INDIAN SLIDE GUITAR
Indian stringed instruments have undergone many changes throughout history . Many western musical instruments like violin, harmonium, mandolin, arch-top guitar and electric guitar have come to be accepted in Indian classical music. Indian Cassical Guitar is a modified version of a slide guitar.This guitar is highly accepted in playing Tagore Song but some legent musicians like Pt. Brij Bhusan Kabra , Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt introduced this slide guitar as Indian classical instrument.
The Indian Slide Guitar which is now a days popular as Mohan Veena is a highly modified arch-top, which plays lap-style. It has 20 strings: three melody strings and four three drone strings coming out of the peg heads, and 12 sympathetic strong to tuners mounted to a piece of wood added to the side of the neck. The melody strings are on what we would consider the treble side of the neck, and the drone strings are on the bass side. The drone strings are lower in height than the melody strings to allow for unrestricted playing of the melody strings. The sympathetic strings run underneath the melody and drone strings to yet another level in the bridge. The instrument has a carved spruced top, mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, anda flat, fretless, rosewood fingerboard.
The Indian Slide Guitar is under tremendous tension; the total strings pull to be in excess of 500 pounds. It is due to this high tension the tone tuns incredible with the sympathetic ringing out and strengthening each note played. This is a loud instrument made to cut through with low amplification.
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