Sarod is a stringed musical instrument as popular as sitar, used mainly in Hindustani Music. It is a fretless instrument but can produce continuous slides between noyes known as Meend. In Hindustani Music, Meend refers to a glide from one note to another.
The word Sarod means more or les “Beautiful Sound” or “Melody” in Persian. The design of the instrument depends on the school (Gharana) playing it. Conventionally there are three main types having 17 to 25-strings. Four to five main strings of the lute-like instrument are used for playing the melody. One or two are drone strings. Two of them are chikari strings and nine to eleven sympathetic strings.
The strings of Sarod are either made of steel or phosphor bronze and are plucked with a triangular Plectrum made of polished coconut shell or other materials. Since there are no Frets on this instrument, the tension of the strings are adjusted by pressing hard by fingers against the fingerboard.
Let us now watch a basic lesson on Sarod.
