The sitar ( English: / ˈ s ɪ t ɑːr / or / s ɪ ˈ t ɑːr / ; IAST : sitāra ) is a plucked stringed instrument , originating from the Indian subcontinent , used in Hindustani classical music . The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau Khan, an 18th-century figure of the Mughal Empire has been identified by modern scholarship as the inventor of the sitar. According to most historians, he developed the sitar from the setar , an Iranian instrument of Abbasid or Safavid origin.
129-679: Used widely throughout the Indian subcontinent, the sitar became popularly known in the wider world through the works of Ravi Shankar , beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The advent of psychedelic culture during the mid-to-late 1960s set a trend for the use of the sitar in Western popular music , with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as the Beatles , the Rolling Stones , Metallica and many others. The word sitar
258-586: A "masculine" rāga. These are envisioned to parallel the god-goddess themes in Hinduism, and described variously by different medieval Indian music scholars. For example, the Sangita-darpana text of 15th-century Damodara Misra proposes six rāgas with thirty ragini , creating a system of thirty six, a system that became popular in Rajasthan . In the north Himalayan regions such as Himachal Pradesh ,
387-806: A book about her father, Bapi: Love of My Life , in 2002. After George Harrison's death in 2001, Shankar performed at the Concert for George , a celebration of Harrison's music staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2002. In June 2008, Shankar played what was billed as his last European concert, but his 2011 tour included dates in the United Kingdom. On 1 July 2010, at the Southbank Centre 's Royal Festival Hall , London, England, Anoushka Shankar , on sitar, performed with
516-619: A concert recorded and released in 2012 as Tenth Decade in Concert: Ravi Shankar Live in Escondido , Shankar introduced a new percussive sitar technique called Goonga Sitar , whereby the strings are muffled with a cloth. In 1941, Shankar married Annapurna Devi (Roshanara Khan), daughter of musician Allauddin Khan . Their son, Shubhendra "Shubho" Shankar , was born in 1942. He separated from Devi in 1962 and continued
645-571: A concerto with sitar . Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra was performed with André Previn as conductor and Shankar playing the sitar . Shankar performed at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, held at Madison Square Garden in New York. After the musicians had tuned up on stage for over a minute, the crowd of rock-music fans broke into applause, to which the amused Shankar responded, "If you like our tuning so much, I hope you will enjoy
774-406: A different intensity of mood. A rāga has a given set of notes, on a scale, ordered in melodies with musical motifs. A musician playing a rāga , states Bruno Nettl , may traditionally use just these notes but is free to emphasize or improvise certain degrees of the scale. The Indian tradition suggests a certain sequencing of how the musician moves from note to note for each rāga , in order for
903-414: A famous Sufi inventor, poet and pioneer of Khyal , Tarana and Qawwali , during the 13th century. However, the tradition of Amir Khusrow is considered discredited by scholars. Whatever instruments he might have played, no record exists from this period using the name "sitar". An ambiguous statement made in a 19th century work by Captain N. Augustus Willard may have resulted in the incorrect association of
1032-466: A given mode or a given melody; it is mode with added multiple specialities". A rāga is a central concept of Indian music, predominant in its expression, yet the concept has no direct Western translation. According to Walter Kaufmann, though a remarkable and prominent feature of Indian music, a definition of rāga cannot be offered in one or two sentences. rāga is a fusion of technical and ideational ideas found in music, and may be roughly described as
1161-636: A heart attack in Chicago, causing him to miss a portion of the tour. Harrison, Shankar and members of the touring band visited the White House on invitation of John Gardner Ford , son of US president Gerald Ford . Shankar toured and taught for the remainder of the 1970s and the 1980s and released his second concerto, Raga Mala , conducted by Zubin Mehta , in 1981. Shankar was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for his work on
1290-423: A metallic pick or plectrum called a mizraab . The thumb stays anchored on the top of the fretboard just above the main gourd. Generally, only the index and middle fingers are used for fingering although a few players occasionally use the third. A specialized technique called " meend " involves pulling the main melody string down over the bottom portion of the sitar's curved frets, with which the sitarist can achieve
1419-401: A musical entity that includes note intonation, relative duration and order, in a manner similar to how words flexibly form phrases to create an atmosphere of expression. In some cases, certain rules are considered obligatory, in others optional. The rāga allows flexibility, where the artist may rely on simple expression, or may add ornamentations yet express the same essential message but evoke
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#17327875137851548-485: A musical framework within which to improvise. Improvisation by the musician involves creating sequences of notes allowed by the rāga in keeping with rules specific to the rāga . Rāga s range from small rāga s like Bahar and Shahana that are not much more than songs to big rāga s like Malkauns , Darbari and Yaman , which have great scope for improvisation and for which performances can last over an hour. Rāga s may change over time, with an example being Marwa ,
1677-600: A musician to construct a state of experience in the audience. The word appears in the ancient Principal Upanishads of Hinduism , as well as the Bhagavad Gita . For example, verse 3.5 of the Maitri Upanishad and verse 2.2.9 of the Mundaka Upanishad contain the word rāga . The Mundaka Upanishad uses it in its discussion of soul (Atman-Brahman) and matter (Prakriti), with the sense that
1806-513: A natural existence. Artists do not invent them, they only discover them. Music appeals to human beings, according to Hinduism, because they are hidden harmonies of the ultimate creation. Some of its ancient texts such as the Sama Veda (~1000 BCE) are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of Rigveda set to music. The rāgas were envisioned by the Hindus as manifestation of
1935-639: A relationship with dancer Kamala Shastri , a relationship that had begun in the late 1940s. An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979. He separated from Shastri in 1981 and lived with Jones until 1986. He began an affair in 1978 with married tanpura player Sukanya Rajan, whom he had known since 1972, which led to the birth of their daughter Anoushka Shankar in 1981. In 1989, he married Sukanya Rajan at Chilkur Temple in Hyderabad . Shankar's son, Shubhendra, often accompanied him on tours. He could play
2064-471: A second autobiography, Raga Mala , with Harrison as editor. Shankar developed a style distinct from that of his contemporaries and incorporated influences from rhythm practices of Carnatic music . His performances begin with solo alap , jor , and jhala (introduction and performances with pulse and rapid pulse) influenced by the slow and serious dhrupad genre, followed by a section with tabla accompaniment featuring compositions associated with
2193-462: A series of empirical experiments he did with the Veena , then compared what he heard, noting the relationship of fifth intervals as a function of intentionally induced change to the instrument's tuning. Bharata states that certain combinations of notes are pleasant, and certain others are not so. His methods of experimenting with the instrument triggered further work by ancient Indian scholars, leading to
2322-452: A seven- semitone range of microtonal 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 into a technique that imitated the melisma of the vocal style, a technique known as gayaki ang . Sometimes, sitar could played with a bow . Its sound is similar to sarangi , but raspier Adept players bring in charisma through
2451-553: A sitar on " Paint It Black ", while another English guitarist, Dave Mason , played it on Traffic 's 1967 hits " Paper Sun " and " Hole in My Shoe ". 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 in July 1967, he said: "Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of
2580-410: 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 ) and the piece that is meant to be played. 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
2709-465: Is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode . Rāga is central to classical Indian music. Each rāga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, from the perspective of the Indian tradition, the resulting music has the ability to "colour the mind" as it engages the emotions of the audience. Each rāga provides the musician with
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#17327875137852838-408: Is a more structured team performance, typically with a call and response musical structure, similar to an intimate conversation. It includes two or more musical instruments, and incorporates various rāgas such as those associated with Hindu gods Shiva ( Bhairav ) or Krishna ( Hindola ). The early 13th century Sanskrit text Sangitaratnakara , by Sarngadeva patronized by King Sighana of
2967-436: Is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship. Notable gharana include: Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar ( Bengali pronunciation: [ˈrobi ˈʃɔŋkor] ; 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
3096-838: Is also very close to it, states Emmie te Nijenhuis, with the difference that each sruti computes to 54.5 cents, while the Greek enharmonic quarter-tone system computes to 55 cents. The text discusses gramas ( scales ) and murchanas ( modes ), mentioning three scales of seven modes (21 total), some Greek modes are also like them . However, the Gandhara-grama is just mentioned in Natyashastra , while its discussion largely focuses on two scales, fourteen modes and eight four tanas ( notes ). The text also discusses which scales are best for different forms of performance arts. These musical elements are organized into scales ( mela ), and
3225-473: Is best in spring, Pancama in summer, Sadjagrama and Takka during the monsoons, Bhinnasadja is best in early winter, and Kaisika in late winter. In the 13th century, Sarngadeva went further and associated rāga with rhythms of each day and night. He associated pure and simple rāgas to early morning, mixed and more complex rāgas to late morning, skillful rāgas to noon, love-themed and passionate rāgas to evening, and universal rāgas to night. In
3354-571: Is conceptually similar to the 12th century Guidonian hand in European music. The study that mathematically arranges rhythms and modes ( rāga ) has been called prastāra (matrix).( Khan 1996 , p. 89, Quote: "… the Sanskrit word prastāra , … means mathematical arrangement of rhythms and modes. In the Indian system of music there are about the 500 modes and 300 different rhythms which are used in everyday music. The modes are called Ragas.") In
3483-455: Is considered a manifestation of Kama (god of love), typically through Krishna . Hindola is also linked to the festival of dola , which is more commonly known as "spring festival of colors" or Holi . This idea of aesthetic symbolism has also been expressed in Hindu temple reliefs and carvings, as well as painting collections such as the ragamala . In ancient and medieval Indian literature,
3612-504: Is derived from the Persian word sehtar , meaning ' three-stringed ' . According to Curt Sachs , Persians chose to name their lutes around the word tar , meaning string, combined with a word for the number of strings. Du + tar is the 2-stringed dutār , se + tar is the 3-stringed setār, čartar (4 strings), pančtār (5 strings). It was theorized that the sitar was invented, or rather developed by Amir Khusrow ( c. 1253–1325),
3741-406: Is in the absolute dark. According to Allyn Miner, the evidence for this hypothesis is too weak for any conclusion and these hypotheses represent a prominent yet obsolete late 19th-century idea: that many of India’s modern cultural innovations are actually products of pre-Muslim Sanskritic traditions. According to Alastair Dick, the "modern view that ... invading Muslims simply changed into Persian
3870-421: Is intimately related to tala or guidance about "division of time", with each unit called a matra (beat, and duration between beats). A rāga is not a tune, because the same rāga can yield an infinite number of tunes. A rāga is not a scale, because many rāgas can be based on the same scale. A rāga , according to Bruno Nettl and other music scholars, is a concept similar to a mode, something between
3999-402: Is no evidence for the existence of long-necked lutes in the Indian subcontinent prior to the era of Muslim expansion into the region. A sitar can have 18, 19, 20, or 21 strings; 6 or 7 of these run over curved, raised frets and are played strings; the remainder are sympathetic strings ( tarb , also known as taarif or tarafdaar ), running underneath the frets and resonating in sympathy with
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4128-498: Is no longer in use today because the 'related' rāgas had very little or no similarity and the rāga-rāginī classification did not agree with various other schemes. The North Indian rāga system is also called Hindustani , while the South Indian system is commonly referred to as Carnatic . The North Indian system suggests a particular time of a day or a season, in the belief that the human state of psyche and mind are affected by
4257-430: Is now common as well. 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 " Vilayat Khan " style). The instrumental style sitar is most often made of seasoned toon wood , but sometimes made of Teak . It is often fitted with a second resonator, a small tumba (pumpkin or pumpkin-like wood replica) on
4386-834: Is recognizably the same. Some rāgas are common to both systems but have different names, such as malkos of Hindustani system is recognizably the same as hindolam of Carnatic system. However, some rāgas are named the same in the two systems, but they are different, such as todi . Recently, a 32 thaat system was presented in a book Nai Vaigyanik Paddhati to correct the classification of ragas in North Indian style. Rāgas that have four svaras are called surtara (सुरतर) (tetra tonic) rāgas; those with five svaras are called audava (औडव) (pentatonic) rāgas; those with six are called shaadava (षाडव) (hex-tonic); and those with seven are called sampurna (संपूर्ण, Sanskrit for 'complete') (heptatonic). The number of svaras may differ in
4515-529: Is that of Lord Hanuman , the monkey god. The city is also where one of the miracles that have happened in my life took place: I met Ma Anandamayi, a great spiritual soul. Seeing the beauty of her face and mind, I became her ardent devotee. Sitting at home now in Encinitas, in Southern California, at the age of 88, surrounded by the beautiful greens, multi-colored flowers, blue sky, clean air, and
4644-422: Is too simplistic. According to them, a rāga of the ancient Indian tradition can be compared to the concept of non-constructible set in language for human communication, in a manner described by Frederik Kortlandt and George van Driem ; audiences familiar with raga recognize and evaluate performances of them intuitively. The attempt to appreciate, understand and explain rāga among European scholars started in
4773-654: The Dattilam section of Brihaddeshi has survived into the modern times, but the details of ancient music scholars mentioned in the extant text suggest a more established tradition by the time this text was composed. The same essential idea and prototypical framework is found in ancient Hindu texts, such as the Naradiyasiksa and the classic Sanskrit work Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni , whose chronology has been estimated to sometime between 500 BCE and 500 CE, probably between 200 BCE and 200 CE. Bharata describes
4902-528: The Panchatantra . Indian classical music has ancient roots, and developed for both spiritual ( moksha ) and entertainment ( kama ) purposes. Rāga , along with performance arts such as dance and music, has been historically integral to Hinduism, with some Hindus believing that music is itself a spiritual pursuit and a means to moksha (liberation). Rāgas , in the Hindu tradition, are believed to have
5031-519: The 2013 Grammy Awards for separate albums. Shankar was a Hindu , and a devotee of the Hindu god Hanuman . He was also an "ardent devotee" of the Bengali Hindu saint, Sri Anandamayi Ma . Shankar used to visit Anandamayi Ma frequently and performed for her on various occasions. Shankar wrote of his hometown, Benares (Varanasi), and his initial encounter with "Ma": Varanasi is the eternal abode of Lord Shiva , and one of my favorite temples
5160-572: The Academy Award for Best Original Score for scoring the blockbuster Gandhi (1982). In 1956, Shankar began to tour Europe and the Americas playing Indian classical music and increased its popularity there in the 1960s through teaching, performance, and his association with violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Beatles guitarist George Harrison . His influence on Harrison helped popularize the use of Indian instruments in Western pop music in
5289-607: The Beatles . In 1967, Shankar performed a well-received set at the Monterey Pop Festival . While complimentary of the talents of several of the rock artists at the festival, he said he was "horrified" to see Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar on stage: "That was too much for me. In our culture, we have such respect for musical instruments, they are like part of God." Shankar's live album from Monterey peaked at number 43 on Billboard ' s pop LPs chart in
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5418-678: The Indian People's Theatre Association , for whom he composed music for ballets in 1945 and 1946, Dharti Ke Lal , 1946. Shankar recomposed the music for the popular song " Sare Jahan Se Achcha " at the age of 25. He began to record music for HMV India and worked as a music director for All India Radio (AIR), New Delhi, from February 1949 until January 1956. Shankar founded the Indian National Orchestra at AIR and composed for it; in his compositions he combined Western and classical Indian instrumentation. Beginning in
5547-528: The Kinnara School of Music in Mumbai in 1962. Shankar befriended Richard Bock , founder of World Pacific Records , on his first American tour and recorded most of his albums in the 1950s and 1960s for Bock's label. The Byrds recorded at the same studio and heard Shankar's music, which led them to incorporate some of its elements in theirs, introducing the genre to their friend George Harrison of
5676-584: The London Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by David Murphy, which was billed the first Symphony by Ravi Shankar. The Beatles ' guitarist George Harrison , who was first introduced to Shankar's music by the American singers Roger McGuinn and David Crosby , themselves big fans of Shankar, became influenced by Shankar's music. Harrison went on to help popularize Shankar and the use of Indian instruments in pop music throughout
5805-626: The Sanskrit spelling of the family name and removed its last part. Shyam was married to Hemangini Devi who hailed from a small village named Nasrathpur in Mardah block of Ghazipur district , near Benares and her father was a prosperous landlord. Shyam later worked as a lawyer in London , England, and there he married a second time while Devi raised Shankar in Benares and did not meet his son until he
5934-670: The South Indian Carnatic music in his performances, and recorded his first LP album Three Ragas in London, released in 1956. In 1958, Shankar participated in the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the United Nations and UNESCO music festival in Paris. From 1961, he toured Europe, the United States, and Australia, and became the first Indian to compose music for non-Indian films. Shankar founded
6063-609: The Soviet Union in 1954 and Menuhin invited Shankar in 1955 to perform in New York City for a demonstration of Indian classical music, sponsored by the Ford Foundation . Shankar heard about the positive response Khan received and resigned from AIR in 1956 to tour the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. He played for smaller audiences and educated them about Indian music, incorporating ragas from
6192-951: The Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California . On 9 December 2012, Shankar was admitted to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla , San Diego, California after complaining of breathing difficulties. He died on 11 December 2012 at around 16:30 PST after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery. The Swara Samrat festival , organized on 5–6 January 2013 and dedicated to Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan , included performances by such musicians as Shivkumar Sharma , Birju Maharaj , Hariprasad Chaurasia , Zakir Hussain , and Girija Devi . Raga A raga ( IAST : rāga , IPA: [ɾäːɡɐ] ; also raaga or ragam or raag ; lit. ' colouring ' or ' tingeing ' or ' dyeing ' )
6321-497: The Vox Wah wah pedal , which touted the effect's ability to make an electric guitar sound like a sitar. Donovan's personnel on his 1966 album Sunshine Superman included Shawn Phillips on sitar. Phillips also played sitar on one song on Donovan's next album Mellow Yellow , produced in 1967. Starting in the late 1970s, Pakistan International Airlines in-flight music featured the sitar to evoke feelings of nostalgia for
6450-484: The Woodstock Festival in August 1969, and found he disliked the venue. In the late 1960s, Shankar distanced himself from the hippie movement and drug culture. He explained during an interview: It makes me feel rather hurt when I see the association of drugs with our music. The music to us is religion. The quickest way to reach godliness is through music. I don't like the association of one bad thing with
6579-577: The Yoga Sutras II.7, rāga is defined as the desire for pleasure based on remembering past experiences of pleasure. Memory triggers the wish to repeat those experiences, leading to attachment. Ego is seen as the root of this attachment, and memory is necessary for attachment to form. Even when not consciously remembered, past impressions can unconsciously draw the mind toward objects of pleasure. According to Cris Forster, mathematical studies on systematizing and analyzing South Indian rāga began in
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#17327875137856708-564: The raga rock trend. As the sitar and Indian music grew in popularity, groups such as the Rolling Stones , the Animals and the Byrds began using it in some of their songs. The influence even extended to blues musicians such as Michael Bloomfield , who created a raga-influenced improvisation number, "East-West" (Bloomfield scholars have cited its working title as "The Raga" when Bloomfield and his collaborator Nick Gravenites began to develop
6837-501: The rāga are described as manifestation and symbolism for gods and goddesses. Music is discussed as equivalent to the ritual yajna sacrifice, with pentatonic and hexatonic notes such as "ni-dha-pa-ma-ga-ri" as Agnistoma , "ri-ni-dha-pa-ma-ga as Asvamedha , and so on. In the Middle Ages, music scholars of India began associating each rāga with seasons. The 11th century Nanyadeva, for example, recommends that Hindola rāga
6966-507: The sitar and surbahar , but elected not to pursue a solo career. Shubhendra died of pneumonia in 1992. Ananda Shankar , the experimental fusion musician, is his nephew. His daughter Norah Jones became a successful musician in the 2000s, winning eight Grammy Awards in 2003 and overall nine Grammy Awards as of 2024. His daughter Anoushka Shankar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 2003. Anoushka and her father were both nominated for Best World Music Album at
7095-536: The vadi than to other notes. The samvadi is consonant with the vadi (always from the anga that does not contain the vadi) and is the second most prominent svara in the raga. The Sanskrit word rāga (Sanskrit: राग ) has Indian roots, as *reg- which connotes "to dye". Cognates are found in Greek , Persian , Khwarezmian and other languages, such as "raxt", "rang", "rakt" and others. The words "red" and "rado" are also related. According to Monier Monier-Williams ,
7224-470: The 16th century. Computational studies of rāgas is an active area of musicology. Although notes are an important part of rāga practice, they alone do not make the rāga. A rāga is more than a scale, and many rāgas share the same scale. The underlying scale may have four , five , six or seven tones , called svaras . The svara concept is found in the ancient Natya Shastra in Chapter 28. It calls
7353-600: The 1960s. Olivia Harrison explains: When George heard Indian music, that really was the trigger, it was like a bell that went off in his head. It not only awakened a desire to hear more music, but also to understand what was going on in Indian philosophy. It was a unique diversion. Harrison became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) ". In 1968, he went to India to take lessons from Shankar, some of which were captured on film. This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and popularised
7482-728: The 1982 movie Gandhi . He performed in Moscow in 1988, with 140 musicians, including the Russian Folk Ensemble and members of the Moscow Philharmonic, along with his own group of Indian musicians. He served as a member of the Rajya Sabha , the upper chamber of the Parliament of India, from 12 May 1986 to 11 May 1992, after being nominated by Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi . Shankar composed
7611-485: The Beatles ' songs " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) ", " Love You To " and " Within You Without You ", 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 in 1966. That same year, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones used
7740-495: The Beatles, became my disciple ... It is now the 'in' thing." Led Zeppelin 's Jimmy Page talked about his love of Indian music , saying: "I went to India after I came back from a tour with the Yardbirds 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 's guitar part on
7869-516: The Buddhist monkhood. Among these is the precept recommending "abstain from dancing, singing, music and worldly spectacles". Buddhism does not forbid music or dance to a Buddhist layperson, but its emphasis has been on chants, not on musical rāga . A rāga is sometimes explained as a melodic rule set that a musician works with, but according to Dorottya Fabian and others, this is now generally accepted among music scholars to be an explanation that
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#17327875137857998-465: The Doors ' 1967 track " The End " was heavily influenced by Indian ragas and features melodic and rhythmic qualities that suggest a sitar or veena . Many pop performances actually involve the electric sitar , which is a solid-body, guitar-like instrument and quite different from the traditional acoustic Indian instrument. The Kinks ' 1965 single " See My Friends " featured a "low-tuned drone guitar" that
8127-566: The Islamic rule period of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in and after the 15th century, the mystical Islamic tradition of Sufism developed devotional songs and music called qawwali . It incorporated elements of rāga and tāla . The Buddha discouraged music aimed at entertainment to monks for higher spiritual attainment, but encouraged chanting of sacred hymns. The various canonical Tripitaka texts of Buddhism, for example, state Dasha-shila or ten precepts for those following
8256-1536: The Janaka rāgas using a combination of the swarams (usually a subset of swarams) from the parent rāga. Some janya rāgas are Abheri , Abhogi , Bhairavi , Hindolam , Mohanam and Kambhoji . In this 21st century few composers have discovered new ragas . Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna who has created raga in three notes Ragas such as Mahathi, Lavangi, Sidhdhi, Sumukham that he created have only four notes, A list of Janaka Ragas would include Kanakangi , Ratnangi , Ganamurthi, Vanaspathi , Manavathi , Thanarupi, Senavathi, Hanumatodi , Dhenuka , Natakapriya , Kokilapriya , Rupavati , Gayakapriya , Vakulabharanam , Mayamalavagowla , Chakravakam , Suryakantam , Hatakambari , Jhankaradhvani , Natabhairavi , Keeravani , Kharaharapriya , Gourimanohari , Varunapriya , Mararanjani , Charukesi , Sarasangi , Harikambhoji , Sankarabharanam , Naganandini , Yagapriya , Ragavardhini , Gangeyabhushani , Vagadheeswari , Shulini , Chalanata , Salagam , Jalarnavam , Jhalavarali , Navaneetam , Pavani . Classical music has been transmitted through music schools or through Guru –Shishya parampara (teacher–student tradition) through an oral tradition and practice. Some are known as gharana (houses), and their performances are staged through sabhas (music organizations). Each gharana has freely improvised over time, and differences in
8385-456: The Mughal court, named Khusrau Khan originated the sitar from the small persian three-stringed setar . In the late Mughal Empire, 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 on the neck. Masid Khan added two more strings to the sitar. The modern seven string sitar
8514-567: The Pacific Ocean, I often reminisce about all the wonderful places I have seen in the world. I cherish the memories of Paris, New York, and a few other places. But Varanasi seems to be etched in my heart! Shankar was a vegetarian. He wore a large diamond ring that he said was manifested by Sathya Sai Baba . He lived with Sukanya in Encinitas, California . Shankar performed his final concert with daughter Anoushka on 4 November 2012 at
8643-487: The Rotterdam Conservatory of Music defined rāga as a "tonal framework for composition and improvisation." Nazir Jairazbhoy , chairman of UCLA 's department of ethnomusicology , characterized rāgas as separated by scale, line of ascent and descent, transilience , emphasized notes and register, and intonation and ornaments . Rāginī ( Devanagari : रागिनी) is a term for the "feminine" counterpart of
8772-404: The South Indian system of rāga works with 72 scales, as first discussed by Caturdandi prakashika . They are divided into two groups, purvanga and uttaranga , depending on the nature of the lower tetrachord. The anga itself has six cycles ( cakra ), where the purvanga or lower tetrachord is anchored, while there are six permutations of uttaranga suggested to the artist. After this system
8901-646: The US, which remains the highest placing he achieved on that chart. Shankar won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance for West Meets East , a collaboration with Yehudi Menuhin. He opened a Western branch of the Kinnara School of Music in Los Angeles, in May 1967, and published an autobiography, My Music, My Life , in 1968. In 1968, he composed the score for the film Charly . He performed at
9030-641: The Yadava dynasty in the North-Central Deccan region (today a part of Maharashtra ), mentions and discusses 253 rāgas . This is one of the most complete historic treatises on the structure, technique and reasoning behind rāgas that has survived. The tradition of incorporating rāga into spiritual music is also found in Jainism , and in Sikhism , an Indian religion founded by Guru Nanak in
9159-536: The Year for The Concert for Bangladesh in 1973 . Shankar was born on 7 April 1920 in Benares (now Varanasi), then the capital of the eponymous princely state , in a Bengali Hindu family, as the youngest of seven brothers. His father, Shyam Shankar Chowdhury , was a Middle Temple barrister and scholar who originally from Jessore district, East Bengal (now Bangladesh ). A respected statesman, lawyer and politician, he served for several years as dewan (Prime Minister) of Jhalawar , Rajasthan , and used
9288-403: The age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance, and play various Indian instruments. Uday's dance group travelled Europe and the United States in the early to mid-1930s and Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, cinema and became acquainted with Western customs. Shankar heard Allauddin Khan – the lead musician at
9417-554: The ancient texts of Hinduism, the term for the technical mode part of rāga was jati . Later, jati evolved to mean quantitative class of scales, while rāga evolved to become a more sophisticated concept that included the experience of the audience. A figurative sense of the word as 'passion, love, desire, delight' is also found in the Mahabharata . The specialized sense of 'loveliness, beauty', especially of voice or song, emerges in classical Sanskrit , used by Kalidasa and in
9546-466: The arrival of Islam. Proponents of this hypothesis claim that Indian temple sculptures from the 9th and 10th centuries feature sitar-like instruments. However, according to author Samidha Vedabala, a researcher and professor of music at Sikkim University, none of the instruments depicted in these sculptures precisely resemble the sitar, and neither the word "sitar" nor any local equivalent appears in any texts referring to these instruments. So its authenticity
9675-469: The ascending and descending like rāga Bhimpalasi which has five notes in the ascending and seven notes in descending or Khamaj with six notes in the ascending and seven in the descending. Rāgas differ in their ascending or descending movements. Those that do not follow the strict ascending or descending order of svaras are called vakra (वक्र) ('crooked') rāgas. In Carnatic music , the principal rāgas are called Melakarthas , which literally means "lord of
9804-639: The concept of rāga is shared by both. Rāga is also found in Sikh traditions such as in Guru Granth Sahib , the primary scripture of Sikhism . Similarly, it is a part of the qawwali tradition in Sufi Islamic communities of South Asia . Some popular Indian film songs and ghazals use rāgas in their composition. Every raga has a svara (a note or named pitch) called shadja , or adhara sadja, whose pitch may be chosen arbitrarily by
9933-635: The court of the princely state of Maihar – play at a music conference in December 1934 in Calcutta , and Uday persuaded the Maharaja of Maihar H.H. Maharaja Brijnath singh Judev in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe. Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and come to Maihar. Shankar's parents had died by
10062-532: The creation of overtones and giving the sound its distinctive tone. The maintenance of this specific tone by shaping the bridge is called jawari . Many musicians rely on instrument makers to adjust this. Materials used in construction include teak wood or tun wood ( Cedrela toona ), which is a variation of mahogany, for the neck and faceplate ( tabli ), and calabash gourds for the resonating chambers. The instrument's bridges are made of deer horn, ebony, or very occasionally from camel bone. Synthetic material
10191-462: The dance drama Ghanashyam in 1989. His liberal views on musical co-operation led him to contemporary composer Philip Glass , with whom he released an album, Passages , in 1990, in a project initiated by Peter Baumann of the band Tangerine Dream . Because of the positive response to Shankar's 1996 career compilation In Celebration , Shankar wrote a second autobiography, Raga Mala . He performed between 25 and 40 concerts every year during
10320-462: The dance group of his brother Uday Shankar . At age 18, he gave up dancing to pursue a career in music, studying the sitar for seven years under court musician Allauddin Khan . After finishing his studies in 1944, Shankar worked as a composer, creating the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray , and was music director of All India Radio , New Delhi, from 1949 to 1956. He was nominated for
10449-437: The development of successive permutations, as well as theories of musical note inter-relationships, interlocking scales and how this makes the listener feel. Bharata discusses Bhairava , Kaushika , Hindola , Dipaka , SrI-rāga , and Megha . Bharata states that these can to trigger a certain affection and the ability to "color the emotional state" in the audience. His encyclopedic Natya Shastra links his studies on music to
10578-465: The divine, a musical note treated as god or goddess with complex personality. During the Bhakti movement of Hinduism, dated to about the middle of 1st millennium CE, rāga became an integral part of a musical pursuit of spirituality. Bhajan and kirtan were composed and performed by the early South India pioneers. A bhajan has a free form devotional composition based on melodic rāgas . A Kirtan
10707-439: The domains of tune and scale, and it is best conceptualized as a "unique array of melodic features, mapped to and organized for a unique aesthetic sentiment in the listener". The goal of a rāga and its artist is to create rasa (essence, feeling, atmosphere) with music, as classical Indian dance does with performance arts. In the Indian tradition, classical dances are performed with music set to various rāgas . Joep Bor of
10836-432: The drones strings are tuned is referred to as pañcam , not samvād . The player should re-tune for each raga . Strings are tuned by tuning pegs , 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: There
10965-404: The early colonial period. In 1784, Jones translated it as "mode" of European music tradition, but Willard corrected him in 1834 with the statement that a rāga is both modet and tune. In 1933, states José Luiz Martinez – a professor of music, Stern refined this explanation to "the rāga is more fixed than mode, less fixed than the melody, beyond the mode and short of melody, and richer both than
11094-452: The first that is "sa" , and the fifth that is "pa" , are considered anchors that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavors that differs between the two major systems. The music theory in the Natyashastra , states Maurice Winternitz, centers around three themes – sound, rhythm and prosody applied to musical texts. The text asserts that the octave has 22 srutis or micro-intervals of musical tones or 1200 cents. Ancient Greek system
11223-664: The homeland among the Pakistani diaspora . Steve Howe of the British progressive rock band Yes played a Danelectro sitar guitar on their album Close to the Edge as well as the song "To Be Over" from their 1974 album " Relayer ". Deepak Khazanchi played sitar and tanpura on the song " It Can Happen ", from Yes' 1983 album 90125 . Paul Young ’s 1985 #1 Hit cover of Hall & Oates ’s song Everytime You Go Away included an electric sitar played by John Turnbull . A gharana
11352-489: The idea) for the Butterfield Blues Band in 1966. I think Ravi was rather taken aback, because he was a classical musician, and rock and roll was really out of his sphere. He thought it rather amusing that George took to him so much, but he and George really bonded. Ravi realised that it wasn't just a fashion for George, that he had dedication. Ravi had such integrity, and was someone to be respected, and at
11481-575: The late 1990s. Shankar taught his daughter Anoushka Shankar to play sitar and in 1997 became a Regents' Professor at University of California, San Diego . He performed with Anoushka for the BBC in 1997 at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham , England. In the 2000s, he won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Full Circle: Carnegie Hall 2000 and toured with Anoushka, who released
11610-518: The latter half of the 1960s. Shankar engaged Western music by writing compositions for sitar and orchestra and toured the world in the 1970s and 1980s. From 1986 to 1992, he served as a nominated member of Rajya Sabha , the upper chamber of the Parliament of India . He continued to perform until the end of his life. He was a recipient of numerous prestigious musical accolades, including a Polar Music Prize and four Grammy Awards , including Album of
11739-453: 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 (Delhi) and older Hiren Roy (Kolkata) sitars, depending upon which master built the instrument. Nikhil Banerjee had a small extra bridge fixed at the top of the Sitar fingerboard for sustenance of sound. Tuning depends on
11868-421: The mid-1950s he composed the music for the Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray , which became internationally acclaimed. He was music director for several Hindi movies including Godaan and Anuradha . V. K. Narayana Menon , director of AIR Delhi, introduced the Western violinist Yehudi Menuhin to Shankar during Menuhin's first visit to India in 1952. Shankar had performed as part of a cultural delegation in
11997-652: The music scholars such as 16th century Mesakarna expanded this system to include eight descendants to each rāga , thereby creating a system of eighty four. After the 16th-century, the system expanded still further. In Sangita-darpana , the Bhairava rāga is associated with the following raginis: Bhairavi, Punyaki, Bilawali, Aslekhi, Bangali. In the Meskarna system, the masculine and feminine musical notes are combined to produce putra rāgas called Harakh, Pancham, Disakh, Bangal, Madhu, Madhava, Lalit, Bilawal. This system
12126-857: The music. In October 1970, Shankar became chair of the Department of Indian Music of the California Institute of the Arts after previously teaching at the City College of New York , the University of California, Los Angeles , and being guest lecturer at other colleges and universities, including the Ali Akbar College of Music . In late 1970, the London Symphony Orchestra invited Shankar to compose
12255-491: The musical styles dhrupad , dhamar , and khyal , and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena , rubab , and sursingar . He often studied with Khan's children Ali Akbar Khan and Annapurna Devi . Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi (duet) with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod . Shankar completed his training in 1944. He moved to Mumbai and joined
12384-441: The name of an existing Hindu instrument ... has no historical or musical foundation". Other scholars have contested the veena origin hypotheses of the sitar by pointing out that proponents of these hypotheses select the number of strings as the primary criterion in coming to their conclusions. Additionally, they attempt to trace the sitar back to a known Indian musical instrument with a Sanskrit name, while acknowledging that there
12513-438: The neck. This style is usually fully decorated, with floral or grape carvings and celluloid 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 Teak sitars are made from teak that has been seasoned for generations. The sources of very old seasoned wood are guarded trade secrets. Therefore, instrument builders look for old T eak that
12642-644: The northwest of the Indian subcontinent. In the Sikh scripture, the texts are attached to a rāga and are sung according to the rules of that rāga . According to Pashaura Singh – a professor of Sikh and Punjabi studies, the rāga and tala of ancient Indian traditions were carefully selected and integrated by the Sikh Gurus into their hymns. They also picked from the "standard instruments used in Hindu musical traditions" for singing kirtans in Sikhism. During
12771-417: The other's soul in one of the world's supreme musical arts. It is a thing inimitable, beyond words and forever new. For, as Shankar explained, 90 percent of all the music played was improvised. – Paul Hume , music editor for Washington Post In November and December 1974, Shankar co-headlined a North American tour with George Harrison . The demanding schedule weakened his health, and he suffered
12900-438: The performance arts, and it has been influential in Indian performance arts tradition. The other ancient text, Naradiyasiksa dated to be from the 1st century BCE, discusses secular and religious music, compares the respective musical notes. This is earliest known text that reverentially names each musical note to be a deity, describing it in terms of varna (colours) and other motifs such as parts of fingers, an approach that
13029-846: The performance of melodic passages. Shankar's interplay with Alla Rakha improved appreciation for tabla playing in Hindustani classical music . Shankar promoted the jugalbandi duet concert style. Shankar introduced at least 31 new ragas, including Nat Bhairav , Ahir Lalit , Rasiya , Yaman Manjh , Gunji Kanhara , Janasanmodini , Tilak Shyam , Bairagi , Mohan Kauns , Manamanjari , Mishra Gara , Pancham Se Gara , Purvi Kalyan , Kameshwari , Gangeshwari , Rangeshwari , Parameshwari , Palas Kafi , Jogeshwari , Charu Kauns , Kaushik Todi , Bairagi Todi , Bhawani Bhairav , Sanjh Kalyan , Shailangi , Suranjani , Rajya Kalyan , Banjara , Piloo Banjara , Suvarna , Doga Kalyan , Nanda Dhwani , and Natacharuka (for Anoushka) . In 2011, at
13158-433: The performance to create a rasa (mood, atmosphere, essence, inner feeling) that is unique to each rāga . A rāga can be written on a scale. Theoretically, thousands of rāga are possible given 5 or more notes, but in practical use, the classical tradition has refined and typically relies on several hundred. For most artists, their basic perfected repertoire has some forty to fifty rāgas . Rāga in Indian classical music
13287-495: The performer. This is taken to mark the beginning and end of the saptak (loosely, octave). The raga also contains an adhista, which is either the svara Ma or the svara Pa . The adhista divides the octave into two parts or anga – the purvanga , which contains lower notes, and the uttaranga , which contains higher notes. Every raga has a vadi and a samvadi . The vadi is the most prominent svara, which means that an improvising musician emphasizes or pays more attention to
13416-507: The planet" by 1966. George Harrison organized the charity Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971, in which Shankar participated. During the 1970s, Shankar and Harrison worked together again, recording Shankar Family & Friends in 1973 and touring North America the following year to a mixed response after Shankar had toured Europe with the Harrison-sponsored Music Festival from India . Shankar wrote
13545-417: The played strings. These strings are generally used to set the mood of a raga at the very beginning of a presentation. The frets, which are known as pardā or thaat , 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
13674-413: The playing more." which confused the audience. Still, the audience well received the subsequent performance. Although interest in Indian music had decreased in the early 1970s, the live album from the concert became one of the best-selling recordings to feature the genre and won Shankar a second Grammy Award. As for Shankar and the sitar, they are extensions one of the other, each seeming to enter into
13803-478: The playing string and his sound creation through stops and strikes on the main playing string. Narayana Menon of The New Grove Dictionary noted Shankar's fondness for rhythmic novelties, among them the use of unconventional rhythmic cycles. Hans Neuhoff of Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart has argued that Shankar's playing style was not widely adopted and that he was surpassed by other sitar players in
13932-440: The prevalent khyal style. Shankar often closed his performances with a piece inspired by the light-classical thumri genre. Shankar has been considered one of the top sitar players of the second half of the 20th century. He popularised performing on the bass octave of the sitar for the alap section and became known for a distinctive playing style in the middle and high registers that used quick and short deviations of
14061-624: The primary development of which has been going down into the lower octave, in contrast with the traditional middle octave. Each rāga traditionally has an emotional significance and symbolic associations such as with season, time and mood. Rāgas are considered a means in the Indian musical tradition for evoking specific feelings in listeners. Hundreds of rāgas are recognized in the classical tradition, of which about 30 are common, and each rāga has its "own unique melodic personality". There are two main classical music traditions, Hindustani ( North Indian ) and Carnatic ( South Indian ), and
14190-543: The rendering of each rāga is discernible. In the Indian musical schooling tradition, the small group of students lived near or with the teacher, the teacher treated them as family members providing food and boarding, and a student learnt various aspects of music thereby continuing the musical knowledge of their guru . The tradition survives in parts of India, and many musicians can trace their guru lineage. The music concept of rāk or rang (meaning “colour”) in Persian
14319-413: The renowned poet Amir Khusrau with a later individual, potentially named Khusrau Khan, who lived during the 18th century. The earliest mention of Sitar dates back to 1739 AD. The " Muraqqa-i-Dehli ", written by Dargah Quli Khan during the reign of Muhammad Shah Rangila , gives the earliest reference to the sitar. Oral and textual evidence analysed by historians indicate that an eighteenth-century figure of
14448-677: The same time huge fun. George hadn't really met anyone like that, and he really encouraged his interest. – Patti Boyd Harrison met Shankar in London in June 1966 and visited India later that year for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar in Srinagar . During the visit, a documentary film about Shankar named Raga was shot by Howard Worth and released in 1971. Shankar's association with Harrison greatly increased Shankar's popularity, and decades later Ken Hunt of AllMusic wrote that Shankar had become "the most famous Indian musician on
14577-401: The scale". It is also called Asraya rāga meaning "shelter giving rāga", or Janaka rāga meaning "father rāga". A Thaata in the South Indian tradition are groups of derivative rāgas , which are called Janya rāgas meaning "begotten rāgas" or Asrita rāgas meaning "sheltered rāgas". However, these terms are approximate and interim phrases during learning, as the relationships between
14706-617: The seasons and by daily biological cycles and nature's rhythms. The South Indian system is closer to the text, and places less emphasis on time or season. The symbolic role of classical music through rāga has been both aesthetic indulgence and the spiritual purifying of one's mind (yoga). The former is encouraged in Kama literature (such as Kamasutra ), while the latter appears in Yoga literature with concepts such as "Nada-Brahman" (metaphysical Brahman of sound). Hindola rāga , for example,
14835-474: The sense of "color, dye, hue". The term rāga in the modern connotation of a melodic format occurs in the Brihaddeshi by Mataṅga Muni dated c. 8th century , or possibly 9th century. The Brihaddeshi describes rāga as "a combination of tones which, with beautiful illuminating graces, pleases the people in general". According to Emmie te Nijenhuis , a professor in Indian musicology,
14964-419: 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
15093-417: The smaller tuning pegs that run down the instrument's neck. The instrument has two bridges : 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
15222-400: The soul does not "colour, dye, stain, tint" the matter. The Maitri Upanishad uses the term in the sense of "passion, inner quality, psychological state". The term rāga is also found in ancient texts of Buddhism where it connotes "passion, sensuality, lust, desire" for pleasurable experiences as one of three impurities of a character. Alternatively, rāga is used in Buddhist texts in
15351-437: The term comes from a Sanskrit word for "the act of colouring or dyeing", or simply a "colour, hue, tint, dye". The term also connotes an emotional state referring to a "feeling, affection, desire, interest, joy or delight", particularly related to passion, love, or sympathy for a subject or something. In the context of ancient Indian music, the term refers to a harmonious note, melody, formula, building block of music available to
15480-535: The time he returned from the Europe tour, and touring the West had become difficult because of political conflicts that would lead to World War II . Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system. Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar , learned ragas and
15609-492: The two layers are neither fixed nor has unique parent–child relationship. Janaka rāgas are grouped together using a scheme called Katapayadi sutra and are organised as Melakarta rāgas. A Melakarta rāga is one which has all seven notes in both the ārōhanam (ascending scale) and avarōhanam (descending scale). Some Melakarta rāgas are Harikambhoji , Kalyani , Kharaharapriya , Mayamalavagowla , Sankarabharanam and Hanumatodi . Janya rāgas are derived from
15738-485: The unit of tonal measurement or audible unit as Śruti , with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows, तत्र स्वराः – षड्जश्च ऋषभश्चैव गान्धारो मध्यमस्तथा । पञ्चमो धैवतश्चैव सप्तमोऽथ निषादवान् ॥ २१॥ These seven degrees are shared by both major rāga system, that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic). The solfege ( sargam ) is learnt in abbreviated form: sa, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa . Of these,
15867-484: The use of special techniques like Kan, Krintan, Murki , Zamzama, etc. They also use special Mizrab Bol-s, as in Misrabani. In the late 1950s and early 1960s Ravi Shankar , along with his tabla player, Alla Rakha , began a further introduction of Indian classical music to Western culture. The sitar saw use in Western popular music when, guided by David Crosby 's championing of Shankar, George Harrison played it on
15996-545: The world's best-known expert of North Indian classical music in the second half of the 20th century, and influenced many musicians in India and throughout the world. Shankar was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna , in 1999. He is also the father of American singer Norah Jones . Shankar was born to a Bengali Brahmin family in India, and spent his youth as a dancer touring India and Europe with
16125-412: Was created by Allauddin Khan . Sympathetic strings on sitar were first added by Ustad Imdad Khan . The earliest compositional style specifically for the sitar emerged in the mid-eighteenth century, attributed to Firoz Khan, who was either the son or nephew of Khusrau Khan. Another, discredited hypothesis is that the sitar is derived from locally developed Indian instruments, such as the veena , prior to
16254-441: Was developed, the Indian classical music scholars have developed additional rāgas for all the scales. The North Indian style is closer to the Western diatonic modes, and built upon the foundation developed by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande using ten Thaat : kalyan, bilaval, khamaj, kafi, asavari, bhairavi, bhairav, purvi, marva and todi . Some rāgas are common to both systems and have same names, such as kalyan performed by either
16383-533: Was eight years old. Shankar shortened the Sanskrit version of his first name, Ravindra, to Ravi, for "sun". Shankar had five siblings: Uday (who became a choreographer and dancer), Rajendra, Debendra and Bhupendra. Shankar attended the Bengalitola High School in Benares between 1927 and 1928. At the age of 10, after spending his first decade in Benares, Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar. By
16512-505: Was used in old colonial-style villas as whole trunk columns for their special sitar constructions. 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
16641-410: Was widely mistaken to be a sitar. Crosby's band, the Byrds , had similarly incorporated elements of Indian music, using "only Western instrumentation", on their songs " Eight Miles High " and " Why " in 1966. Psychedelic music 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 appeared in early ads for
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