How to Play Sitar
Posted on July 26th, 2009 by Marck
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The sitar is one of the essential instruments of Hindi classical music, but it has also found its way to modern rock music. Sitar is a lot like guitar, only that the mechanics and technicalities of the sitar are much more sensitive and complicated than other stringed instruments of its kind. If you want to learn how to play a sitar, here are some tips and steps to get you started.
What is a Sitar?
A sitar is a hollow, stringed musical instrument that is commonly used in the music of India and its neighboring countries. The pleasant, trance-like sounds of the sitar was popularized in the Western world by musicians like Ravi Shankar, George Harrison of The Beatles, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and bands like Kula Shaker, Dream Theater, No Doubt, Metallica, and System of a Down. The sitar gives a distinctively Oriental, psychedelic, moving sound to many guitar-heavy pieces.
Parts of a Sitar
The sitar is built like an oversized guitar or cello. The instrument is hollow to allow the strings to reverberate and resonate with the characteristic sound of the instrument. The sitar is a complicated instrument, but it can be divided into four parts:
- Strings. The sitar’s unique sound is made from sympathetic strings, which vibrate and reverberate with the strings that are plucked when the instrument is played. A sitar has 23 strings, but only seven of them are plucked by the player.
- Fretboard. Like a violin or a cello, the fretboard of a sitar is curved. The board is longer and wider compared to other stringed musical instruments.
- Resonating chamber. The resonating chamber is similar to the hollow body of a folk guitar, and is used to allow the playing strings to reverberate. The large chamber is usually made from a gourd.
- Drone chamber. The drone chamber serves the same function as the resonating chamber, but it allows the sound of the sympathetic strings to reverberate. The smaller chamber is located at the neck of the sitar.
Playing a Sitar
The sitar is played squatting; the weight and length of the sitar makes it impossible to play standing up. A small wire device called a mezra is fitted on the right index finger. The mezra is used to manipulate the playing strings of the sitar like a pick. The strings on the fretboard are then manipulated and tuned to give the sitar its distinctive sound.
Mastering the sitar takes years of practice. Most sitar players undergo an apprenticeship with a master, where they learn to tune, play, and take care of the sitar (much like how George Harrison learned the sitar under the instructions of Ravi Shankar). Once a student has learned and mastered sitar, he or she then has to learn the other components of Indian ethnic music. From there, he or she can incorporate the instrument into other forms and styles of music.
Whether you’re into Indian music or you want to give an exotic flavor to your compositions, a sitar can give your performance a very spiritual dimension and a very engaging appeal.
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