The suroz ( Balochi: سُروز or سُرود) is a

bowed string instrument Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes vibration which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to t ...

with a long neck, similar to a fiddle or

sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

and played vertically. It is considered the

traditional instrument A folk instrument is a musical instrument that developed among common people and usually does not have a known inventor. It can be made from wood, metal or other material. Such an instrument is played in performances of folk music. Overview The ...

of the

Baloch people The Baloch or Baluch ( bal, بلۏچ, Balòc) are an Iranian peoples, Iranian people who live mainly in the Balochistan region, located at the southeasternmost edge of the Iranian plateau, encompassing the countries of Pakistan, Iran, and Afgh ...

in Balochistan.

Construction and play

It has three or four main strings for playing which are tuned 1. low E - 2. low A - 3. a (440 Hz) - 4. e. Strings one, two and four are made of steel while string three is made of thick gut. there are five to eight

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 ...

, made of thin steel and tuned according to the raag to be played. The playing strings are some millimeters higher on the bridge than the sympathetic strings, so that the latter cannot be touched by the bow. The strings are not played like on the sarangi by pressing them with the nails, but by touching them with the fingers, but without pressing them onto the neck. The highest two strings are mostly fingered. The player uses the highest string up to an octave. The sound is very close to the Nepalese

. In the south of Baluchistan there are smaller surozes, there the length of the playing strings is about 33-35 cm. In the north and in Sindh, the surozes can be much bigger, up to a string length of 45 cm. There the tuning is somewhat lower.

Cultural significance

The Baloch term for both music and musical instruments is sāz and the term for the player is sāzī. Within the Baloch culture until modern times, the caste associated with playing the suroz would be the ludi caste. Members of the caste would learn to play this instrument from their families because the art of instrumental music was considered a hereditary profession, as such upper caste Baloch would not be associated with the instrument. Recently members of both lower and upper social caste can be seen owning or playing the instrument.

Exponents

* Rasool Bakhsh * Karim Bukhsh * Mohammed Shakir * Umar Surozi

References

* * {{reflist Baloch musical instruments Bowed instruments String instruments Necked box lutes