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Ektara (Bengali: একতারা, Punjabi: ਇਕ ਤਾਰ; literally "one-string", also called iktar, ektar, yaktaro gopichand) is a one-string instrument used in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
In origin the ektara was a regular string instrument of wandering bards and minstrels from India and is plucked with one finger. The ektara usually has a stretched single string, an animal skin over a head (made of dried pumpkin/gourd, wood or coconut) and pole neck or split bamboo cane neck.
Pressing the two halves of the neck together pushes the peghead away from the body, thereby tightening the string and raising its pitch. The modulation of the tone with each slight flexing of the neck gives the ektara its distinctive sound. There are no markings or measurements to indicate what pressure will produce what note, so the pressure is adjusted by ear.
The various sizes of ektara are soprano, tenor, and bass. The bass ektara, sometimes called a dotara often has two strings (as literally implied by do, "two").
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Ektar and Kirtan
These instruments are commonly used in Kirtan chanting, which is a Hindu devotional practice of singing the divine names and mantras in an ecstatic call and response format. Used by Sadhus, or wandering holy men. Also, the ektara is used for Sufi chanting as well as by the Bauls of Bengal.
The ektara has been made popular in the United States by devotional Kirtan wallahs, such as the legendary Western sadhu Bhagavan Das, author of Its Here Now, Are You? and Be Here Now of 1970s fame and kirtan recording artist.
Ektara is the most ancient form of stringed instrument found in the Eastern parts of India, the instrument family being scattered all over the country. Though it has a humble tribal beginnings, it has been associated with and popularized by the ascetic and minstrel tradition of songs in Bengal.
Bengali Ektara
A typical Bengali Ektara is constructed out of a half of a dried gourd shell serving as the sound-box, with a metal string running right through the middle of the shell; at the top, the string is tied to a knob, which adjusts the tension the of the string and thereby, the tuning—the knob and the string-tension is supported by two bamboo-strips, tied to two opposite sides of the gourd shell.
The playing style of this instrument is a simultaneous pluck and gong, matching the rhythm of the music. The Ektara and the Ghati Baya, together form a complete set accompaniments, especially to Devotional and Deolati musical traditions. The string, as in a Dotara, is tuned to the main/root note of the composition.
Ektara in Punjabi folk music
Nowadays the ektara is widely used by folk singers especially by Sufi singers in Punjab and Sindh. Traditional and modern forms of bhangra sometimes use an ektara or tumbi to accompany the singer and dhol.
See also
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