Sitar

The sitar is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking. It is dominant in Hindustani classical music and has been around starting from the Middle Ages. It uses sympathetic strings which is common in Indian musical instruments. It also has a gourd resonating cavity and an extensive hollow neck.

The sitar came into the western musical industry when Pandit Ravi Shankar used it in his works. Following this, The Rolling Stones also put the sitar into action in the song Paint It, Black.

Origin

The sitars came from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent during the late Mogul era. For hundreds of years, its predecessors, the Persian lutes, were used in the Mogul courts. It is stated by the Sangeet Sudarshana that the sitar was invented by Amir Khusru in the 1700’s. The Persian setar was his basis for naming this instrument.

There are a lot of theories about the origin of the sitar. Unfortunately, most of which are historically inaccurate and, thus, impossible.

The most common theory is that Amir Khusru invented the sitar around 1300 AD. This is a different Amir Khusru from the one stated above. The Amir Khusru of the 1300 AD was a popular personality and is an image for the Hindustani Sangeet. However, this theory has no historical basis because there was no evidence of the existence of the sitar before the fall of the Moghul Empire.

Another theory is that the ancient veenas like the rudra vina were the parents of the sitar. The rudra vina is clearly a stick zither which is in contrast with the sitar which is a lute. Other than that, the materials and construction of the two instruments were also different so this theory is not likely to be true.

Parts

The many parts of the sitar are the kuntis or tuning pegs, drone strings, tumba or gourd, baj tar or playing string, tarafdar or sympathetic strings, dandi or neck, parda or frets, gulu or cowl, ghoraj or bridge, tuning beads, tabkandi or face plate, and kaddu or resonator.

Playing the sitar

The instrument should be placed between the player’s right knee and left foot with the left leg under the former. This position allows the player’s hands to move freely without holding the sitar’s weight. The thumb is positioned on the fretboard’s top while the string is being plucked using a mizraab or pick. The player frequently only uses the middle and index fingers to pluck but he also occasionally uses the ring finger.

There is a technique called meanding wherein the player pulls down the main string over the lower part of the curved frets of the sitar. With this, the musician could reach a seven semitone range of notes set to a microtone.

The sitar in jazz music

The fusion of Western jazz and Indian classical music stems back from the 1950’s to the 1960’s. This was when expert musicians of the Indian classics like Rabi Shankar collaborated with jazz musicians like Bud Shank and Tony Scott.

A few examples of the use of the sitar in jazz music are the works of John Mayer, the Silent Trees Falling by Andrew Cheshire, and the Cloud Dance by Collin Walcott.