India

Here we find the interesting instruments of India : North India, Kashmir, South India, all India, Northeast India. Also included are a few typical instruments from Bangladesh.
For neighbouring Pakistan, Ladakh, Nepal and Bhutan see page Central Asia.

Not all plucked instruments from the Indian Sub-continent are wellknown in the West : just the sitar and the sarod can be heard quite often - the others only occasionally enter our music stages.

One of the main remarkable features of Indian instruments is the addition of a number of thin extra (resonance or sympathetic) strings. They are not plucked themselves, but start to vibrate when the main strings are plucked. Usually they are tuned to all the different notes that are used in a particular piece (raga). This gives quite an enhancement of the sound - like a vague echo. Drone strings are also used, like they are on many long-neck lutes of Central Asia.

Another interesting thing is that some Indian instruments are played like a lapsteelguitar; just recently this playing style has been transferred to a modified western guitar (see mohan veena). Note that Indian instruments are LARGE ! Many of the instruments mentioned here can also be found in Pakistan and among the Indian populations of South East Asia. For lots of information about Indian instruments see Chandrakantha.

The sitar is India's most famous instrument (mainly thanks to Ravi Shankar) and used in Hindustani music. It is made in different sizes.

The body of the sitar is made from a large gourd, with a front of hard wood. The neck is also made of hardwood and hollowed out. It is covered with a fingerboard, which is slightly concave. The neck extents into the tuninghead. The frets are made of half round metal hoops, which are tied to the neck with nylon string, and can be moved. The second gourd on the top is mainly for decoration and is often absent. The edges of the neck, body and tuning head are inlayed with bone, often with red and white etching. The back of the body has some woodcarving.

All strings are of metal. There are 7 main strings, 3 of which are fingered; the others serve as drones. The two lowest ones are the high chikari strings, which are played separately for rhythmic effects. Usually there are two big round friction tuning pegs on the front, and 3 on the left side of the tuning head, while the two pegs for the chikari strings are of similar size, but on the left side of the neck and run over separate stick bridges half way the neck.
Underneath the chikari pegs are 12 smaller pegs for the resonance strings, which run through small holes in the neck over a tiny bone individual nut bridge. All 7 main strings run over a flat bridge, and all resonance strings run over a smaller, lower bridge underneath the main strings. Both bridges are slightly rounded, giving the strings a buzzing sound.

Playing the sitar is with a wire finger-plectrum (mizrab), so you can pick up and down. The strings are all on the left side of the neck, so you have space to pull the strings (mainly only the first one) upwards to 4 notes. Music was not written down, but learned by the pupil from the masterplayer. Classical Indian music is very old and a whole repertoire of raga's exist.

left : the mizrab right : the bridges

The sarod is one of the leading Hindustani instrument of today. It is a descendant from the wooden rabab (see seni rabab here under). A well known sarod player is Ali Akhbar Khan.

The body and neck is made from one piece of hardwood, hollowed out (it is more rounded and less deep than the afghan rabab). The bottom half is covered with (glued) skin and the top half (with the neck) is covered with a (screwed on) shiny metal plate. Between neck and body are hollow ridges on both sides. The pegbox is a solid piece of wood, joined to the neck and curves slightly to the back. On the back of the neck is a metal gourd-shaped resonator. All wood is painted dark brown.

There are 23 metal strings, divided in 4 main strings, running from 4 big round friction tuning pegs on the left of the pegbox, over the main nut to the right side of the single main bridge on the skin. Then 4 thin strings running from the 4 pegs on the left side of the pegbox, over a flat separate nut, to the left side of the bridge, where they go through separate individual holes. The shikari strings (used for rhythmic effect) run from 2 pegs on the top of the neck, via a special nut half way the neck to the top of the bridge, on the left side. On the left side of the body are 13 smaller pegs (in 2 rows) from where the resonance strings run via small holes in the fretboard, to the lowest level of holes at the left side of the bridge. All strings are fixed to 8 steel pins at the edge of the body.

Playing the sarod is done with a special thick plectrum made of coconut. The music is similar to the music played on the sitar, with ragas which are handed down from master player to the pupil. The left hand fingers the string with the edge of the nail (of the first two fingers). Often players glue artificial nails to their own nails.

Looking down on the bridge of the sarod, with on the top left the 4 main strings, at the top right the two shikari strings, right middle the 4 drone strings, and the 13 resonance strings on the bottom row. Notice the crossing of the strings (also vertical).

The sursringar (or sursingar) is the older version of the sarod (see above). It is a descendant of the wooden rabab (see seni rabab here under). Being larger than the sarod, the sursringar can be regarded as a bass sarod. It is rarely used anymore.

The body of the sursringar resembles much the body of the sitar. The front is (like the sitar) made of wood, so not with skin, like the sarod.
It has a long and wide hollow neck, with two "barbs" on the sides near the body. The neck is covered with a shiny metal plate.

The pegbox is a solid piece of wood, joined to the neck and curves slightly to the back. On the back of the tuninghead is a gourd-shaped resonator. All wood is painted dark brown.

There are eight large rounded tuning pegs - four on each side of the peghead. The four strings on the right side are for the fingered strings, the four on the left are drones.
Some sursringar have no further strings, but others may have the full range of shikari and resonance strings, and others only two shikari strings from two large pegs at the top of the neck.

The wide bone bridge is rounded and sursringars with more strings will have mulitple bridges, like the sarod or sitar. All strings end at a stringholder at the edge of the body.
Tuning is in general an octave lower than the sarod.

Playing used to be by holding the sursringar almost vertically with the gourd on the left shoulder (like the sitar), but nowadays players prefer holding the instrument like the sarod : almost horizontally.

Playing the sursringar is done with a special thick plectrum. The music is similar to the music played on the sitar, with ragas which are handed down from master player to the pupil. The left hand fingers the string with the edge of the nail (of the first two fingers). Often players glue artificial nails to their own nails.

The Afghan rabab (see : Central Asia) used to have an Indian relative, called the seni rabab. It differed from the Afghan rabab by having only 6 main (thick gut) strings and no frets. The seni rabab fell in disuse since the first half of the 20th century, and was still only played by the Sikhs to accompany their songs.
Nowadays there is a slow revival of the instrument, although with some influence from other Indian instruments, by adding resonance and drone strings, and decreasing the number of main strings from 6 to 5 or 4. Other names are Indian rabab, Sikh rabab, Hindustani rabab, Punjabi rabab, etc.

The body and neck is made from one piece of hardwood, hollowed out (the body is round with grooves). The bottom half is covered with (glued) skin and the top half (with the neck) is covered with a thin piece of wood. Between neck and body is a thick rim. The neck is fretless. The pegbox is part of the neck and runs straight on, with on the back a round pole as rest and a wheel as decoration. All wood is painted dark brown.

The main strings are thick gut, and run from 5 or 4 big round friction tuning pegs on both sides of the open pegbox, over the main bone bridge on the skin to a metal stringholder at the edge of the body. The drone string (if present) runs from a big friction peg on the left side of the body over a (fish shaped) nut through the left side of a row of small holes at a layer in the middle of the bridge, to a fixing pin at the end of the body. The resonance strings (if present) run from the pegs at the side of the neck through small circular bone nuts and then also through the small holes in the middle of the bridge to the same fixing pole at the end of the body.

Playing the seni rabab is done with a thick plectrum.

For more information see : Chandrakantha.

The surbahar is the bass sitar. It was developed in the 18th century to play the classical dhrupad music style on a sitar-like instrument. Later the sitar itself was modernized halfway the 20th century to its modern shape.

The main difference between a surbahar and a sitar is (besides being a larger instrument, with thicker strings) the peghead, which has a carving of a snake or a bird. Also the back of the body may be flatter.

The rudra veena [also bin, been, vina] is an old North Indian instrument used in Hindustani music, and similar to the vichitra veena . It is rarely used anymore. One modern player is Bahauddin Dagar (large veena).

The rudra veena is basically a rounded teak wood body/neck/ fingerboard, fixed on two large gourds and on both ends a woodcarving of a peacock. Twenty-two straight wooden frets are fixed to the fingerboard with wax, or tied around the neck. All strings run from 8 friction pegs on the tuning head - 4 on each side.

There are 8 strings - 4 main strings, 3 drone strings on the right (the side of the player) and one drone on the left. It has no resonance strings, and there are 3 separate bridges.

The veena is played sitting down with one gourd over the shoulder, or resting on the left knee. The right hand picks (often with 2 wire plectrums worn on index and middle finger), while the drone strings are played with the nail of the little finger. The left hand fingering is quite difficult as you have to grip the strings from underneath the horizontal neck. The hand also touches (blocks) the drone string on the side.

The vichitra veena is a North Indian instrument used in Hindustani music and looks quite similar to the rudra veena. The difference is that the vichitra veena has no frets - it is played with a "steel", like the gottu vadyam in Carnactic music. It is rarely played anymore.

The body is made from teakwood, more wider than the round shape of the rudra veena, and with a small body. Also both ends have a wood carving (often of a bird). Besides the 7 main strings, there are about 12 resonance strings, with the pegs on the side of the neck (facing the player).

It is played sitting down with the instrument horizontally in front of the player. The right hand picks with a wire plectrum, while the left hand "frets" with some piece of rounded glass. This way of playing (like lapsteel) makes it difficult to play fast passages accurately.

from the LP Nectar of the Moon, by Dr. Lalmani Misra

This simple and small folk instrument tumbi is used In North India, in the Punjab. It is sometimes called ektara (''one string"); a similar instrument with 2 strings is called dotara.

The tumbi (also spelled toombi) is made from a small piece of round hard wood, hollowed out, and covered with a thin animal skin; usually glued around the edge, but sometimes also nails are used.

The neck is a simple rounded stick, that goes all the way through the body. One metal string is fastened to a rather large tuning peg (from the front) in the neck extension that serves as tuning head. The peg serves as nut. The string runs over a rather large loose bridge on the centre of the skin, to the end of the stick, which sticks out of the wooden body.
Some instruments are decorated with paintings, or with bits of metal stuck on, or made with different woods.

The tumbi is played by holding it almost horizontally and strumming the string gently with the forefinger of the right hand. With the left hand a few notes can be played.
It is nowadays very popular in Western Bhangra Music.

picture from Hinduonnet

The wellknown drone instrument tampura - which is used in the classical Indian music (see under) - has a relative in Rajasthan, which is called tandura (or chautara).
However the tandura is made differently and misses the typical Indian style decoration. But with its folk-like decorations it is an interesting tribal instrument, and the only plucked lute from Rajasthan (but see also the jantar under).

The body of the tandura is carved from a piece of tunwood. It is round and hollowed out like a deep big bucket. The front is covered with a thin piece of similar wood, with a small strip around the top of the side, which goes a bit up the sides of the neck to cover the join with the neck.
The neck is separate and joined to the body with a lip join. It is hollow up to the nut, and covered with a thin piece of tunwood. On both sides a strip of (white) plastic is glued as decoration. There are no frets.
The front of the neck and the front and back of the body is often decorated with colourful (red) painted lines and small punched circles.

The tuning head is just the straight end of the neck, ending in a serrated edge. It usually has five large friction tuning pegs : three on the front and one on each side.

The five metal strings (all of the same gauche) run through a thin high nut and over a large wooden (uniquely upside down T-shaped) bridge on four "legs" to five wire hoops, fixed to a wooden stringholder at the end of the body. The hoops have small rings for fine tuning.

The tandura is played by holding it almost vertical, resting on the left shoulder of the player and plucking the strings gently with the forefinger of the right hand. With the left hand a few notes can be played for accents. It is played to accompany singing or other local instruments. < picture from Ebay

In Rajasthan they use a folk-like version of the Rudra Veena, called the jantar. Nowadays it is quite rare. picture from YouTube

The jantar is basically a one meter long stick, made of bamboo. At one end is a small wooden extension, which serves both as stringholder and as bridge.
On top of the stick are 8-14 high "frets", made of coconut shell and fixed with black wax. The frets may be in a diatonic or a chromatic scale.
Under the stick two big gourds (tumbi) are fixed to the stick with a rope or a scarf, and serve as sound resonators.

The jantar usually has 3 or 4 metal strings : two run over the frets, but only one is played, the other is only a drone. These two strings rest on the first fret that serves as nut.
Also the other string (or strings) are drones and pass along the side of the frets. All strings are tuned by 3 or 4 long friction pegs at the top end of the stick.

Playing the jantar is done by holding the stick horizontally in front of the player with one gourd on the shoulder, and picking the strings near the bridge rhythmically with the right hand, while fretting with the left hand.

Playing is usually to accompany singing and dancing, often by the player himself.

In Kashmir (the mountainous area of North West India) exists a long-neck lute, which is a kind of hybrid between an Iranian setar and Indian sitar. There are two sizes : the long one is called bod, with 9 strings, and the small one : lokut with 7 strings. Only the big one is still used and even that one not often.

The body of the kashmiri setar is made of 12 ribs glued together, with a wooden front. In the front are several small soundholes. The neck is hollow (like the sitar) forming part of the resonance chamber of the body. There are 17 tied-on gut frets. The bridge is wide and flat, and slightly rounded (like on the Indian sitar and sarod).

The 7 main steel strings run to round pegs on the tuning head (3 on the front, 4 on the left side). Two shorter strings go to pegs at the left side of the neck, and pass over small separate bridges. Only the first two (double) strings are fingered (like on the tamburs).

Playing is with a wire plectrum on the right hand index finger. The melody is played on the first two strings, the other strings are only strummed for drones. The left hand only fingers with index and middle finger. In each ensemble there are two or more setars.

Notice that the now rare "saz-e-kashmiri" is a kind of fiddle.

The kashmiri setar is now quite rare and there are only a few makers left.   I have seen this instrument many years ago during a rare concert in Holland; in Kashmir I have only seen the (Afghan) rabab.

The veena (or been or bin or tanjore veena or tanjauri veena or saraswati veena) is an old south Indian instrument for playing Carnatic music; it is still very popular - so nowadays even fiberglass bodies are made.

The body of the veena is not made of a gourd (like most of the North Indian instruments), but carved from a solid piece of Jack wood, in quite a round body shape. The better quality ones have the entire instrument (body plus neck) carved from one piece. The neck is hollow, with on top a U-shaped box. On the edges of that box are about 24 round brass frets glued with black wax. The body has usually two round soundholes on the front. The top resonator has no musical function, and can be made from brass, plastic or papermaché and is often decorated.
The pegbox ends in a backwards curve, with a carved (and often colourfull painted) down-looking head of a dragon. The long round tuning pegs are two on both sides of the head, and three similar ones for the drone strings on the left side of the neck (players side). The veena has no resonance strings.

The 4 main strings run over the top of the main (brass) bridge, and are fixed via some screwing device to the edge of the body. The drone strings run over a small metal stick on the side as "nut", to a rounded brass bridge at the side of the main bridge, to similar fixing devices.

The veena is played horizontally, while sitting down. The right hand picks with 2 wire plectrums worn on index and middle finger. The drone strings are struck with the little finger. The left hand fingering is quite difficult as the strings are the wrong way around : you have to grip the strings from underneath the horizontal neck over the bass strings to the main string. (picture from Carnatica.net)

The gottu vadyam (or gottuvadyam or gottuvadhyam) is a popular instrument in South India, for playing Carnatic music. It is also called chitravina. It is in fact a fretless veena.

In general the instrument looks very much like the veena, except that there are no frets and that it has resonance strings (as the only instrument in South India), which are fixed to tuning pegs at the side of the hollow neck.

The gottu vadyam is played like the vichitra veena : laying horizontal in front of the player, with in the left hand a piece of hard wood or round glass object as "steel". It is difficult to play accurate in fast passages.

(picture from website Plsky.com)

nanthuni

In the state Kerala (southwest India) they use in the temples (besides many different drums) a special plucked instrument, called the nanthuni (or nantuni). However it is not for playing any melody, but only for playing rhythm.

The body of the nanthuni can be made from several different pieces, or carved from solid wood. The body is long and divided in two parts : the top more or less rounded, and the lower part with more or less parallel sides. The front is quite thick and has no soundholes. The back is flat. The thick neck continues up the tuning head. Its top has usually some wood carving, sometimes as an animal like an elephant. The top nut is a large wooden curl, and the bridge near the end of the body is also very high with a rounded top. Halfway the neck are some "frets" (usually a single block of wood), but in a non existing musical scale.

The two metal strings are tuned with large round pegs, one on each side of the half open tuning head. The strings run a few centimers high (!) above the neck and are fixed to the high bridge.
The entire instrument is painted in one colour, and some are decorated with woodcarvings, others with paintings.

Playing the nanthuni is with a horn or wooden plectrum strumming the two strings. Because of the rounded nut and bridge the strings give a rattling noise. The low left string is only played open as drone, the other occasionaly pressed on the "frets" to give different accents in the rhythm.

The Indian tampura is in fact not a plucked stringed instrument in the sense of this website, as the (3, 4 or 5 ) strings are only played open, as drones. However it would be a pity not to include it here.

There are several types - the large male and the smaller female tampura, while there is a third smaller one - the travelling tampura. (see the example)
In Rajasthan they use a folk-like tampura, called tandura (see above).

The tampura is made quite similar to the sitar : the body from a large gourd, with a wooden top. The neck is made of hardwood, and hollow. There are 4 metal strings, fixed to 4 tuning pegs : two on the front and one on each side of the pegbox. The bridge is wide and rounded to give a buzzing sound to the strings. There is quite a lot of woodcarving on the body, and lots of inlay with red and white drawings all over the instrument.

The body of the small travelling tampura is made from wood, and is rather flat on the back.

Playing is done sitting down on the ground, and holding the tampura straight up with the left hand. The right hand plucks the strings one by one in a slow tempo, to give a continues drone for the main (solo) instrument.

Here are two full size tampuras : left the male tampura 1500 x 400mm right the female tampura 1350 x 350mm Both pictures from website Apollosaxes.com

mohan veena / indian slide guitar

Some Indian players have picked up the western jazz guitar and transformed it into a real Indian-style instrument, playing it like a lapsteel. One of the main players (and inventors) is Mr. Vishwa Mohan Bhatth, whose name is often used for this type of guitar - the mohan veena. Another renewer/player is Debashish Bhattacharya. Both play classical Indian music and manage to play the raga's extremely fast, but very accurate. Another name is Jaywant Guitar.

The type of guitar that is used for the mohan veena is usually a modern large jazz guitar with f-holes. There are 8 strings on the tuning head, and at the side (on a plank fixed to the side of the neck) are about 12 extra tuning machines for the resonance strings. Usually only 3 main strings are played with the steel, the rest are drones.

Some players put the shikari strings (the high strings used for rhythmic effect) on the right side of the main strings. On some instruments the resonance strings are underneath the main strings, on others they are at the left side; they always have a flat, rounded bridge of their own.

This nice small music box is like a combination of a typewriter, a mandolin and a dulcimer.

Some 5 metal strings (usually all tuned the same) run over a square wooden box. They can be tuned on the left side with tuners (in this case with a tuning-key). At the right the strings can be strummed with a plectrum.

The keys (usually keys from an old typewriter) press their arm onto the strings like it is a fret, shortening the strings to the appropriate note. The keys have the names of 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. (like our do, re mi) according to the tonic.

For more information about the bulbul tarang, see chandrakantha.

The Chokri people of the Chakhesang tribe in Nagaland (one of the states in NorthEast India) use a folk instrument which is called tati, or libuh or heka libuh.
It resembles in fact a large version of the tumbi of the Punjab (see above).

<< picture from YouTube

The tati is mainly a straight round pole of about 120 cm long. It is made from a special kind of bamboo. The pole has no frets.

At one end of the pole a soundbox is fixed. This soundbox exist of a carved out bottle gourd. The opening of the gourd is covered with a thin membrane, made of animal bladder.

A steel string runs over a small bamboo bridge on the membrane to the other end the pole, where it can be tuned with a friction peg.

The tati is played by holding the stick almost vertical with the soundbox up, and plucking the string with one hand, while the other hand sometimes touches the string halfway for accents. So it can produce two different pitches.
The tati is used (often in a group) to accompany singing.

For more information : see Chokri Naga tribe.

The Khasi tribe (living in and near Shillong in the state of Meghalaya, northeast India) uses a folk instrument called duitara. The Garo people use a similar instrument, called dotdrong.
Note that in other areas of Northeast India and in Bangladesh some different plucked instruments are called dotara (see under).

The body, neck and peghead of a duitara are carved from one piece of wood. The hollowed out body (a bit resembling an upside down toadstool) is covered with a thick skin, glued and nailed to the sides. Some makers give the body sharp corners, others make it more rounded.

The fretless neck can be either with a fingerboard that overhangs the front skin, on others the neck is flush with the front. The pegbox usually is quite a solid square, and often has some simple woodcarved decoration on the top. The strings run through holes behind the nut to the open back of the pegbox, to four stick-like friction pegs, two on each side.

The 4 yellow rope strings run over a loose wooden bridge to a (metal) stringholder at the end of the body. On some instruments the 4 strings are separate, on others the two middle strings are as one pair. Tuning could be : A dd a.
A wooden plectrum is fixed with a rope to the bridge, which itself is fixed with a rope to the stringholder.

The duitara is played with a plectrum, to accompany singing in a style that resembles the Tibetan dramyen.

In Tripurai (a state in NorthEast India) they use a folk instrument called chongpreng.

The body, neck and peghead of a chongpreng are carved from one piece of wood. The body is in the shape of a rectangle. It is hollowed out and covered with a thin skin or parchment, which is glued to the sides.

The neck looks quite solid and has no frets or fingerboard.

The half open tuning head is quite square and often ends in some woodcarving, like a curl. There are three friction pegs : one on the right side, and two on the left side.

The three steel (?) strings run over a rather high loose bridge to a pin at the bottom of the body. Tuning is unknown.

The chongpreng is played with a plectrum, to accompany singing.

In Assam they use an instrument which is called tokari or tukari. It is quite similar to the dotara which is used mainly in Bangladesh (see under).

The body, neck and peghead of a tokari is (like the dotara) carved from one piece of hard wood. The hollowed out body is covered with a skin (often of a small animal like a lizard or mongoose). The skin is glued and nailed along the edges, and often has a few small holes in a pattern.

The neck can be long or short, but has no frets.
The square pegbox often ends in a smal woodcarving (from a different piece of wood), usually the figure of a bird.

There are four or five friction pegs on the open pegbox : 2 on the right and 2 (or 3) on the left side.

The 4 or 5 nylon strings are in three courses : the two top ones are double, the bass string is single. They run over a loose wooden bridge to a simple metal stringholder at the end of the body.

Tuning could be something like c' g'g' c"c".

The tokari is played with a plectrum (fixed on a rope), often to accompany singing.

In Bangladesh - but also in nearby Northwest India - several different looking instruments are used but all with the name dotara (or dutara). Other names for the same instruments are phentor banam (or spelled fentor or fantor).
Note that the Khasi people (near Shillong) use a related instrument called duitara (see above).

There are three main different models of dotara : mainly in the north they use a rounded shape body, while in the south they use a body that resembles the Indian sarod (see next item). The third type has a small rounded soundbox (see under).

Here the first type, which is in Bangladesh mainly used by the Baul people.
In Assam (North East India) a similar instrument exists, called tokari (see above).

The body, neck and peghead of a rounded body dotara are carved from one piece of hard wood. The hollowed out body is covered with a thick skin. The partly hollowed neck is covered with a fingerboard of very flat and slippery material - like formica, metal or plastic. There are no frets. The pegbox often ends in a woodcarving, usually the figure of a bird (a peacock). The entire instrument (except the front) is varnished.

The open pegbox has 4 or 5 large round friction pegs : 2 on the right and 2 (or 3) on the left side. The 4 or 5 (metal or rope) strings run over a loose wooden bridge to a metal stringholder at the end of the body.
Some dotaras have a few resonance strings on the left side of the neck.

Tuning could be something like g c' g' g' c".

The dotara is played with a plectrum, often to accompany singing.

The second type of dotara resembles the Indian sarod. It is mainly used in the south.

The body, neck and peghead of this dotara are carved from one piece of hard wood. The body looks a bit like an Indian sarod, with grooves on both sides. The hollowed out body (resembling a bit the shape of an upside down toadstool) is covered with a thick skin.
The neck (partly hollowed) is covered with a fingerboard of very flat and slippery material, like shiny metal, or sometimes formica or plastic. There are no frets.

The pegbox often ends in a woodcarving, usually the figure of a bird - a peacock. The entire instrument (except the fingerboard and the skin) is usually varnished - in wood colour or black.

The open pegbox has 4 or 5 large round friction pegs : 2 on the right and 2 (or 3) on the left side. The 4 or 5 (metal or rope) strings run over a loose wooden bridge to a metal stringholder at the end of the body. Some dotaras may have a few resonance strings at the left side of the neck.

Tuning could be something like d' g' g' c". Note that the two g' strings are separate on the bridge, but form one close course at the top nut.

The dotara is played with a thick wooden plectrum (attached with a string), often to accompany singing.

This is the third type of dotara used in Bangladesh and Northeast India (mainly by the Santal people). This one is quite narrow with a small round soundbox.

back of this type of dotara

The body, neck and peghead of this dotara are carved from one piece of hard wood. The hollowed out round body plus the first bit of the neck is covered with a thick skin. The rest of the neck is covered with a fingerboard of very flat and slippery material - like shiny metal, or sometimes formica or plastic. There are no frets.

The pegbox may end in a woodcarving (usually the figure of a bird), but often it is straight and wide. The entire instrument (except the fingerboard and the skin) is varnished. Sometimes there are small holes, or paintings on the skin.

The open pegbox has 4 or 5 large round friction pegs : 2 on the right and 2 (or 3) on the left side. The 4 or 5 (metal or rope) strings run over a loose small wooden bridge to a metal stringholder at the end of the body.

Tuning could be something like d' g' g' c".

The dotara is played with a thick wooden plectrum (attached with a string), often by young girls, to accompany their own singing.

This is in fact a rhythm instrument, but I have decided to include it here anyway, as the tone can be slightly altered. It is sometiomes also called ektara ("one string"), although that name is also used for the tumbi of the Punjab (see above).

The gopichand is made from a coconut shell, with attached to it a "split" piece of wood, with two "arms". The top and bottom of the coconut shell are cut off, the top side is left open and the bottom side is covered with a thin skin. A thin metal string is fastened through the centre of the skin, which can be tuned with a friction peg on the end of the (split) piece of wood.

By strumming the string with a finger, a bright twanging sound can be produced, the volume increased by the skin. By pushing the two arms together the pitch of the tone can be changed. However it is not the intention to play a melody on this instrument - it is solely to provide rhythm.

This instrument is nowadays also made in Indonesia, in a stylish Asian design and sold via eBay as Timor guitar, or as Borneo Zicadrum.