Play the Bansuri Online: The Indian Bamboo Flute

The bansuriबाँसुरी

A side-blown flute made from a single length of bamboo, with no keys at all: every note, bend and glide comes from the breath and the fingers.

In shortThe bansuri usually has six finger holes (sometimes seven). Flat notes and glides come from half-covering the holes and sliding the fingers. Long, low bansuris are used for classical music. In art, the flute belongs to Krishna, who is shown playing it.

How it works

No keys. Unlike a Western flute, the bansuri has only open finger holes. Covering half a hole lowers a note partway, which is how the player reaches komal (flat) notes and the smooth glides (meend) that ragas need. In the player above, slide between notes without lifting to glide.

Breath is everything. The tone, the soft attack and the vibrato all come from the player's breath, which gives the bansuri a voice-like quality.

Many sizes. Small bansuris are bright and high; the long bass bansuri used in classical concerts is deep and breathy.

From folk flute to concert stage

Bamboo flutes have a long history in India, in folk and devotional music. In the 20th century, Pannalal Ghosh (1911–1960) is credited with bringing the bansuri onto the classical concert stage, using a longer instrument suited to slow, deep raga playing. Hariprasad Chaurasia then made it famous around the world.

About this bansuri

The sound is a real bansuri: two long held notes played by one flautist, re-tuned to each note of your raga. Sliding between notes bends the recording, so the glide is real breath, not a synthesizer. If the recordings can't load, a simple synthesized flute stands in. The lowest keys are the same flute shifted further down, so they sound a little darker. The recordings are shared under open licences; see the sound credits.

The bansuriबाँसुरी

Play the bansuri yourself

How it works

From folk flute to concert stage

The real bansuri