The tamboori (also called a tambra) is a long-necked bowed

string instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...

found in

Indian music Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...

. The tamboori is very similar to the

tanpura The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...

, despite being smaller and played with a bow. A tamboori is played as a melodic instrument, unlike the tanpura. Each string has a fundamental tone with its own spectrum of

overtone An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...

s, which makes a rich and vibrant sound, due to interactive harmonic

resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillatin ...

that will support the external tones played by the soloist. The name tamboori is derived from tama or tana, referring to a musical phrase, and borri, or bori which means "vibrant". The body shape of the tamboori somewhat resembles that of 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 in ...

, but it has no

fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...

s. One or more tambooris may be used to accompany vocalists or instrumentalists. It has six metal strings, which are bowed to create a

harmonic A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...

resonance on the basic notes of a

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

. The tamboori is used to add drone in a performance. It is part of the

ektara Ektara ( bn, একতারা, hi, एकतारा, ur, اِک تارا, ne, एकतारे, pa, ਇਕ ਤਾਰਾ, ta, எக்டரா; literally 'one-string', also called actara, iktar, ektar, yaktaro, gopichand, gopichant, ...

family of instruments.Manorma Sharma, ''Folk India: A Comprehenseive Study of Indian Folk Music and Culture'', vol. 6, p. 53, Sundeep Prakashan, 2004 .

References

Indian musical instruments String instruments {{Composite-instrument-stub