The santoorसंतूर

How it works

Courses of strings. Each note is a group of strings tuned alike; tiny differences between them add to the santoor's shimmer. You can hear that shimmer in the recordings the player above uses.

Light mallets. The player holds two light, curved wooden mallets loosely and lets them bounce off the strings. Fast alternating strikes make the santoor's tremolo; in the player above, hold a note to hear it.

Few bends. A struck string can't easily be pulled like a sitar's, so the santoor suggests a raga's glides with grace notes and rapid runs instead.

From Kashmir to the concert hall

For centuries the santoor belonged to Kashmir's Sufiana music. Some writers connect it to the shata-tantri veena, the "hundred-stringed veena" mentioned in old Sanskrit texts, though the link is uncertain; it is clearly a cousin of the Persian santur and other hammered dulcimers. Shivkumar Sharma (1938–2022) adapted the instrument and its technique for Hindustani classical music, and his recordings made it a concert instrument.