The Music of Hindostan c12.14

c12.14

The first sort is formed by sliding (*gharsana*, ‘rubbing’) the finger along the string, in either or perhaps in both directions. It differs from what we are accustomed to on the violin only in being more frequent and more spontaneous. The other sort is unknown to us and is not possible nowadays on our instruments.³ We set store by a rich, full-bodied tone; and for that and other reasons we prefer a comparatively thick string at a high tension to produce a note which in India is produced on a thin (and longer) string at a low tension.⁴ A lateral deflexion of any appreciable extent would set one of our strings out of tune by forcing the tuning peg from its position; indeed, we often see a violinist taking advantage of this fact when tuning his instrument. But an Indian string can be deflected a good deal without disturbing the peg. The stopping finger of the left hand ‘makes’ the note, which the right hand then plucks; and while it is still vibrating the left hand deflects it and, of course, sharpens the note. If the note is stopped near the nut, only a slight sharpening, a semitone or two, is possible; but if it is stopped in the middle of the string, a sharpening of as much as four or five or even seven semitones may be got. A good vīṇā-player prefers to get his notes in this way, much as a violinist would rather play in the third position than in the first. To get an E, for instance, he will ‘stop’ at the B or the C or the C♯ fret and instantly deflect the string, so quickly, in fact, as almost to deceive both the eye and the ear of the listener. The ‘deflect’ as we may christen it (the Sanskrit word is dolana, ‘swinging’) imparts a wonderful flexibility to the execution, and demands, of course, an accurate ear for its successful performance. The ‘slide’ and the ‘deflect’ are known in Hindostan as Ghasīṭ and Mīṇḍ, in Bengal as Āsh and Mirh, in the Carnatic as Dhara and Varek, and by other local names.