Shehnai
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For the movie refer to Shehnai (film)
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The shehnai is an aerophonic instrument which is thought to bring good luck, and as a result, is widely used in North India for marriages and processions.
This tube-like instrument gradually widens towards the lower end. It usually has between six and nine holes. It employs two sets of double reeds, making it a quadruple reed woodwind. By controlling the breath, various tunes can be played on it.
Ustad (Master) Bismillah Khan was a well-known shehnai player. Another player of the shehnai is the Ahmadi Black American jazz musician, Yusef Lateef. Dave Mason played shehnai on the Rolling Stones' 1968 hit song "Street Fighting Man".
[edit] Origin of the shehnai
The shehnai is believed to have originated in the Kashmir Valley, where people use the instrument in band-i-pather. The shehnai is thought to have been created by improving upon the pungi (a woodwind folk instrument used primarily for snake charming).
There are varying legends of the shehnai's origin. In one of these, a Shah initially banned the playing of the pungi in his court due to its shrill sound. A barber, belonging to a family of musicians, improved on it and created the shehnai. As it was played in the Shah's court and giving due reference to the 'nai' or barber, the new instrument was called 'shehnai'.
In other variants of the legend, the shehnai was:
- named after a shehnai player called Saina
- derived from 'sheh' (breath) and 'nai' (flute)
- derived from the combination of the Persian words 'shah' (king), and 'nai' (flute) to give the meaning "the king's flute".
Another theory of the origin of the shehnai is that the name is a modification of the word "sur-nal". The word nal/nali/nad is used in many Indian langauges to mean pipe or reed. The word "sur" means musical note or simply music, and is used as a prefix to the names of many Indian instruments. The "sur-nal" is said to have given its name to the "surna/zurna" which is the name by which the reed-pipe is known throughout the Middle East and eastern Europe. [1]
[edit] See also
- Reed instrument - A type of woodwind instrument.
- Shawm - A type of reed instrument.
- Mizmar - A shawm similar to the shanai.
[edit] External links
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