118. sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from India – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the serja) – also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is said to most resemble the sound of the human voice through its ability to imitate vocal ornaments such as gamaks (shakes) and meends (sliding movements). The sarangi (Nepali) is a different instrument, traditional to Nepal. Sarangi derives its name from the bow of Lord Vishnu and probably as it is played with a bow it is named sarangi. According to some musicians, the word sarangi is a combination of two words: seh ('three' in Persian) and rangi ('coloured' in Persian) or Persian sad-rangi, sad for 'hundred' in Persian ('hundred coloured) corrupted as sarangi. The term seh-rangi represents the three melody strings. However, the most common folk etymology is that sarangi is derived from sol rang ('a hundred colours') indicating its adaptability to many styles of vocal music, its flexible tunability, and its ability to produce a large palette of tonal colour and emotional nuance.
