<P> The design of the instrument depends on the school (gharana) of playing . There are three distinguishable types: </P> <P> The conventional sarod is a 17 to 25 - stringed lute - like instrument--four to five main strings used for playing the melody, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings and nine to eleven sympathetic strings . The design of this early model is generally credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana as well as Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior - Bangash Gharana . Among the contemporary sarod players, this basic design is kept intact by two streams of sarod playing . Amjad Ali Khan and his disciples play this model, as do the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra . Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta have introduced minor changes to their respective instruments which have become the design templates for their followers . Both musicians use sarods made of teak wood, and a soundboard made of goat skin stretched across the face of the resonator . Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for the ease of maintenance while Amjad Ali Khan uses the conventional chrome or nickel - plated cast steel fingerboard . Visually, the two variants are similar, with six pegs in the main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings . The descendants of Niyamatullah Khan (namely Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan) also play similar instruments . Some of the followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still carry the second resonator on their sarods . Amjad Ali Khan and his followers have rejected the resonator altogether . These instruments are typically tuned to B, which is the traditional setting . </P> <P> Another type is that designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan . This instrument, referred to by David Trasoff as the 1934 Maihar Prototype, is larger and longer than the conventional instrument, though the fingerboard is identical to the traditional sarod . This instrument has 25 strings in all . These include four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha, R / r, G / g and Sa respectively), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of the upper octave) and fifteen tarab strings . The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so") and lower Sa, giving the instrument a range of three octaves . The Maihar sarod lends itself extremely well to the presentation of alap with the four jod strings providing a backdrop for the ambiance of the raga . This variant is, however, not conducive to the performance of clean right - hand picking on individual strings . The instrument is typically tuned to C . </P> <P> Sarod strings are either made of steel or phosphor bronze . Most contemporary sarod players use German or American - made strings, such as Roslau (Germany), Pyramid (Germany) and Precision (USA). The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum (java) made of polished coconut shell, ebony, cocobolo wood, horn, cowbone, Delrin, or other such materials . Early sarod players used plain wire plectrums, which yielded a soft, ringing tone . </P>

Describe the construction of the sarod. how is it played