History of the Sitar | Exploring Music Series

[@paulmoon6835]

Fantastic , learnt a lot , I enjoy playing my sitar and never thought to delve into its past.thanks for the information.

[@JeffStarr]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bobweiram6321]

The sitar and tempura most likely originates from Africa as do all the string instruments. The mere fact the body is made from a Gourd says it all. Gourds are native to Africa. The instrument's construction is eerily similar to the Kora, an instrument from Mali which is also made from a gourd, but is played in a vertical position. The twangy sound of the sitar is very similar to the banjo, another African instrument, which was originally made from a gourd. I suspect the original string instruments may have been introduced to India by the Portuguese. Tempura, another Indian instrument, has a similar name as Tempura, a traditional Japanese dish, which was also introduced to Japan by the Portuguese which may indicate a possible connection.

[@bobweiram6321]

@@rjb9239 The term veena has been broadly applied to several string instruments. The earliest instrument is also called a veena appears to be a stick or long tube with a single string.

[@therealhelmholtz]

Tanpura. You are thinking about the shrimp.

[@kitruppell6823]

The near-extinct Kashmiri Setar is the "missing link" you're looking for.

[@saifalam11]

Pt. Nikhil Banerjee added another another string .His siter was with 8 strings

[@JeffStarr]

Thank you for .the comment I should have mentioned it in the video. Thank you for watching.

[@mwstacomawa1717]

Right, it was referred to as a Gitanjali. If you look at videos or photos of him you can see the additional peg at the top side of his sitar. His ability to use it in the alap is truly captivating and transporting.There are some other structural changes Nikhil-da required as well, for example we can see the large "grape leaf" decorations on the back of the lower gourd. These actually are part of the reinforced build of his sitar, the neck also follows this. His sitar was heavy and hard. Many Maihar style sitars follow this pattern but not to the same degree. He also had an additional bridge installed near the upper string nut for the bass strings. Some makers dispute the necessity or function of this but many of those seeking to follow or incorporate his playing also have it. You did a good job ferreting out the history and development of the sitar. Part of its history was oral history of course and the territoriality of the competing gharanas only adds more to its mystery. As to the future; many of the great makers are now gone and the craftsmanship is definitely suffering. Then there is the jawari problem. Historically it was made from the antler/horn of a species of deer. This animal was brought to near extinction until India prohibited its killing in recent years. Some synthetic materials have been developed by Rikki Ram and Barun Roy but most of the older generation sitar players will say its not as good -though it reduces the need for having the jawari corrected, which also has caused the number of craftsman that do this work to diminish. I visited with the sons of Hemen Sen and asked about their supply of antler, he pulled a large ziplock bag out of his safe of antler sections and said it was the last that had and it was worth more than gold!!

[@JeffStarr]

@mwstacomawa1717 thank you for sharing your information.

[@sitarbaba]

The most obvious ancestry for the sitar many say is very likely the Saraswati Veena, which also has a similar fret layout and - 3 chikari and 4 main playing strings though no sympathetic strings. There was a pretty detailed discussion about this in the Chandrakanth forums. I will put the link in here if I can find it.

[@JeffStarr]

Please do, I'd love to read the forum post. The interesting thing about making this video is how it changed a lot of what I thought I knew about the sitar. It was really important to me that I use academic sources as much as possible too. I hope I got everything right. I know I got some of the pronunciations wrong.

[@zomesargentina]

Thanks! It would be great to have a complete list of all the names from the Sitar players you mention in this video, cheers!

[@JeffStarr]

Done! Amir Khusrau, Tansen, Maseet Khan, Imdad Khan, Inayat Khan, Vilayat Khan, Ravi Shankar, and a brief mention of George Harrison. :)

[@zomesargentina]

@@JeffStarr THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH! best regards!

[@ashok755]

Good! I learned a lot too from your research.

[@JeffStarr]

I hope this video is helpful. I wouldn’t have been able to create it without all the books I cited by the real scholars.

[@muddasirahmed]

Good Job! It was a very informative introduction of the the instrument. However, a little clarification in the pronunciation of the names is required... Khusrow is pronounced as Khus-ro not Khusrau(kh like ch in loch, s as in rest and row as in grow). And Enayat is pronounced as Inaá-yat, also Vilayat as Vilaá-yat. There is also a story about tri-tantri-veena (3 stringed veena) existing before Sitar that can be the ancestor of Sitar, but there no concrete proof coz pretty much all of the knowledge of classical indian music used to be passed down orally.

[@JeffStarr]

+muddassir ahmad thank you for helping to correct my pronunciation. I knew I was going to have misspoken. I had thought about including a brief section on the tri-tantri-veena but as you said, there is no real proof of it existing. I appreciate that you took the time to watch the video and leave me a comment. It means a lot.

[@thesilentkiller3320]

@D. Alex Hutchinson fuck you loser what a pussy you are

[@stevebuffington6534]

Are you able to do your own jawari? Do you have close access for jawari help? Finally - will no one have mercy on shut ins like myself and put out a DVD about how to do it properly? I get close but never where I need it to go. Takes away the pleasure somewhat when the jawari is off. I cannot travel, am disabled, have asked you this before. Thank you for this video. You’re a nice guy to take the time to do so!

[@JeffStarr]

I don't really do my own Jawari. I might make some small touch ups but my Guru has always done it for me in the past. Sadly, I don't have good recommendations on where to go to have this work done and I don't feel qualified enough to try and teach it.

[@nicolasspahni5523]

Very informative and maybe the place to ask two sitar questions that I've had for a while: 1. Is there specific reason why the sitar does not have frets for all 12 semitones? 2. Why is the main playing string tuned to Ma and not Pa, which would allow more open string playing?

[@JeffStarr]

1: I've seen sitar's with a fret at each semitone, although that seems to be very rare. It's one of those fun quirks about the instrument. I'm not really sure why it is that way though. 2: For some Raga's, an open Ma could be used. Also, by always needing to fret the lowest note it perhaps encourages more bending and vocal elements in the playing. that is just my guess.

[@vedanti408]

Ravi Shankar sounds bright, intellectual, musical. He composed concerto, scores, new ragas, collaborations following strict classical frame while Vilayat khan was conservative player with repeating and unnecessary elongations of ragas with a very sad and dull tone. Ravi Shankar's popularity in west is not because of his early years in paris or brother but his extensive approach and musicality. He was not only a soloist but a great composer and a great 'musician' not just a great 'instrument player'.

[@DibyarupRoy]

Sitar has derived from veena goddess Saraswati herself.

[@bharatvarsharya4904]

Yess

[@melodyst.claire5389]

Very nice !

[@JeffStarr]

Thanks!

[@BolaBaja]

Thank you brother! You made it little bit clear for me )

[@JeffStarr]

Glad it helped!

[@ommmansingh132]

Plz answer from which two countries sitar is originated

[@mwstacomawa1717]

We can't really say becuz N. India was a major pass through and trade route (the silk Road). Many countless people came there to buy and sell (Columbus was looking for India right?) And India absorbed and incorporated everything it could, giving whatever they acquired their own special flavor while still retaining cultural roots. So very ancient and adaptable!!

[@RF_HS28280]

pandit Ravi shankar is my grandfather

[@thefrustratedneetaspirant7777]

But you are khan

[@RF_HS28280]

@@thefrustratedneetaspirant7777 so what? Pt ravi shankar married tow Muslim women jame sukanya devi shankar & annapurna devi shankar they were my late father bilash khan paternal uncle and aunties

[@therealhelmholtz]

Same here.

[@mwstacomawa1717]

Many ill-informed people think that Hindus and Muslims were separate in India historically. But before the partition they lived peaceably side by side. Certainly in the Hindustani Music communities this was the case and largely remains so. It has that name for a reason, think Muslim here please. Many of the musical terms are in fact Arabic: riaz, talim, mir and many more. Virtually all of the gharanas are led by Muslims even tho the raag forms often have Hindu names (Durga, Sri, Bhairavi, Shiv ranjani and so many more). The founder of the Maihar Gharana was a devout Muslim but he walked and worshipped at the Sharada Temple everyday and was known to call out for guidance from Saraswati-Ma during his performances.I'm glad you are proud of your heritage, and you should be! But sorry people have such misunderstandings about it.@@RF_HS28280

[@rubytuesday5684]

There is a difference between the old Tamboura and the recent intro of these Tanpurna s. Kamala played a huge Tamboura with RAVI JI BACK IN THE DAY. Now the play the tannpurna s I guess they prefer those.