Difference between 6 holed and 7 holed Indian bamboo flute?

Question

I'm planning to buy an Indian bamboo flute. I found out today that there are Indian bamboo flutes with a different number of holes. There is one with 6 fingering holes called Bansuri and one with 7 holes called Venu.

What is the difference between them and which one is recommended for beginning flute players?

Answer 1

I am from south India and recently wanted to learn Bhansuri flute so I ordered one online .But later just like you i found out there are two types of bamboo flute. 1. Bhansuri 2. Venu/murali

There are two kinds of classical music in India 1. Hindustani music
2. Carnatic music So Bhansuri is used in Hindustani classical music ( north Indian) which consist of 6 or a 7 flute Whereas the Carnatic classical music ( south Indian ) uses the venu which consist of 8 holes but most of the time only 7 are used. The main difference in number of holes hence the fingering is different and also the venu is said to be able to produce more types of notes than bhansuri while bhansuri is easier to play and learn for begginers. You can choose either of them .It is better to have a teacher to play venu because there is some technique involved in playing music . Both can play really good music so you can choose either but begginer should prefer the Bhansuri ( will have 7 holes + 1 blowing hole). You should prefer buying a medium sized c or g scale flute , should be of good quality . I am a begginer like you . Punam flute in amazon.in is a good quality one( just a recommendation not a spam)

Note: In the above picture left one is a carnatic flute venu while right one is a bhansuri.Observe the holes

Answer 2

The Traditional North Indian flute called the Bansuri has 6 holes while the traditional South indian flute called the Pulil/Veenu had 7 holes. Both these where predominantly used in Folk music.

Recently a classical variety has been introduced and consequently the North Indian Bansuri sometimes has 7 holes & is used in Hindustani music which is classical North indian music while the South Indian flute has 8 holes and is used in Carnatic music which is classical South Indian music.

Hope this helps.