BANSURI

The bansuri is a transverse alto of , , and , made of a single length of bamboo with six or seven open finger holes. An ancient musical instrument associated with cowherds and the pastoral tradition, it is intimately linked to the love story of and , and is depicted in paintings from around . It is intimately associated with Krishna's ; the tunes on his flute are poetically associated with driving the women of mad. The North Indian bansuri, typically about 14 inches long, was traditionally used as a soprano instrument primarily for accompaniment in lighter compositions including there are many size of bansurifrom14" to 30". The word bansuri originates in the Sanskrit bans [bamboo] + swar [musical note]. There are two varieties of bansuri: the transverse, and the . The variety is usually played in folk music and is held away from the lips like a . Because of the flexibility and control it offers, the transverse variety is preferred in classical music. (1911-1960) elevated the Bansuri from a folk instrument into serious classical music. He improvised with the length and number of holes and eventually came up with longer bansuris with larger bores and a seventh hole placed 90 degrees around from the line of the other six holes. Longer bansuris provided better coverage in the lower octaves.