Raga Jog
Ravi ShankarSympathetic resonance, bends and gradual acceleration reveal the instrument's core language.
SINSTRUMENT · KNOWLEDGE GUIDE
Sitar
Sympathetic strings create a halo of resonance, while bends can travel across several pitches.
- Instrument family
- Strings
- Origin
- Indian subcontinent; modern form emerged around the eighteenth century
- Related genres
- 1
ORIGIN
Where does it come from?
The sitar combines movable frets, melody strings and sympathetic strings; string bends can span several pitches from one fret.
ROLE IN ARRANGEMENT
What does it do in an arrangement?
It develops melody in North Indian classical music and has also shaped cross-cultural experiments.
Meend bendsSympathetic resonanceRapid picking
COMMON USES
Where will you hear it?
Central to Hindustani classical music and also heard in film music, psychedelic rock and cross-cultural projects.
LISTENING EXAMPLES
Recordings and repertoire to recognize
COMMON GENRES
Common in these genres
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