INDIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS There are innumerable musical instruments in India. The traditional system of classification is based upon; Wind blown, plucked string, bowed string, non-membranous percussion, and membranous percussion. Here are the classes and representative instruments. WIND BLOWN this class of instrument is characterized by the use of air to excite the various resonators. Bansuri(Flute), Shehnai, Harmonium, Shankha, Been(Snake Charmer Flute)etc PLUCKED STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. Plucked strings characterize this class of instruments. Sitar, Sarod, Rabab (Kabuli Rabab), Veena, Surbahar, Rudra Veena, Ektara, Tanpura, Dotara, Santur, Surmandal, etc. BOWED-STRINGED INSTRUMENTS This is a class of stringed instruments, which are bowed. The entire class of instruments has a certain stigma attached to it. Even today only the Western violin is free of this stigma. It is very difficult to find the tonal quality in Electronic music /midi unless created in sound font or VST plug in. Sarangi, Violin, Esraj, Dilriba MEMBRANOUS PERCUSSIVE This is a class of instruments that have struck membranes. These typically comprise the drums. Tabla, Pakhawaj Mridangam, Dholak, Nagada, Dholki, Daffali, Khol, Mridang, Dhak. NON-MEMBRANOUS PERCUSSIVE. This class is based upon percussive instruments that do not have membranes, specifically those, which have solid resonators. These may be either melodic instruments or instruments to keep tal. Jal Tarang, Manjira, Ghata, Ghungharu, Kartal, Khanjani Harmonium (before use of midi keyboards) had been the most popular musical instrument in India. The use of this instrument was universal; it finds passion from leading exponents of classical Indian music, the lowest of music students and even the street singer. Thus it has become our utmost used musical instrument. Talented classical/semi classical musicians (prominent among these being Ustad Abdul Karim Khan, Fayaaz Khan and Akhtari Begum, Medhi Hasan) have given us such diversified styles of music as Thumri, Bhajan, Qawali and Ghazal. Presumably it was ViswaKabi Rabindranath (Tagore) who first opined against the use of the harmonium. He understood that a student of music just beginning would become a slave to the fixed chromatic scale of the harmonium and would thus suffer a loss of spontaneity in the expression of melody and voice. The logic of his pronouncement is of course undeniable.