Bansuri Flutes
A bansuri is one piece of seasoned bamboo with six or seven holes. No keys, no reed, nothing between your breath and the note, which is why it has barely changed in two thousand years.
The scale is the instrument. This is the single thing to understand before buying. Length fixes pitch permanently. A C medium bansuri sounds C as its home note, a bass D sounds D two octaves lower and needs a much wider finger stretch. You are buying a key, not an instrument that plays in any key, which is why serious players own several.
Which scale should I start on? If you have a teacher, their syllabus wins. If not, the usual recommendation is a middle scale, E natural medium or G natural: long enough for real tone, short enough that your fingers reach comfortably. Small high flutes are easier to cover but thinner in tone; bass flutes are gorgeous and genuinely hard for beginners.
Six holes or seven? Six is standard. The seventh extends the low range slightly and some classical teaching lines prefer it. Beginners are fine with six.
Who makes ours. Sarfuddin Flutes of Delhi, the professional concert name, alongside our own workshop range. If you are choosing between them, ours are the value choice for students and general playing and Sarfuddin is where concert players end up.
Caring for bamboo. Out of direct sun, away from sudden dryness, oiled lightly and occasionally, dried after long playing. Bamboo cracks from climate shock, not from use. Give a flute a week to acclimatise after it arrives before judging it.
Message us on WhatsApp with what you want to play and we will tell you the scale to buy. It is the question we most enjoy answering.
