rThis page covers instruments associated with the subcontinent of India, including Pakistan and Bangla Desh.

Sitar

There are many patterns of sitar, and not only the tuning and stringing but even the number of strings varies from player to player.

The tuning is in just intonation. The frets are movable, and tuning involves setting the fret positions as well as the string tensions.

There are from 18 to 23 strings in all, of two types:

• Six or seven playing strings above the frets. These strings can be plucked and fretted. They are further divided into melody strings, the first three playing strings, which are the ones which are in practice played, and drones which are playable but not actually played. Most of the playing takes place on the first string.
• Eleven to sixteen sympathetic strings which lie beneath the frets, and are not plucked or fretted.

The tuning pegs for the playing strings are those on or closest to the head, and are  larger then those for the sympathetic strings.

There is no standard tuning. The tuning depends not only on the type but also on the player and the piece; Student tuning depends upin the teacher, who may give different tunings to different students, tailored to their needs at the time.

Ravi Shankar

Seven playing strings:

• c# ' ' - c# ' - g# - C# - G# - c# - f #

Eleven sympathetic strings:

• c# ' ' - c' ' - a# ' - g# ' - f # ' - f ' - f ' - d# ' - c# ' - c' - c# '

( From:

http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/lgkeys.html

http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/lgsitar.html )