Folk and Ethnic Musical Instruments

The sarod is an Indian plucked chordophone from the family of the long neck lutes. Together with the sitar, the sarod is one of the best known instruments in Indian classical music. The sarod has a metal fretboard with no frets, and a relatively small body covered with goat skin. The traditional design features between 17 and 19 strings of which all except 4 are used for drone and sympathetic tone effects. Sarod players make extensive use of glissandi notes, produced by pressing down the string with the fingernail instead of their fingertip. it is said that seasoned sarod players make less use of thier fingernails because their finngertips hardened sufficiently after many years of playing. Depending on the school of playing, details in design may vary between modern sarods. Some instruments feature an additional gourd resonator attached to their head. The sarod is thought by some to descend from a similar instrument in Afghanistan and Central Asia, the rubab. Famous sarod masters are Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Alauddin Khan, Rajeev Taranath and Zarine Sharma, among many others.