3.

Surs

There are 7 main surs in Bansuri namely:

Sa - Shadaj

Re - Rishabh

Ga - Gandhar

Ma - Madhyam

Pa - Pancham

Dha- Dhaivat

Ni - Nishad

These are the seven surs in Bansuri. In addition to this there are Octaves. There
are 3 types of Octaves. Lower, Medium and Higher. On this website I will use an underline for lower
octaves 'pa', small letters of Medium Octaves 'sa' and capital letters for Higher octaves 'SA'. In
classical music these octaves are known as:

Lower - Mandra

Medium - Madhya

Higher - Taar

In following ways we can play the above seven surs. Below 'X' means the hole is
closed and '0' means the hole is open, 'D' means the hole is half covered and O is the blowing hole

Sa - O XXX000

Re - O XX0000

Ga - O X00000

Ma - O D00000

Pa - O XXXXXX

Dha - O XXXXX0

Ni - O XXXX00

Above all the surs are to be covered fully except Ma because Madhya Ma has to
be played by covering half hole only. Taar Ma has to be played by covering 1/4th of the hole. When
the hole is fully opened that is known as Teevra Ma.
 The limitations of bansuri are that the bansuri can not play all the 7 surs in all the
3 octaves. From the below information you will understand which all surs can be played in which all
octaves.

pa dha ni sa re ga ma pa dha ni SA RE GA MA PA DHA NI

Instruments such as Piano or Harmonium can cover all the surs in all the three
octaves.

From the above image please ignore all the surs(except Ma) which are shown in
grey because they are komal surs which we will learn later.