sarangi

Bowed, stringed instrument similar to a fiddle with three main melody strings and many sympathetic strings (30 or more on a concert instrument). The body is usually carved from a single block of wood in a waisted shape. The neck is short and wide with no frets. It is played held upright and the strings are stopped with the fingernails of the left hand. It is used in the folk music of northwestern India and Pakistan, and in the classical music of North India (Hindustani music), where it is used both as an accompaniment to the voice (in khyal and thumri genres) and as a solo concert instrument.