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Sitar

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File:Sitar-1927.jpg
Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927

The sitar is a Hindustani classical stringed instrument which utilizes sympathetic strings along with regular strings and a gourd resonating chamber to produce a very distinctive sound. The sitar has been ubiquitous in Hindustani classical music since the Middle Ages and became popular in the West when The Beatles used it in many songs, including "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Beatles guitarist, George Harrison, was inspired by, and later taught by, world-famous sitar player Ravi Shankar.

Etymology and History

The name sitar comes from the Persian sehtar; seh meaning three and tar means string. A similar instrument is used to this day in Afghanistan, and the original Persian name is still used. Both instruments are most likely derived from the Kurdish tembûr, which is a long, lute-like instrument with no gourd resonating chamber. Both the tembûr and sehtar were used in pre-Islamic Persia and are used in Iran today. Alternatively, an older Indian instrument called the rudra veena resembles the sitar in some important respects, most notably in the use of gourd resonators. It is possible that the sitar is actually derived from this instrument, or that the modern sitar is an amalgamation of the two.

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Playing the Sitar

Sitar Mechanics

An etching of an Indian man playing a sitar, 18th century

A distinctive feature of the sitar are the curved frets, which are movable (allowing fine variation in tuning) and raised (so that resonant, or sympathetic, strings can run underneath the frets, giving a very lush sound). A typical sitar has 18, 19 or 20 strings (depending on the style) — there are 6 (in the Vilayat Khan style) or 7 (in the Ravi Shankar style) playable strings on top and 11, 12 or 13 sympathetic strings or tarbs under the frets.

Tuning the Sitar

It is rather difficult to tune the instrument. The strings can be tuned using both the pegs on the sides or the 'beads' at the bottom, which are mainly for fine tuning.

In one of the more common tunings (used by Ravi Shankar among others) the strings are tuned C C G C G C F. The sympathetic strings are tuned depending on the raga, although for beginners it is acceptable to tune them according to a C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E. This corresponds to the Indian scale Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni Sa Re Ga (all "shuddh" notes).

Learning to Play

Traditional approaches to learning the sitar involve a long period of apprenticeship under the tutelage of a master during which the apprentice would accompany the master with a tambura, providing a droning chord harmony for the sitar's melody. Nowadays it is possible to purchase books and videos to assist home learning.

Learning to play the sitar is a difficult process. The entire 3 octave range of the instrument is achieved by sliding the index finger of the left hand up and down the neck of the sitar over a single melody string, while the mezrab on the index finger of the right hand strikes the string. Thus it demands a very high degree of technical mastery to play even simple melodies with clarity and accuracy. It is also a rather painful process for the beginner until the hard calluses and black grooves on the tips of the index and middle finger, which typify the sitar player, begin to develop. A specialised technique called "Meend" involves pulling the main melody string down over the bottom portion of the sitar's curved frets, with which the sitarist can achieve a 7 semitone range of microtonal notes. Meend gives the sitar its characteristic fluid sound, but requires practice to achieve fluency and precision.

Playing the Sitar

The dominant hand is used to pluck the string using a metallic plectrum called the mezrab. When playing sitar, the thumb of the plucking hand should stay on the side of the fretboard just above the main bowl, the plucking arm should carry all of the weight of the sitar by applying pressure to the main bowl with the elbow and other arm muscles, the fingering hand should move freely without having to carry any of the weight. Generally the index and middle fingers are used for fingering.

Notable sitar players

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sitars.
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