The Sarod

A Beautiful and Complex Instrument 
   

he Sarod originated from the Arabic instrument, the rebab.  Around 1300 AD it was named the Sah-roda, a bowed, gut instrument introduced to the Moghul courts of North India.  Modifications and changes to the Sarod continued until the end of the 19th Century since when it has remained constant; wire strings plucked with a coconut or ivory plectrum. 

The body of the Sarod is carved from one piece of solid wood such as teak, mahogany or red cedar.  It can vary slightly in length when custom made for a specific performer.  It is tuned according to its length.  The sound box is covered by a parchment thin, stretched goatskin which is glued in place.  One of two bridges rests on this skin, which is extremely sensitive to vibration and temperature change.  The brass bowl attached to the neck of the instrument helps to stabilize it.  The fretless fingerboard is metal, often chrome plated.  Being fretless allows for both precise individual notes and a variety of intonations through glissando. 

Of the 25 strings, 4 are used for melody, 2 for rhthym, and 4 are tuned to the dominant note of the raga.  The remaining 15 are sympathetic vibrating strings tuned to the micro notes of the raga.  The full resonance of a note is produced by pressing a string onto the fingerboard using a fingernail of the left hand while simultaneously plucking the string with the plectrum held in the right hand.  The range and sonority of the Sarod makes it one of the most beautiful of North Indian instruments; its complexity allowing for an extraordinary diversity of sound and mood. 

Manipulating the raga's complex set of rules in thousands of possible combinations is like painting for Sridhar.  "Performing a raga is like having an open canvas on which the painter puts different colors," he says.  "Gradually the colours make an image and create a mood.  At a certain point, the painter forgets that he is painting and begins unconsciously to choose the right colours.  The painter and the canvas become one."

"In my concerts you listen from the heart and leave the ego out of it; you just surrender.  At the moment of surrender the energy passes; without that the energy cannot pass.  There is an art to listening." 

                                                                                                                                       - K. Sridhar