short-necked fiddle used throughout South Asia, particularly for folk and classical Hindustani music. Measuring about 76 cm (30 inches) long, the instrument has a roughly rectangular slightly waisted body and broad fretless neck generally carved from a single piece of wood. It has three melody strings made of gut, usually tuned a fifth and a fourth apart, and 11 to 37 sympathetically vibrating metal strings. At least two convex bone bridges are required to accommodate the three melodic strings on top and the many vibrating strings below. The musician, who is seated, normally holds the instrument against his left shoulder in a vertical position and plays with an arched bow held in an underhand grip in his right hand. The fingertips of the left hand are used to stop the strings.