plucked stringed instrument
Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the strings. Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such a way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to vibrate. Plucki ...
, originating from the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
, used in
Hindustani classical music
Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...
. The instrument was invented in
medieval India
Medieval India refers to a long period of Post-classical history of the Indian subcontinent between the "ancient period" and "modern period". It is usually regarded as running approximately from the breakup of the Gupta Empire in the 6th cent ...
, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau Khan, an 18th century figure of
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
has been identified by modern scholarship as the originator of Sitar. According to most historians he developed sitar from
setar
A setar ( fa, سهتار, ) is a stringed instrument, a type of lute used in Persian traditional music, played solo or accompanying voice. It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than two and a half octa ...
, an Iranian instrument of
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
or
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
origin. Another view supported by a minority of scholars is that Khusrau Khan developed it from ''
Veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...
''.
Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
, beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1960s, a short-lived trend arose for the use of the sitar in Western popular music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
,
the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
,
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and others.
Etymology
The word ''Sitar'' is derived from the Hindi words ''sat tär'', for seven strings.
History
The book "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians" suggests possibility of the sitar's origin as that evolved from one or more instruments of the tanbūr family, long necked lutes which it argues were introduced and popularised during the period of Mughal rule. Allyn Miner, a concert performer and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that the evidence of indigenous long-necked lutes in India is particularly lacking. According to this view, when Muslim rule began in Northern India in 1192, the conquerors brought with them
tanbur
The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the ''New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a compli ...
-family instruments, and other instruments in their "multi-national" army. In this early period, the Muslim instrument was linked to the tradition of Sufi ecstatic dance, "sufiānā rang".
It was also theorized in Muslim tradition, that the sitar was invented, or rather developed by
Amir Khusrow
Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253–1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar who lived under the Delhi Sultanate. He is an iconic figure in the cultural history of the Indian s ...
( 1253–1325), a famous
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
inventor, poet and pioneer of
Khyal
Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfor ...
,
Tarana
''Tarana'' is a type of composition in Hindustani classical vocal music in which certain words (e.g. "odani", "todani", "tadeem" and "yalali") based on Persian and Arabic phonemes are rendered at a medium (''madhya laya'') or fast (''drut laya'') ...
and
Qawwali
Qawwali ( Punjabi: (Shahmukhi), (Gurmukhi); Urdu: (Nasta'liq); Hindi: क़व्वाली (Devanagari); Bengali: কাওয়ালি (Bengali)) is a form of Sufi Islamic devotional singing, originating from the Indian subcontinent ...
, during the 13th century. However, the tradition of Amir Khusrow is considered discredited by some scholars. Whatever instruments he might have played, no record exists from this period using the name "sitar".
Another, more minor hypothesis is that the sitar is derived from locally developed Indian instruments, such as the
veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...
, prior to the arrival of Islam. Indian temple sculptures from the 9th and 10th centuries are known to feature sitar-like instruments. However, according to Allyn Miner, the evidence for this theory is too weak for any conclusion.
In the early
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
(1526–1707), tanbur-style instruments continued to be used in court. They were beginning to change; in images from the period, an instrument resembling an Uzbek
dutar
The ''dutar'' (also ''Dotara, dotar''; fa, دوتار, dutâr; russian: Дутар; tg, дутор; ug, دۇتار, ucy=Дутар, Dutar; uz, dutor; ; dng, Дутар) is a traditional Iranian long-necked two-stringed lute found in Iran and ...
or a
tambūrā
The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music.
It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...
is being played on the shoulder, with the "deep bridge of the modern sitar and the tambūrā". Looking at the musicians (the way they played their instruments in surviving images, their identities that were recorded) led historian Alastair Dick to conclude that the instrument was being adopted for Hindu music by Hindu musicians. The instrument was used for "Persian and Hindu melodies". According to Dick, the "modern view that ... invading Muslims simply changed into Persian the name of an existing Hindu instrument ... has no historical or musical foundation".
In the late Mughal Empire (1707–1858), the instrument began to take on its modern shape. The neck got wider. The bowl, which had been made of glued lathes of wood was now made of gourd, with metal frets and a bone
nut
Nut often refers to:
* Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds
* Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt
Nut or Nuts may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Co ...
on the neck.
By about 1725, the name ''sitar'' was used in the '' Hammir-raso'' by Jodhraj, a
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
author. The instrument had 5 strings by this time. The beginnings of the modern 7-string tuning were present too.
Physical description
A sitar can have 18, 19, 20, or 21 strings; 6 or 7 of these run over curved, raised
fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...
s and are played strings; the remainder are
sympathetic strings
Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments, as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety of folk instruments. They are typically not played directly by the performer (excep ...
(''tarb'', also known as ''taarif'' or ''tarafdaar''), running underneath the frets and resonating in sympathy with the played strings. These strings are generally used to set the mood of a
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
at the very beginning of a presentation. The frets, which are known as or
thaat
A Thaat () is a "Parent scale" in North Indian or Hindustani music. It is the Hindustani equivalent of the term ''Melakartha raga'' of Carnatic Music. The concept of the ''thaat'' is not exactly equivalent to the western musical scale because t ...
, are movable, allowing fine tuning. The played strings run to tuning pegs on or near the head of the instrument, while the sympathetic strings, which have a variety of different lengths, pass through small holes in the fretboard to engage with the smaller tuning pegs that run down the instrument's neck.
The instrument has two
bridges
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whic ...
: the large bridge (''badaa goraa'') for the playing and drone strings and the small bridge (''chota goraa'') for the sympathetic strings. Its timbre results from the way the strings interact with the wide, rounded bridge. As a string vibrates, its length changes slightly as one edge moves along the rounded bridge, promoting the creation of
overtones
An overtone is any resonant frequency above the fundamental frequency of a sound. (An overtone may or may not be a harmonic) In other words, overtones are all pitches higher than the lowest pitch within an individual sound; the fundamental i ...
and giving the sound its distinctive tone. The maintenance of this specific tone by shaping the bridge is called ''
jawari
Yanam, or Ninam, is a Yanomaman language spoken in Roraima, Brazil (800 speakers) and southern Venezuela near the Mucajai, upper Uraricaá, and Paragua rivers.
Synonymy
Yanam is also known by the following names: ''Ninam'', ''Yanam–Nin ...
''. Many musicians rely on instrument makers to adjust this.
Materials used in construction include
teak wood
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...
or ''tun'' wood (''
Cedrela toona
''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout southern Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Names
It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), toon or toona (also a ...
''), which is a variation of mahogany, for the neck and faceplate (''tabli''), and
calabash gourd
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...
s for the resonating chambers. The instrument's bridges are made of deer horn, ebony, or very occasionally from camel bone. Synthetic material is now common as well.
Construction styles
There are two popular modern styles of sitar: the fully decorated "instrumental style" (sometimes called the "Ravi Shankar style") and the "gayaki" style (sometimes called the "
toon wood
''Toona'', commonly known as redcedar, toon (also spelled tun) or toona, tooni (in India) is a genus in the mahogany family, Meliaceae, native from Afghanistan south to India, and east to North Korea, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. In ol ...
, but sometimes made of Burma teak. It is often fitted with a second resonator, a small tumba (pumpkin or pumpkin-like wood replica) on the neck. This style is usually fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings and
celluloid
Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporar ...
inlays with colored (often brown or red) and black floral or arabesque patterns. It typically has 13 sympathetic strings. It is said that the best Burma teak sitars are made from
teak
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...
that has been seasoned for generations. Therefore, instrument builders look for old Burma
teak
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...
that was used in old colonial-style
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
s as whole trunk
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
s for their special sitar constructions. The sources of very old
seasoned wood
Wood drying (also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning) reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. When the drying is done in a kiln, the product is known as kiln-dried timber or lumber, whereas air drying is the more traditional method.
...
are a highly guarded trade secret and sometimes a mystery.
There are various additional sub-styles and cross mixes of styles in sitars, according to customer preferences. Most importantly, there are some differences in preferences for the positioning of sympathetic (''taraf'') string pegs (see photo).
Amongst all sitar styles, there are student styles, beginner models, semi-pro styles, pro-models, master models, and so on. Prices are often determined by the manufacturer's name and not by looks alone or materials used. Some sitars by certain manufacturers fetch very high collectible prices. Most notable are older
Rikhi Ram
Rikhi(رِکھی) is a village of Punjab, Pakistan, situated on Mianwali-Rawalpindi road, on the northern side of Namal Lake. Rikhi is at a distance of 32 kilometers from Mianwali city. The name Rikhi originated from the name of Mountain Stream Ri ...
(Delhi) and older
Hiren Roy
Hiren Roy (1920–1992) was for many years considered to be the best sitar maker in India. Many great musicians, including Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat Khan, Annapurna Devi, and Ravi Shankar, have sworn by his creations.
Early life
Born in Bengal, ...
(Kolkata) sitars, depending upon which master built the instrument.
Nikhil Banerjee
Pandit Nikhil Ranjan Banerjee (14 October 1931 – 27 January 1986) was an Indian classical sitarist of the Maihar Gharana. Along with Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan, he emerged as one of the leading exponents of the sitar. He ...
had a small extra bridge fixed at the top of the Sitar fingerboard for sustenance of sound.
Tuning of sitar
Tuning depends on the sitarist's school or style, tradition and each artist's personal preference. The main playing string is almost invariably tuned a perfect fourth ''above'' the tonic, the second string being tuned to the tonic. The tonic in the Indian solfège system is referred to as ''ṣaḍja'', ''ṣaḍaj'', or the shortened form ''sa'', or ''khaṛaj'', a dialectal variant of ''ṣaḍaj'', not as ''vād'', and the perfect fifth to which one or more of the drones strings are tuned is referred to as ''pañcam'', not ''samvād''.
The player should re-tune for each
raga
A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradit ...
. Strings are tuned by
tuning peg
A variety of methods are used to tune different stringed instruments. Most change the pitch produced when the string is played by adjusting the tension of the strings.
A tuning peg in a pegbox is perhaps the most common system. A peg has a g ...
s, and the main playing strings can be fine-tuned by sliding a bead threaded on each string just below the bridge.
In one or more of the more common tunings (used by Ravi Shankar, among others, called "Kharaj Pancham" sitar) the playable strings are strung in this fashion:
* ''Chikari'' strings: Sa (high), Sa (middle), and Pa.
* ''Kharaj'' (bass) strings: Sa (low) and Pa (low).
* ''Jod'' and ''baaj'' strings, Sa and Ma.
There is a lot of stylistic variance within these tunings, and like most Indian stringed instruments, there is no default tuning. Mostly, tunings vary by schools of teaching (
gharana
In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...
) and the piece that is meant to be played.
Playing
The instrument is balanced between the player's left foot and right knee. The hands move freely without having to carry any of the instrument's weight. The player plucks the string using a metallic pick or
plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...
called a
mizraab
Mizraab ( ) is a progressive rock and Progressive metal, metal band from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan, formed in 1997.meend
In Hindustani music, meend (Hindi: मीण्ड, ur, ) refers to a glide from one note to another. It is an essential performance practice, and is used often in vocal and instrumental music. On the veena, sitar, sarangi and other plucked str ...
" involves pulling the main melody string down over the bottom portion of the sitar's curved frets, with which the sitarist can achieve a seven-
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
range of
microtonal
Microtonal music or microtonality is the use in music of microtones—intervals smaller than a semitone, also called "microintervals". It may also be extended to include any music using intervals not found in the customary Western tuning of tw ...
notes (however, because of the sitar's movable frets, sometimes a fret may be set to a microtone already, and no bending would be required). This was developed by
Vilayat Khan
Ustad Vilayat Khan (28 August 1928 – 13 March 2004) was an Indian classical sitar player.melisma
Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referr ...
of the vocal style, a technique known as ''gayaki ang''.
Adept players bring in charisma through the use of special techniques like Kan, Krintan,
Murki
Murki is a short taan or inverted mordent in Hindustani classical music, known as ''pratyahatam'' in Carnatic music. It is a fast and delicate ornamentation or '' alankar'', employing two or more notes and is similar to a mordent or ''ulta mur ...
, Zamzama, etc. They also use special Mizrab Bol-s, as in Misrabani.
World music influence
In the late 1950s and early 1960s
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known export of North Ind ...
, along with his tabla player,
Alla Rakha
Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and was ...
, began a further introduction of Indian classical music to Western culture.
The sitar saw use in Western popular music when, guided by
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby (born August 14, 1941) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Crosby joined the Byrds in 1964. They got ...
's championing of Shankar,
George Harrison
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
played it on
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' songs "
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album ''Rubber Soul''. It was written mainly by John Lennon, with lyrical contributions from Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McC ...
", "
Love You To
"Love You To" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album '' Revolver''. The song was written and sung by George Harrison and features Indian instrumentation such as sitar and tabla. Following Harrison's introduction ...
" and "
Within You Without You
"Within You Without You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Written by lead guitarist George Harrison, it was his second composition in the Indian classical style, af ...
", recorded between 1965 and 1967. The Beatles' association with the instrument helped popularise Indian classical music among Western youth, particularly once Harrison began receiving tutelage from Shankar and the latter's protégé
Shambhu Das
Shambhu Das (born 1934) is an Indian classical music, Indian classical musician and educator. He is best known for his long association with Ravi Shankar, on whose behalf Das has acted as an ambassador for Indian music in Canada since the early 1 ...
in 1966. That same year,
Brian Jones
Lewis Brian Hopkin Jones (28 February 1942 – 3 July 1969) was an English multi-instrumentalist and singer best known as the founder, rhythm/lead guitarist, and original leader of the Rolling Stones. Initially a guitarist, he went on to prov ...
of
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
used a sitar on "
Paint It Black
"Paint It Black" is a song recorded in 1966 by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of the songwriting partnership of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it is a raga rock song with Indian, Middle Eastern, and Eastern European infl ...
", while another English guitarist,
Dave Mason
David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...
, played it on
Traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
's 1967 hits "
Paper Sun
"Paper Sun" is a song by British rock band Traffic, and was released as their debut single in May 1967. It was a number 5 hit in the United Kingdom,Hole in My Shoe
"Hole in My Shoe" is a song by English rock band Traffic featuring a spoken-word midsection by Chris Blackwell's stepdaughter, Francine Heimann, in which she tells a little story about a giant albatross. It was released as a single in 1967 and r ...
". These and other examples marked a trend of featuring the instrument in pop songs, which Shankar later described as "the great sitar explosion". Speaking to ''
KRLA Beat
''KRLA Beat'' was an American rock music magazine that operated between 1964 and 1968. It began in October 1964 as a free newsletter distributed by the Southern Californian radio station KRLA, before being reworked as a more reportage-focused titl ...
'' in July 1967, he said: "Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became my disciple ... It is now the 'in' thing."
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
's
Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...
talked about his love of
Indian music
Owing to India's vastness and diversity, Indian music encompasses numerous genres in multiple varieties and forms which include classical music, folk (Bollywood), rock, and pop. It has a history spanning several millennia and developed ove ...
, saying: "I went to India after I came back from a tour with
the Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
in the late sixties just so I could hear the music firsthand. Let's put it this way: I had a sitar before George Harrison got his. I wouldn't say I played it as well as he did, though..."
Robbie Krieger
Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and "L ...
's guitar part on
the Doors
The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...
' 1967 track "
The End
The End may refer to:
Films
* ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine
* ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds
* ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997
* ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...
" was heavily influenced by Indian ragas and features melodic and rhythmic qualities that suggest a sitar or
veena
The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...
. Many pop performances actually involve the
electric sitar
An electric sitar is a type of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the sitar, a traditional musical instrument of India. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional ...
, which is a solid-body, guitar-like instrument and quite different from the traditional acoustic Indian instrument.
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...
' 1965 single "
See My Friends
"See My Friends" (sometimes titled "See My Friend") is a song by the English rock band the Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in July 1965, it reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart, ''Record Retailer'' c ...
" featured a "low-tuned drone guitar" that was widely mistaken to be a sitar. Crosby's band,
the Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
, had similarly incorporated elements of Indian music, using "only Western instrumentation", on their songs "
Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American Rock music, rock Musical ensemble, band the Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn, Jim McGuinn (a.k.a. Roger McGuinn), and David Crosby. It was first released as a Single (music), single on Ma ...
" and "
Why
Why may refer to:
* Causality, a consequential relationship between two events
* Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose
* Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...
" in 1965.
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...
bands often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music.
The Electric Prunes
The Electric Prunes are an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. Much of the band's music was, as music historian Richie Unterberger described it, possessed of "an eerie and sometimes anguished ambiance." T ...
Wah wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal, or simply wah pedal, is a type of electric guitar effects pedal that alters the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound, mimicking the human voice saying the onomatopoeic name "wah-wah". The ped ...
, which touted the effect's ability to make an electric guitar sound like a sitar
Sitar
gharana
In Hindustani music (North Indian classical music), a ''gharānā'' is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship, and more importantly by adherence to a particular mus ...
s
*
Imdadkhani gharana
The Etawah gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music and named after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan (1848–1920) lived.Maihar gharana
The Maihar Gharana or Maihar-Senia Gharana is a gharana or school of Hindustani classical music, a style of Indian classical music originating in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The school was formed by Allaudin Khan in the prin ...