Bansuri is term composed of two different words in hindi/sanskrit, one is bansh(the bamboo) and another is swar(sound) or sur(tune). It is one of the oldest instrument in the world. The main idea is to create some holes on a pipe which is closed from one side. One needs to blow it transversely in one of the holes. Other holes are kept open or closed with fingers and produce different notes.
Physics of Bansuri:
Bansuri player makes a vibration by blowing in the blowing hole. That vibration composes of all different types of frequencies. The first node of the wave is at the position of the blowing hole. The length from the blowing hole to the last hole which kept open acts as the one fourth of the wave length of the resonating frequency. This means that the anti-node of the resonating frequency occurs at the last open hole. Bansuri is being used in Indian folk music for thousand of years. After the Aryans came into the indian land bansuri started to be used in different chanting music. This tradition is still maintained specially in devotional music (bhajans) played in the temple.
List of Ragas:
To get a nice and brief introduction of Indian Classical Music visit to
For learning bansuri visit these sites:
1. Bansuriflute.com by Prasad Bhandarkar
For specification of notes
Watch these videos:
1. Lessons by G.S. Sachdev