What is the bansuri?

A tube, some holes and your breath

A bansuri has no keys and no moving parts. One end is closed. Near it is the blowing hole, and further along are the finger holes: most often six, sometimes seven.

When you blow across the blowing hole, your breath splits on its edge, and the air inside the tube begins to vibrate. That vibration is the note. Cover all the holes and the vibrating air is long, so the note is low; lift your fingers one by one and the air gets shorter, so the notes climb.

Blow a little faster, with the same fingers, and the flute jumps up to the next octave. Your breath is part of the instrument.

Sizes and keys

Bansuris come in many lengths. A long one plays deep and slow; a short one plays high and bright. Each is named by its key, the note it treats as home.

A long, deep bansuri can be longer than a child's arm. For small hands, a shorter, higher flute is easier, because the holes sit closer together.

A long story

Flutes of bamboo have been played in India for a very long time, and the flute appears in old stories and art. The god Krishna is often shown playing one, and his flute is part of many songs and paintings.

For centuries the bansuri was mostly a folk instrument, played by herders and villagers. In the twentieth century, Pannalal Ghosh (1911–1960) brought it onto the classical concert stage: he played longer flutes with a deeper voice and is credited with adding a seventh hole for some ragas. Since then the bansuri has been one of the voices of Hindustani classical music, and of film music, folk music and much more.

In the south of India a close cousin, the venu, plays Carnatic classical music.

Why it's a good friend for a child

A bansuri asks you to slow down. Before any tune, there's a single long note, and finding it means listening to your own breath. Many children find that calm, quiet moment is the best part.

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