahid Khan was born in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. He was still quite young ...

Enayat Khan Ustad Enayat Khan ( ur, عنایت خان ; 1894–1938) also known as Nath Singh was one of India's most influential sitar and surbahar players in the first decades of the 20th century. He was the father of Vilayat Khan, one of the topmost s ...

(1894 - 1938) *

Imrat Khan Imrat Khan (17 November 1935 – 22 November 2018) was an Indian sitar and surbahar player and composer. He was the younger brother of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan.Farrell, Gerry (2001)"Khan, Imrat" '' Grove Music Online''. (subscriptio ...

(1935 - 2018) *

Mushtaq Ali Khan Mushtaq Ali Khan (20 June 1911 in Banaras – 21 July 1989) and was an Indian classical sitar, surbahar (and pakhawaj) player. Training and lineage Khan learnt music from his father, Ashiq Ali Khan, who had learned sitar from the 19th cent ...

(1911 - 1989) * Pushparaj Koshti (born 1950) * Ashwin M. Dalvi (born 1977) *

Irshad Khan Irshad Khan (born ) is an Indian classical surbahar and sitar player based in Canada. He is the second son of Imrat Khan and nephew of Vilayat Khan. Irshad's international debut was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, UK, when he was only 13; ...

Budhaditya Mukherjee Pandit Budhaditya Mukherjee is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar maestro of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), recognizable by his intricate vocalic playing complemented by spectacular high speed playing. He holds a unique distinction of be ...

(born 1955) *

Manilal Nag Pandit Manilal Nag (born 16 August 1939) is an Indian classical sitar player and an exponent of the Bishnupur gharana of Bengal. He was given the Padma Shri Award, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2020. Training and career Nag was ...

(born 1939) *

Kushal Das Pandit Kushal Das (pronunciation: bn, কুশল দাস), born in Kolkata in 1959, is an Indian classical sitar and surbahar player. Early life Kushal was born in a musical family in Kolkata. His grandfather Bimal Das was an esraj playe ...

(born 1959) *

Rajeev Janardan Rajeev Janardan (born 1967) is an Indian classical sitar player of the Imdadkhani gharana (school), taught by Bimalendu Mukherjee. He lives in New Delhi. At the age of 15, Janardan won the All India Music Competition. He also won the Prayag Sa ...

(born 1967) *

Suvir Misra Suvir Misra ( sa, सुवीर मिश्र, ) is an Indian player of Rudra Veena, Saraswati Veena, and Surbahar. He is unique in being a left handed artist who has mastered all the three veenas of the Indian classical music - the Rudra ...

* Deobrat Mishra (born 1976) * Babu Khan *

Rameshwar Pathak Rameshwar Pathak (1 March 1938 – 3 December 2010) was an acclaimed Kamrupi Lokgeet singer from Kamrup, Assam, India. He also worked as a teacher in Arya Vidyapeeth Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School, Guwahati from 1963 to 1996. Early ...

(1938 - 2010)

References

{{Authority control Surbahar players Sitars Necked bowl lutes Hindustani musical instruments

Overview

Notable performers

See also

References