What is an ektara?
Q: What is an ektara?
A: The ektara is a one-string instrument that is most often used in traditional music from Bangladesh, India, Egypt, and Pakistan.
Q: What is the origin of the ektara?
A: The ektara was a regular string instrument of wandering bards and minstrels from India.
Q: How is the ektara played?
A: The ektara is plucked with one finger.
Q: What materials are used to make an ektara?
A: The ektara usually has a stretched single string. An animal skin is over a head made of dried pumpkin/gourd, wood, or coconut. The neck is a pole or split bamboo cane.
Q: How is the sound of an ektara changed?
A: The sound can be changed many ways by slight changes in pressure.
Q: What are the different sizes of ektara?
A: The various sizes of ektara are soprano, tenor, and bass.
Q: Do all ektaras have one string?
A: The ektara usually has a stretched single string, but the bass ektara, sometimes called a dotara, often has two strings.
