To master the instrument, the musician must employ various and intricate embouchure and fingering techniques.

[2] The shehnai has a range of two octaves, from the A below middle C to the A one line above the treble clef (A3 to A5 in scientific pitch notation).

A shehnai is often but not always made with a body of wood or bamboo and a flared metal end.

[5] The shehnai is thought to have been developed by improving upon the pungi[citation needed] (a woodwind folk instrument used primarily for snake charming).

The counterparts to the shehnai played in Western India and Coastal Karnataka are indigenous to the territory.