The tar shehnai, also spelled tarshenai or sometimes tar shehanai, is an esraj (an Indian bowed instrument) whose sound is amplified by a metal horn attached to its sound board. The term is also used to refer to the horn itself. The horn of a phonograph has sometimes been used. The instrument sounds similar to a violin or to a shehnai (an Indian reed instrument like an oboe or shawm). It is sometimes used instead of a shehnai when no shehnai player is available. The word tar means "stringed".