Next to the sitar, the sarod is the most well-known Indian stringed instrument of classical northern Indian music.
Sarod means “beautiful sound” or “melody” in Farsi, and is thought to have have descended from the Afghan rubab.
Among the many conflicting histories about this instrument, one attributes its invention to Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash (an ancestor of sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, who is performing at BCMF tonight).
A musician and horse trader, Hashmi came to India with the Afghan rubab in the mid-18th century, and became a court musician to the maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh).
In the 20th century, Bangladeshi legend Allauddin Khan, also known as Ravi Shankar’s guru, made some further modifications to the sarod, resulting in the instrument we now know today.
The sarod is a member of the lute family. The slightly waisted wooden body is most often made of teak, which gives a full, rich tonal quality. It has a goatskin belly, and is played with a peak made of coconut shell.
About 100cm long, the broad neck has a fretless fingerboard covered in metal to accommodate characteristic sliding pitches. It has four to six main melodic strings, two drone strings and two chikari strings. The lowest string is made from bronze and creates a deep, powerful sound.