tanpura
The tanpura (; also referred to as tambura, tanpuri, tamboura, or tanpoura) is a long-necked, plucked, four-stringed instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent, found in various forms in Indian music. Visually, the tanpura resembles a simplified sitar or similar lute-like instrument, and is likewise crafted out of a gourd or pumpkin.
Key facts
- Instrument.name
- Tanpura
- Instrument.image
- Pandit Murli Manohar Shukla 'MANHAR'.jpg
- Instrument.caption
- Pandit with tanpura
- Instrument.classification
- Stringed instrument
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs
- 321.321
- Instrument.hornbostel_sachs_desc
- Necked bowl lutes
- Instrument.developed
- ~300 BCE
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
10 sectionsContents
- History
- Tanpura makers
- Construction
- Bridge and strings
- Sizes and tunings
- Variants
- Electronic vs. Traditional Tanpura
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
The tanpura (; also referred to as tambura, tanpuri, tamboura, or tanpoura) is a long-necked, plucked, four-stringed instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent, found in various forms in Indian music. Visually, the tanpura resembles a simplified sitar or similar lute-like instrument, and is likewise crafted out of a gourd or pumpkin.
The tanpura is not used to play a melody, but to support and sustain the performance of another musician or vocalist, as well as musicians accompanying a dance performance. The instrument's four strings are tuned to specific notes of a given scale or musical key, normally the fifth (Pa; Solfège, “So”) and the root tonic (Sa; “Do”), creating a drone effect. The strings are generally tuned 5-8-8-1. One of the three strings tuned to the tonic is thus an octave below the others, adding greater resonance and depth to the ambient drone.