Your first sound

One long, even stroke on one open string. That is the whole first session, and it is harder and more useful than it sounds.

Before you draw the bow

  1. Rosin the hair. Twenty or thirty firm passes along the full length. If you skip this you will get silence and blame the sarangi.
  2. Check the bow tension. On a traditional bow the hair is tied and not adjustable; you tension it with the hand. On a violin-style bow, tighten until there is a gap you could just fit a pencil through at the middle — no more.
  3. Sit as on the previous page. Instrument standing on its own.

The first stroke

  1. Put the bow hair on the thickest string — the low melody string — just above the bridge. Let it rest there under the weight of your hand alone.
  2. Draw the bow slowly and evenly across, using the whole length of the hair. Count four seconds for one stroke.
  3. Stop. Then push it back the other way, just as slowly.
  4. Listen for a tone that starts cleanly and stays the same all the way across — same volume at the tip as at the frog.

What it should sound like

Synthesised, not a recording — a real instrument is rougher and more alive than this. Use it for pitch and shape, not tone.

Slower than feels reasonable. Ram Narayan, the great sarangi player, taught that new players should practise very slowly with the full length of the bow, keeping up and down strokes clearly distinct. It is not a warm-up before the real thing; it is the thing.

Then the drone pair

Now move the bow onto the two middle strings at once, both tuned to Sa. This is the sound the whole instrument is built around.

Two strings under one bow will not balance at first — one will speak louder than the other. Adjust the angle of the hair a few degrees at a time until both sound. Once you can hold that, you already have something you can play against, which is what the next stage is about.

When it does not sound right

What you hearWhyFix
Almost nothing — a faint hiss No rosin on the hair Rosin properly. This is nearly always it.
A harsh scrape or squeal Too much pressure, or the bow is moving too slowly for the pressure Let go. Use the weight of the hand only, and move a little faster.
A thin, glassy, whistling tone Bowing too far from the bridge, or too light Move the contact point closer to the bridge; let the bow sink in.
The note starts, then dies mid-stroke Pressure dropping as the arm extends Keep the weight even from frog to tip — the arm has to reach further at the tip, so it feels like more effort for the same result.
Two notes at once The bow is touching a neighbouring string Angle the hair. On a four-string instrument with the drone pair in the middle this happens constantly at first.
A buzz or rattle String too close to the neck, or the bridge has shifted Check the bridge is upright and centred; see the setup checks.
A wobble in the pitch The instrument is moving, usually because the left hand is holding it Re-seat it. Lap and shoulder, not hand.

Your first ten minutes

  • 2 min — rosin, sit, check the instrument stands alone
  • 4 min — long slow strokes on the thick string, one string only
  • 2 min — the same on the thin string
  • 2 min — the drone pair, trying to get both strings to speak

No left hand at all today. Nothing is stopped, nothing is fingered. Just the bow.

Next

Tuning More on bowing