He studied with Hariprasad Chaurasia at an early age. Liste to the beautiful bends in his performance! Rakesh is known to be a bansuri prodigy since childhood. Rakesh Chaurasia performs at SAA-Uk’s Summer Solstice Festival here. The bansuri is often used in traditional dances like the Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Hindustani Classical music is a North Indian school of musical thought, which tends to focus on ragas. But hold tight, we will touch on the religious implications of the bansuri a little later. The bansuri (Nadi) is an instrument that is interwoven into the religions of both Hinduism and Buddhism. Vedic texts are religious texts originally written in Sanskrit, which date back to ancient India. It is most frequently referenced in the text Natya Shastra. The Vedic texts call this instrument the Nadi. The bansuri is considering one of three instruments celebrated by the Vedas. Bansuris come in many keys, but professional players suggest a bansuri in C for beginners. Most of these instruments cover upwards of two and a half octaves. Like many world flutes, there are innumerable variations of the bansuri. Some bansuris may have 6-15 holes though. The bansuri typically has 8 holes that are intended to be covered, but 15 holes total on the instrument.

A column of air is created by the player, which then resonates, thus creating sound.

The bansuri works like other transverse flutes, such as the western C flute. Some modern bansuris are becoming more popular, such as those made of metal or even ivory. In fact, baans means bamboo, and sur means music. This instrument is traditionally made up of one piece of bamboo. With a combination of in-depth research and much conversing, I have had the opportunity to delve into the history of the beautiful instrument we call the bansuri. However, the transverse bansuri is most common and is what is used in classical Hindustani music. It can be either transverse or fipple, which means endblown. The bansuri is a side-blown flute from India. As it turns out, I was talking to a student of the all-time-famous bansuri player, Hariprasad Chaurasia. I immediately fell in love with the sound of his instrument, and so I had to ask what it was called. My follower had offered to show me his bamboo flute music. I first learned what a bansuri was from one of my followers on Instagram.