1. Instruments of India
By Shreya Karnik
Grade 4

2. Sitar
Sitar, stringed instrument of the lute family is popular in northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Typically measuring about 1.2 meters (4 feet) in length, the sitar has a deep pear-shaped gourd body; a long, wide, hollow wooden neck; both front and side tuning pegs; and 20 arched movable frets. Its strings are made up of metal.
The convex metal frets are tied along the neck, which enables them to be moved as needed. The sitar often has a resonating gourd under the pegbox end of the neck; this balances the weight of the instrument and helps support it when it is not being played.
Musicians hold the sitar at a 45° angle on their laps while seated. They pluck the strings with a wire plectrum worn on the right forefinger while the left hand manipulates the strings with subtle pressure on or between the frets and with sideways pulls of the strings.

3. Sarod
The sarod is a stringed musical instrument of the lute family that is common in the Hindustani music of northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The modern classical sarod is about 100 cm (39 inches) long and has a slightly waisted wood body with a skin belly.
The broad neck has a wide fretless fingerboard covered in metal to accommodate characteristic sliding pitches.
The modern version has four to six main melodic strings, plus two to four others; some of the strings may be paired in double courses tuned in unison or at the octave.
In addition, there are sympathetic and drone strings. The seated player holds the instrument across his lap. The strings of the sarod are plucked with a plectrum held in the right hand, while the fingernails of the left hand press the strings.

4. Tabla
The table is a pair of small drums important to Hindustani music of northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
The higher-pitched of the two drums, which is played with the right hand, is also referred to individually as the tabla or as the daya (dahina or dayan, meaning “right”).
It is a single-headed drum usually of wood and having the profile of two cut cones bulging at the center, the lower portion shorter.

5. Dholak
Dholak is a very popular folk drum of northern India.  It is barrel shaped with a simple membrane on the right hand side; basically it is just a smaller version of the dhol. 
The left hand is also a single skin with a special application on the inner surface.  This application is a mixture of tar, clay and sand which lowers the pitch and provides a well defined tone. 
There are two ways of tightening the dholak.  Sometimes they are laced with rope, in which case, a series of metal rings are pulled to tighten the instrument.  Sometimes metal turnbuckles are employed. 
It is said that this instrument used to occupy a position of considerable respect.  Today it is merely relegated to movie type of music and folk music

6. Bansuri
The bansuri is a type flute of India made from a hollow shafts of bamboo with six or seven finger holes.
This is an ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is closely linked to the love story of Krishna and Radha who are two majorly important gods in the Hindu religion.
The Bansuri is esteemed as Lord Krishna's divine instrument and is often associated with Krishna's Rasa lila (his special dance for Radha); mythological accounts tell of the tunes of Krishna's flute having a spellbinding and fascinating effect not only on the women of the Braj, but even on the animals of the region.
The North Indian bansuri, typically about 14 inches in length, pioneered by Pannalal Ghosh has now been necessary in Hindustani Classical music for over half a century.

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