Bansuri Instrument (Bamboo Flute) : Traditional Wind Instrument From India

Indian Bamboo flute or Bansuri - An Introduction And Flute Buying Tips  :

Indian Flute

There are mainly two types of flutes or bansuries used in india. 

1. North Indian bansuri.
2. Carnatic flute. 

In  this post we will discuss about North Indian flute only. Carnatic flutes will be covered later.

North Indian flute is a hollow bamboo with some holes. Traditionaly one hole ( right hole in image) is for blowing and next 6 for playing notes. Modern flutes or bansuri may have 7th hole. We will consider blowing hole and 6 next holes for now. Forget about 7th hole. We will discuss it later otherwise it will create confusion.

North Indian Bansuri Tunning :

North Indian Bansuri or flute is tuned in such a way that if you start playing from all hole closed position it will naturally play Ionion scale or Indian Bilawal Raga. But if you start from three hole closed from top it will play lydian scale or Indian Kalyan Raga. According to Indian music theory while playing songs we must have at least three notes from the lower of octave , all the notes from the middle octave  and three notes from the upper octave are required. So if we start from all whole closed position we won't have any notes from lower octave. So we should play flute from three holes closed. While playing from this position one problem will arise how to construct C major scale from this position. If we observe Piano notes carefully, there are no keys in between E and F note, similarly there are no keys in between B and C note. These are semitones. Flute or Bansuri also play semitones at two position. One is from all hole open to all whole closed position. Second is when we open 3rd hole from bottom (by opening 3rd hole).

So to construct C major scale, you have to  half close 1st hole . It will give you F note or Indian shudd ma note. For more information refer to Finger Chart : and read the post.

Difference between Indian Flute and western flute  - A brief Comparison :

The main difference lies in their construction. Western flute is made of metal. They have 16 holes. there are many movable  parts and mechanical keys. You can assemble or disassemble it. It can play 3 to 4 octaves easily. Note frequencies are fixed.

Whereas Indian flute or bansuri are made of Bamboo. there are no movable parts or mechanical parts. Just a hollow bamboo. Only 2 or maybe 2.5 octaves can be played on it.

Which one is best Indian or Western, well Both are equally good instruments. However both have some merits and demerits. Indian flute or bansuri is very good in playing glissando effect or Meend. Indian flute can do or play everything a vocalist can do. In western flute frequencies are almost fixed but in bamboo flute you can create variations as much as you want.

 

Now we will learn about gripping the flute and some other basic things. 

For more information please watch this short video:

Which flute you should buy :     

Flutes can be devided into 2 groups. These are middle flutes and Base flutes. Base flutes lice C-base, E-base, F-Base are generally concert flutes used in classic music. Middle flutes like C-middle,A-middle etc. are very good in playing songs and other high pitch music.

So how to get a good flute.  E-commerce made life very easy. Now you can easily get a professional flute online. According to me you must start with well tuned flute. The scale  of flute is next big thing to consider.  If you are an absolute beginner , start with C middle flute . A# base is aslo good. You can eithe buy from local music shop or got one from amazon.
You can consider Punam Flutes or Sarfuddin flutes. Both are good. They make great flutes at affordable prices. Here are some  links:

Sarfuddin Flutes 

Amazon link for sarfuddi flute

Punam Flutes C Natural 

Punam Flutes A Base

Next lesson:

How To Produce Sound

Now you have spare time , passion was all ready there and you bought a  flute. You can now start practice. In the coming lessons your flute (bansuri ) learning journey will start. I will tell you how to start and what to play.You will learn how to play first note from Indian flute or bansuri .