# Learn Basuri — Choose a flute

# Choose a flute

      Before classical ragas: get a beginner-friendly bamboo flute you can cover with your fingers and that responds to soft air.

      Most beginner guides start you on a **C Natural middle** bansuri — comfortable length, easier embouchure than a large bass flute. Once you can sound a tone, treat **Sa as the top three holes covered** (Eastern map) — see [Swaras](swaras.md).
    
    
      ## Size and key

![A full set of bansuris in many keys](images/start/choose-sizes.jpg)

Photo: Vamsivadrevu · [Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:All_scales_of_Bansuris_in_a_set.jpg) · CC BY-SA 4.0

      
        **Smaller / higher** flutes need less air and shorter stretch — good for small hands. **Middle C** is the usual adult starter. Long bass flutes are hard for day-one embouchure.

        The stamped key (C, G, A…) is a Western pitch label. On many shop mediums (e.g. C Natural), it is the pitch of **three-hole Sa**; all-closed soft air is then a fifth below (lower Pa). For Indian practice, match the practice-bar drone to your three-hole Sa.

        Making your own? Use the [flute layout calculator](make.html) for tube length, bore, hole marks, and diameters.

      
    
    
      ## Six vs seven vs eight holes

![Close-up of a concert-length bamboo bansuri](images/start/choose-instrument.jpg)

Photo: Betelgeuse · [Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bansuri_bamboo_flute_23inch.jpg) · CC BY-SA 3.0

      
        Folk and starter bansuris often have **six** finger holes. Concert Eastern bansuris often add a **seventh** (offset pancham). Either works for first sound. South Indian *venu* (Carnatic) usually has **eight** finger holes and a different Sa map — see [Carnatic venu](venu.html). This room’s default path is the side-blown bansuri / basuri family used across North India and Nepal.

      
    
    
      ## What to buy

      
        - Bamboo with a clean blowing-hole edge — not cracked.

        - Holes you can seal with finger pads.

        - Prefer a true **side-blown** basuri (open hole on the side) for this room’s path. An end-blown [murali](murali.html) (blow into the tip like a recorder) is easier for a first noise but uses a different embouchure.

        - Budget is fine for month one — practice matters more than upgrading early.

      
    
    
      ## Care

      
        Wipe condensation after practice. Store dry. Oil bamboo if your maker recommends it.

      
    
    
      ## Next

[Hold & posture](hold.html)