My Music Diary

Research into the history of the instrument suggests that, like several other solo instruments of today, the sitar started as an accompanying instrument to qawwali performances. The left hand rested on a particular svara or note, while the right hand played the bols (strokes) like dirdir, and dara dara in quick succession, to fill the silences/gaps between the melodic phrases sung by the performing vocal musician. This style was known as poorak (filler) baj (idiom). As musicians discovered the melodic potential of the instrument, the sitar emerged as a solo instrument, and pre-composed gats or melodic-rhythmic melodies were introduced in its repertoire. Gradually, bols of the pakhawaj (the barrel drum) were incorporated into the sitar idiom. The melody was played essentially with the left hand while the right hand was used to execute the bols creating rhythmic patterns inspired by the percussion idiom. During the next stage of development, small fikre (Persian for strings of phr...

The evolution in the design and construction of the sitar relates to the shape, size, the material used, number and quality of strings used, methods of tuning, number and quality of frets, and so on.Some musicologists believe that until the later part of the 19th century, the instrument was made entirely of wood. In some regions of the country, sitars made of papier mâché have also been found. However, dried pumpkin was used later to make the tumba, or the chamber-resonator. For the purpose of amplification, a second, and smaller, chamber-resonator was added at the upper end of the dand, or the stem or the fret-board of the instrument. With recent developments in amplification electronics, the second tumba lost its importance in the latter half of the twentieth century. Over the years, considerations of weight and acoustic quality have also led to changes in the quality of wood used in the construction of the dand.Originally, the sitar apparently had just three strings. They were tu...

Sitar is the most popular and highly evolved String Instrument of India. Sitar has become synonimous with Indian Culture and tradition due to contribution of some all time great exponents in 20th Century.String instruments have gained so much popularity because, these are considered as the best medium which can immetate most of the elements and fluidity of human voice.Particularly Sitar represents the Hindustani Classical Music world wide. It has its unique characteristic sound which is very much similar with the Indian Philosophy and Culture, that’s why this ancient musical instrument is considered as one of the best mediums of Hindustani Classical Music. Sitar has its unique technique of playing which even varies slightly with various styles of playing.Opinions differ regarding the Origin of Sitar.The word Sitar comes from the Persian word ‘She-Tar’ which literally means the ‘Combination of Three Strings’. However, this is far from the sufficient of describing the present form o...