A world of musical instruments for budding rock stars and culture vultures

Pick up an affordable, entry-level piece if you're just starting; as you progress over time, your teacher should be able to guide you on buying something more sophisticated and expensive

If music be the food of love, play on. That first line of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night established the potential of music to transform moods and elicit emotions. Frustrated in love, the speaker asks for music and yearns for some “food for the soul”.

Music is a universal language transmitted through generations, according to Asad Lalljee, Senior Vice-President, Essar Group, and CEO of Avid Learning Curator, Royal Opera House, Mumbai. “With time, the process of music making has evolved from prehistoric rhythmic percussive instruments to melodic instruments using wind and strings, further evolving to a more complex systematic pattern in modern times with the use of both.” Globally, the most trending instruments, according to Lalljee, are guitar, drums, piano, keyboard, whereas most popular Indian instruments include sitar, tabla, sarod, flute and harmonium.

During the pandemic, teaching music moved online and to digital platforms from a one-on-one, in-person format. "We saw an appreciable increase in digital pianos," says Joseph Gomes, Director, Furtados, a leading music retailer. “The categories which did well were guitars and ukuleles besides keyboards and pianos.”

Selecting instruments

How does one decide which instrument to play? Often, it is about the guru or who your teacher is, how that person influences you or helps develop interest in playing a particular instrument. Then, of course, there is the cost of the instrument--a bansuri coming for Rs 1,000 is far more affordable than a sitar at Rs 10,000.

Says Sriram Emani, Co-founder and CEO, IndianRaga, a global platform for music and dance: “It does ultimately boil down to what is easily accessible and convenient, else in our busy lives it is hard to make this a priority--be it music or sports. Access to a really good teacher, some natural ease with the type of instrument, and a love for its sound and musicality--these are essential to make it a successful learning journey.”

For adults, Emani suggests going with the instrument that matches their skills and passion. So, if you know that you are better at rhythm than at melody, go for  percussion. If you have good musicality and want to go for a melody instrument, then it’s also about whether you want to play it with your hands or with your mouth. Wind instruments lend themselves to good breath control, whereas the violin and sitar need you to be adept at using your fingers and arms well. While for children, there would be a discovery phase to see what resonates best with them. Many of them have had access to an instrument lying around at home, and explored it in a curious way without any structured learning, and developed an affinity for it. A child's genuine desire to learn is the key to success. Says Emani, “In my opinion, having seen several child prodigies and knowing their stories, the musical journey does not start with learning. It starts with listening.”

Some musicians have seen their parents or others play it in their families-–be it violinist Lalgudi Jayaraman or Tabla player Zakir Hussain. Flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia picked up the bansuri because he was fascinated when he heard it for the first time. He had had no background in music and was getting groomed to become a wrestler.

There is no right or wrong age for music. But experts say that 5-7 years is usually a good age to start. Says Manasi Prasad, Museum Director, Indian Music Experience: “In all forms of music, early is good. At our learning centre, we typically enrol kids aged 7 years and more, but sometimes we also enrol younger kids if they show keen interest. The challenge is to keep it fun and interesting, especially in the formative years, so that children develop a love for music.” She says there is no restriction as to the number of instruments one can play. “Many musicians have developed expertise in several instruments. Baba Allauddin Khan, who was the guru of Pt Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan, among others, could play 30 musical instruments, although his speciality was Sarod. In Bengaluru, mridangam maestro Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma can play over 15-20 percussion instruments. There would be some common characteristics between the percussion family, the string family, wind family etc...and many musicians can switch, although they would generally have one favourite.”

What and where to buy

You can buy musical instruments online at the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal or offline at Mumbai’s Musicians Mall, Skiffle Music, SoundMonk or Bengaluru’s House Of Music, Reynold's Inc, Va Products and Radel Electronics and Delhi’s Furtados, On Stage, Bhargava.

Furtados stocks a wide range of western instruments. You can find an upright piano worth Rs 2 lakh or a grand piano at Rs 7 lakh at its Lajpat Nagar outlet, and the salesperson tells you that they even make bespoke ones worth a couple of crores. Pianos needs to be tuned once every six months. Often, people subscribe to AMC (annual maintenance contract) worth Rs 3,000 for bi-annual tuning of this instrument.  

Keyboards are another bestselling category with music retailers and come in three types: regular, arranger, and workstation. The regular is for beginners. Key brands in this space include Casio and Yamaha and cost Rs 7,000-50,000. Arranger keyboards (Rs 50,000-2 lakh) are for professionals and are hailed as a “one-man band” as they have nearly every sound, such as bass, guitar, drums, strings. The workstation (Rs 50,000-3.5 lakh) is used in studios.

There are three main types of guitar: acoustic, semi-acoustic and electric. The latter two cost Rs 12,000-13,000 at one end, and could go up to Rs 2 lakh or more. Acoustic guitars may cost anything from Rs 5,000-2 lakh. For corporate executive Abhishek Ghosh, the best guitar is his “mahogany guitar FA 40 Faith guitar from Apollo series costing Rs 29,000. However a guitar is a high-maintenance instrument as you need to change strings every 2-3 months as they start rusting. The strings cost Rs 300-400 each.” 

For buying Hindustani classical music instruments, Bhargava’s Music is the go-to place at Lajpat Nagar and Daryaganj, Delhi. Here you can find a tabla worth Rs 10,000-12,000 to Rs 25,000, and a harmonium for Rs 15,000, going up to Rs 80,000. Says Bhargava’s Chandra Bhan, “The reed is the most important part of a harmonium, after the quality of the wood used. If it’s a high quality version, then you will get the exact sur or tone--for instance you will get a C tone, not a C flat or C sharp. That’s when we say sur mein hai baaja while in tabla it’s all about material, whether it's chrome ka dagga or iron, stainless steel, nickel, brass, or copper. If it's Sheesham wood or  full copper, then the cost goes up. The best flutes are by Punam Suhas and their signature flute is worth Rs 12,000.”

Wood quality makes all the difference in drums and dholaks. The sound of a Sheesham-wood dholak (Rs 5,500) is superior to that of a regular one (Rs 3,500). In drums again, a lot depends on the hardware and plywood quality.

The oft used adage, you get what you pay for, holds very true for musical instruments. Says Furtados’ Joseph Gomes, “With cost, the  quality improves--in terms of design, material used and workmanship. A Steinway piano costs what it does because it is handmade and requires many hours of skilled labour to produce. Besides, it holds various design patents and there is no compromise in the quality of materials used. Conversely, very cheap entry-level guitars and Ukuleles may be cheap in value but will never offer a good playing experience because of the cheaper materials and sub-standard manufacturing practices. This could lead to a poor playing experience and deter one from continuing to play. No doubt a better instrument will offer an individual the opportunity to play more and play longer and enjoy the sound and music he/she is producing.”

How does one select a good piece? Experts advise there is no need to invest in a very advanced-level instrument before figuring out whether or not you are going to like learning it. Usually, your teachers would also recommend it. One can definitely benefit from online portals and reviews, especially when starting. There are starter instruments in every store, which are usually quite inexpensive. Once you reach an advanced level, you can work with the teacher and the manufacturer to ensure you find something that is right for you.

Table: Indicative price list of some of the more popular musical instruments

Instrument	Brand	Price Range (Rs)
Keyboard	Korg, Yamaha, Casio, Roland	7,000-3.5 lakh
Harmonium	Paul & Company, Amrit Music, Bina, Swaranjali	6,500-85,000
Tabla	Maharaja, Radel, Liaqat Ali, Faiz	6,000-30,000
Drums	Mapex, Pearl, Tama, Nadal, Ludwig, Yamaha	40,000-4 lakh
Bansuri (Flute)	ShalinIndia, Punam Flutes	1,000-12,000
Guitar	Gibson, Fender, Ibanez, Ovation, Epiphone, Yamaha	7,000-2.15 lakh
Violin	Yamaha, Granada, Hawana	5,000-150,000
Piano	Pearl, B Steiner	90,000-7.5 lakh
Sitar	Swaranjali	9,500-70,000

Source: Primary Market Research