On the 16th of May, 1998, I puchased a sitar from Kala Kendar in Toronto. A sitar is basically a hollowed out pumpkin with a neck, a gourd at the top of the neck (for extra resonation) and strings (19). I purchased the Sitar not as a novelty, but as an Instrument which I will learn to play seriously, and respect. The Sitar is an ancient Indian instrument (the design is over 600 years old) which was popularized in the 60s by such groups as the beatles.
The Sitar is an ancient Indian instrument adapted from another ancient Indian instrument, The Southern Veena. It is constructed using a design over 800 years old. It is made using a dried out pumpkin for the body, Tun or Sheasham wood for the neck, and a dried out gourd for the resonator at the top of the neck. The Sitar has 7 strings on the upper part of the body and eleven or twelve sympathetic strings under the frets. To be able to allow the sympathetic strings to be under the frets and resonate, the frets are arch shaped to allow for free resonation. All frets on a Sitar are moveable. They are tied to the neck with string. There are a few variations on the design of the Sitar such as the single Sitar which does not have the sympathetic strings or the double Sitar, which does not have the gourd at the top of the neck.
To play the Sitar is similar to playing the guitar although there are quite a few variations in the styles of playing. First, instead of using a pick, a Sitar player uses a 2 mizrabs (see picture) which is a metal finger pick. One mizrab is placed on the index finger and the other on the pinky. If the player does not want to use a mizrab on his/her pinky, it is also common for them to grow their fingernail and use that instead. Second, the sitting position of the Sitar is quite different from a guitar. See the pictures for the most popular Male and Female sitting positions.
The standard tuning is: #1-F 1 octave below middle C, #2-C 1 octave below middle C, #3-C 1 octave below middle C, #4-G 2 octaves below middle C, #5-G 1 octave below middle C, and the chikari #6 & #7 are middle C & C 1 octave higher than middle C. The sympathetic strings are tuned to the raga. The tuning I use is: Strings #6,7 (two strings closest to the player - as in string #6 on guitar) are called chikaries. String #7 is tuned to high C (2 octaves higher than middle C - C7). String #6 is tuned to an octave higher than Middle C. String #4 is tuned to an octave lower than middle C. Strings #2,3,5 are tuned to middle C. Finally, String #1 is tuned to G5. The sympathetic strings are tuned in a standard C major scale starting with a low G up to a high C or D.
The major difference in playing is the Indian Music System. I won't go into much of it here, as it is very very complicated and can confuse a lot of people who try to make sense of it using my explanation. The Indian music system is based on Ragas, which to my knowledge are something in beetween a riff and an entire song. The Indian music notation is basically the same as the western system. However, there are more notes. Each western major note has 2-4 different Shrutis. A Shruti is a very minute gap in the pitch of a note which most people would not be able to notice (as in a very small string pull on a guitar).
If you are interested in purchasing a Sitar, I suggest you visit Kala Kendar in Toronto, because they sell only quality Sitars and will ship anywhere.
Last Updated: Jan 21, 2002
Check out my FREE mp3s here!
� 2004