In 1966, the Rolling Stones’s founder Brian Jones used a sitar riff in Paint It Black on the U.S. Norwegian Wood, on the Beatles 1965 Rubber Soul release, was one of the first popular western songs to have a sitar line. 98% of your playing will be on these strings.ĭuring the 1960’s western music began to reflect the new interest in eastern spirituality. In these situations, my recommendation is to just tune the 1st two strings main strings – F & C and the chicari strings both to C. Often you will want to play the sitar but by the time you have fully tuned it the feeling and inspiration is gone. Various Sympathetic Tuning methods for a sitar with 13 strings: Notes on the Sympathetic Strings (for Bilaval Tuning) Sympathetic String The sympathetic strings are located below the moveable frets. Tuning Sympathetic Strings on a Sitar for the Key of Cġ3 Sympathetic tuning pegs. A second gourd will make your instrument have a fuller resonance. My sitar has a removable second gourd that screws on. Some sitars have a second gourd that attaches to the back of the head of the instrument. If the sympathetic strings are tuned properly the sympathetic strings will vibrate and should give off a nice full resonance when playing particalar notes on the main strings. You normally do not play these strings except for a special effect. The ‘resonance’ or vibratory tone of the sitar comes from the vibrations of the sympathetic strings. * If 4th string of sitar is a thicker gauge string that the 3rd string tune the 4th string two octaves below Middle C – if it is a thinner gauge string tune it to the exact same note as the 2nd string – C note one octave below Middle C. If using the lighter gauge sitar string, then the equivalent is the 5th string 3rd fret. *įor the thicker sitar string, the note is not available on a guitar because it is lower than the low open 6th string on the guitar. (On some sitars this string is tuned the same as the 2nd string). (Pancham-Kharaj tuning popularized by Ravi Shankar) When tuning it is a good idea to find the C note using a tuner or other instrument (guitar, piano, etc.) and tune these strings first.Ĭomparison of Indian Scale to Western Major Scale bilaval that Thus, if you are tuning your sitar to the key of ‘C’, the tonic note ‘Sa’ will be a ‘C’. The 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th main strings of your sitar will be tuned to the tonic note.Īlso note that Indians use a relative tuning system. You will use the middle C note as a reference point to tune the sitar. Some midi keyboard manufacturers, such as M-audio, have middle C labelled as ‘C3’ on their full sized keyboards. On a full sized midi keyboard (88 keys) or piano the middle C note is located in the middle of the piano. If you have a tuned guitar, the middle C note is located on the 2nd string (B string) 1st fret. When tuning a sitar first locate the middle C note on a keyboard, piano or guitar. For most beginners, especially westerners, it is recommended to start out with the key of C. Also note that various ragas demand that the sitar be re-tuned to a different key. A fairly standard tuning is the key of C however, certain performers such as Ravi Shankar tune their sitars to C#. You can also purchase a chromatic tuner app for your mobile smart phone (iPhone, Android phone) that can use the mic of the phone to detect the note of the string.Ī sitar can be tuned a variety of ways and can be tuned to different keys usually from B to D. I recommend purchasing an electronic chromatic tuner that contains a built in microphone that can detect the note of the string played. The wood pegs combined with the instrument sliding in and out of tune can be frustrating for a beginner. The tuning pegs are simple wood – no highly enginnered gears like the ones found on a guitar. It can take a significant of time to completely tune the instrument properly. Most sitars have between 18-20 strings (my particular sitar has 20 strings – 7 main and 13 sympathetic – other sitars often have 11 sympathetic). The task of tuning the sitar can be intimidating, time consuming and laborious. I recommend the mizrabs with a plastic coating because the one’s without the plastic tend to dig into your finger and can be painful. Keep the thumb of your picking hand touching the top base side of the instrument. Place a mizrab on the tip of your index finger. The ideal position to play the sitar is to sit in a half lotus postion – and rest the gourd on the bottom of your foot. Also, to complicate matters if you are playing certain scales you will need to move certain frets to play certain notes. The sitar is a modal instrument – meaning that depending on the key you are playing in you may need to re-tune the instrument.
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