Indian Music Instruments

Every state in India has a different language and a different style of music. In every Indian language, there is devotional and ritual music, as well as seasonal songs and dance to accompany harvest of sowing of the new crop. There are work songs, to be sung while pounding rice, and social songs related to the life cycle of a human being, for example to celebrate birth of marriage.

This ancient tradition of singing still continues in the rural areas, to the accompaniment of an assortment of musical instruments. India has a wide variety of drums: vertical (tabla), horizontal,one sided, two sided, those that are too heavy to lift up and carry. There are several types of stringed instruments from the single wired ektara, to the complex sitar, a many stringed fretted instrument. Wind instruments are as varied, with flutes, double pipes, metal horns, bamboo flutes, reed instruments and a host of others. There are bells, cymbals, gongs and clapers. Some forms of regional music are played only on certain instruments and distinct instruments are associated with special festivals or rituals, such as the conch for Hindu temple worship, and the long horns or nagaswarams for processions and marriages.
Singing and playing at social and religious occasions, festivals and marriages, at work and at play are a form of bonding for the family and the community. The music is not written down but is spontaneous and vibrant, changing as new members join the group, each contributing his or her talents to ensure that family traditions are passed on.