meend
techniquesMEEND
A smooth, continuous glide between notes in Indian classical music, essential to raga expression.
Meend is the most important ornament in Hindustani music, creating fluid connections between notes rather than discrete steps. On the sitar, meend is produced by pulling the string sideways along the fret, stretching it to raise the pitch smoothly through intermediate microtones. On the sarangi or voice, it is a seamless slide. The character of a raga is often defined by its characteristic meend patterns, and a musician's meend reveals their training lineage and emotional depth.