Music · Chapter 03

🎸 Musical Instruments

Chaturvidha Vadya, string wind percussion and piano.

🎸 The Orchestra of Instruments

Musical instruments are classified by how they produce sound. Indian system: Chaturvidha Vadya (4 types). Western system: Hornbostel-Sachs (5 types).

Indian classification (Natya Shastra):
• Tata Vadya — string instruments: Sitar, Sarod, Sarangi, Veena, Ektara
• Sushira Vadya — wind/hollow instruments: Bansuri, Shehnai, Nadaswaram, Harmonium
• Avanaddha Vadya — membrane/skin instruments (drums): Tabla, Mridangam, Pakhawaj, Dholak
• Ghana Vadya — solid/non-membrane percussion: Manjira, Kartaal, Ghungroo, Jal Tarang

Western classification:
• String — Violin, Guitar, Piano (hammered strings), Harp, Cello
• Wind/Woodwind — Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Oboe
• Brass — Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba
• Percussion — Drums, Xylophone, Timpani, Cymbals
• Keyboard — Piano, Organ, Harpsichord

🎻 Famous instruments and their origin

Sitar — 18-23 strings, 13 sympathetic. Developed by Amir Khusrow (13th century). Main instrument of Hindustani.
Sarod — fretless, 25 strings. Metallic sound. Afghan rebab origin.
Tabla — pair of drums. Invented by Amir Khusrow (disputed). Dayan (right, wood) + Bayan (left, metal).
Mridangam — barrel-shaped, two faces. Main percussion in Carnatic. Oldest drum of India.
Veena — one of oldest Indian instruments. Saraswati veena most common. Carnatic music.
Bansuri — bamboo flute. 6 or 7 holes. Associated with Lord Krishna.

Sitar — principal string instrument of Hindustani music
Sitar — principal string instrument of Hindustani musicWikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
Tabla — dayan (right) and bayan (left) — India's signature drums
Tabla — dayan (right) and bayan (left) — India's signature drumsWikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
🎹 Piano — how it works

Piano has 88 keys — 52 white and 36 black. Each key strikes a felt hammer that hits stretched metal strings. Pianoforte (soft-loud) — invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (~1700). First keyboard instrument to allow dynamic control.
Middle C = C4 = 261.63 Hz. A4 = 440 Hz (concert pitch).
White keys = natural notes (C D E F G A B). Black keys = sharps/flats.
Pattern: 2 black keys then 3 black keys — repeating across all 7 octaves.

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Instrument Families — Click to Explore

Animation
CHATURVIDHA VADYA — 4 TYPES OF INSTRUMENTS 🎸 TATA VADYA String instruments — vibrating strings Sitar • Sarod • Sarangi • Veena • Santoor Ektara • Rudra Veena • Dilruba • Esraj How sound is made: Plucking (sitar) or bowing (sarangi) Western equiv: Chordophones 🎺 SUSHIRA VADYA Wind instruments — vibrating air column Bansuri • Shehnai • Nadaswaram • Been Harmonium • Algoza • Pungi • Sringa How sound is made: Blowing air through hollow tube or reed Western equiv: Aerophones 🥁 AVANADDHA VADYA Membrane drums — vibrating skin Tabla • Mridangam • Pakhawaj • Dholak Dholki • Dhol • Kanjira • Udukkai How sound is made: Striking stretched animal skin membrane Western equiv: Membranophones 🔔 GHANA VADYA Solid percussion — the body vibrates Manjira • Kartaal • Ghungroo • Taal Jal Tarang • Ghatam • Chimta • Khartal How sound is made: The solid material itself vibrates Western equiv: Idiophones CLICK A CATEGORY This system was first written in Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni (~200 BCE) — one of the oldest music theory texts.

Natya Shastra (200 BCE) classified all instruments into 4 categories — still the most relevant system for Indian music.

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🎹 Live Piano — Play in Browser

Interactive

Click keys with mouse, or use keyboard: A S D F G H J K L = white keys | W E T Y U O P = black keys. Two octaves playable!

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Play a key
Keyboard shortcuts: White keys → ASDFGHJKL;'ZXC  |  Black keys → WETYUOP
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Instruments Explorer

Interactive
Sitar18-23 strings — Hindustani — Ravi Shankar
SarodFretless 25 strings — Amjad Ali Khan
SarangiBowed string — accompanies vocals
VeenaAncient plucked string — Carnatic — Saraswati symbol
Santoor100 strings, hammered — Shivkumar Sharma
Practice: Classify instruments — Tabla, Bansuri, Sitar, Manjira, Shehnai into Indian categories.
Classification (Chaturvidha Vadya):

• Tabla → Avanaddha Vadya (membrane/skin instrument — drum with skin stretched over frame)

• Bansuri → Sushira Vadya (wind/hollow instrument — sound produced by blowing air through bamboo tube)

• Sitar → Tata Vadya (string instrument — sound produced by vibrating strings when plucked)

• Manjira → Ghana Vadya (solid/non-membrane — small brass cymbals struck together; no skin, no strings, no air column)

• Shehnai → Sushira Vadya (wind instrument — double reed aerophone; sound from vibrating air column)

Additional examples:
• Mridangam → Avanaddha Vadya
• Veena → Tata Vadya
• Kartaal → Ghana Vadya
• Harmonium → Sushira Vadya (bellows-driven free-reed aerophone)
• Pakhawaj → Avanaddha Vadya (barrel drum — predecessor of tabla)
Practice: What is the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system? How is it different from Indian classification?
Hornbostel-Sachs (1914) — universal instrument classification system by Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs. Used worldwide by ethnomusicologists and instrument museums.

5 categories:
1. Chordophones — sound from vibrating strings. Guitar, violin, sitar, piano, harp.
2. Aerophones — sound from vibrating air column. Flute, trumpet, clarinet, shehnai, harmonium.
3. Membranophones — sound from vibrating membrane (skin). Tabla, mridangam, drums, pakhawaj.
4. Idiophones — instrument itself vibrates. Xylophone, manjira, ghungroo, jal tarang, maracas.
5. Electrophones — electricity produces/modifies sound. Electric guitar, synthesizer, theremin. (Added later.)

Indian vs Hornbostel-Sachs comparison:
• Indian Tata Vadya ≈ Western Chordophone
• Indian Sushira Vadya ≈ Western Aerophone
• Indian Avanaddha Vadya ≈ Western Membranophone
• Indian Ghana Vadya ≈ Western Idiophone

Key difference: Indian system has 4 categories; Hornbostel-Sachs has 5 (Electrophones were added in 20th century). Indian system codified ~200 BCE — over 2000 years before Hornbostel-Sachs.
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