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Surbahar (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it is usually pitched two to five whole steps below the standard sitar.
The instrumentalist plays the strings using a plectrum of bent steel wire, the mizrab, which is fixed on the index finger of the player's right hand. Three plectrums are used on the first three fingers to play the dhrupad style of alap, jor, and jhala on surbahar. In the dhrupad style, instead of performing the sitarkhani and masitkhani gats, the instrumentalist plays the slow dhrupad composition in accompaniment with pakhavaj.
Some researchers believe that surbahar was invented around 1825. At the time, the veena, which is considered a holy instrument associated with the goddess Saraswati, was only taught to descendants of veena players. The development of the surbahar was due in part to the desire to play in a lower range similar to that of the veena.
Surbahar was invented by Omrao Khan Beenkar and Ghulam Mohammad was his disciple. Omrao Khan Beenkar was the grandfather of Wazir Khan of Rampur. The invention is also attributed to Ustad Sahebdad Khan. Recent research shows that Lucknow-based sitarist Ustad Ghulam Mohammed may also have been the inventor. A similar kind of instrument , known as the Mahakachhapi Vina, is also known to exist during that period.
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