the.com/sitar
the most strings you'll never directly touch, humming in sympathy below your fingers.
means A long-necked plucked string instrument from the Indian subcontinent, known for its resonant drone and the sympathetic strings that ring beneath the played ones.
from From Hindi-Urdu sitār, borrowed from Persian sehtār, literally 'three strings' — seh ('three') plus tār ('string'), the same tār you hear in 'guitar.' The irony is built right into the name: a modern sitar carries far more than three strings, but the old Persian count stuck like a label that outgrew the bottle.
- sympathetic strings
- Up to 13 vibrate untouched, ringing on their own
- gourd body
- Resonator carved from a dried pumpkin
- curved frets
- Movable, arched, bent for sliding microtones
- beatles boost
- Harrison made it the soundtrack of the sixties
- raga vehicle
- Built to bend notes Western scales can't reach
ravi shankar — indian sitar virtuoso who brought the instrument to international prominence, performing at woodstock 1969 and collaborating with the beatles
anoushka shankar — grammy-winning sitar player and daughter of ravi shankar, based in london and new delhi
vilayat khan — 20th-century sitar master from lucknow, india known for the imdad khan gharana tradition