Page:The Music of India.djvu/132

 The arrangement of the tuning-pegs is like that of the four main pegs of the sitar, two being vertically on the face and two on the side. The instrument is about three feet long, and the width of the belly will be about six inches. The bow is about If feet long.

The tuning of the four strings is usually Sa Pa Sa Ma (Ci, Gi, C F), the last being the principal string. The first two are brass and the last two steel. In this instrument also, the peacock shape occurs for the belly. The dilruba is not a very common instrument. It is used in the Punjab and in the United Provinces, but as a rule one sees ..e sarangi much more frequently.

The Surbahar is another instrument of the sitar kind. It has a similar shape to the sitar, but the frets are not movable, and it has a finer tone and wider range. It is played with two strokes, one with the plain finger and the other a sort of mandoline tala stroke with plectrums on the forefinger and little finger. Mr. Fox Strangways gives it the title 'dignified.' This instrument is found only in Bengal. It lends itself very well to the graces of Indian music.

The Sarangi is the Indian violin. It is shaped, however, something like a small guitar. The instrument is made from one block of wood hollowed out, and it has a parchment-covered belly. It is smaller than the sitar, being as a rule about two feet in height. The sarangi may have either three or four strings, three being gut and one brass. The brass string is the lowest in pitch. The bridge is fixed in the middle of the belly, with a support under the parchment. The instrument is played usually with a bow, but sometimes a plectrum is used. The four tuning-pegs are fixed at each side of the head, which is hollow. The tuning of the four strings is as follows, in accordance with the raga : Sa Pa Sa, Ga or Ma (C G C, E or F)

The sarangi, like the western violin, has its devotees both among experts and also among the beggar fraternity. It is found throughout the north. The strings are stopped by pressing the finger against their side, and not by placing the finger upon them. This renders it possible to produce all the peculiar gamaka of Indian music without any