Sitar Tuning: detailed how to video
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- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Viewers kept asking me how to tune a sitar. This detailed video should show the entire process along with tips and tricks to give you the best sound.
I took my first sitar lesson on January 27th, 2012.
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Do you want to learn sitar? Please contact my teacher, Ustad Ikhlaq Hussain Khan who is now providing lessons online using Skype, FaceTime or WhatsApp. You can reach him at: ragasitar.com
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YES this is the perfect beginner video. This would've helped me out so much when i first started. Still good to see how u do things to crosscheck my own process :)
i know I'm quite off topic but does anyone know of a good website to stream newly released series online?
@Robert Bennett flixportal :D
@Jesse Jude Thanks, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I really appreciate it!
@Robert Bennett No problem =)
The video is worth 33 minutes... I got to learn so much about this instrument... Thank you
Thanks! I'm glad it was helpful!
For sitar, I believe it’s best to get your relative pitch skills down and tune using a tanpura app or electronic tanpura as a source. It forces you to be aware of the relationship notes have to each other and helps you with your meends.
Agree. I talk about this in some older videos and recommend it. In this instance I wanted to make things as "easy" as I could. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.
You make tuning those sympathetic strings look easy. I find that's the hardest part for me. My old eyes can't see the tiny strings and my fingers don't have enough room. I got a tuning handle which makes it easier though not easy.
Tuning the sympathetic strings is not easy! I really want to get one of those handles too.
Also just wanted to add, I had the same problem where the tuning pegs for the tarab strings were stopping me from moving the frets. So i asked my guruji and he showed me that if that is happening u can actually move the bridge closer to neck, or further away and then realign all the frets. This worked for me, but took a while to move everything into place correctly.
Yes!!! By changing the bridge placement and adjusting the scale length you can fix this open string vs fretting string problem too. I am hoping that my sitar will readjust and get back to normal once the rain and temperature gets a bit less crazy. I should have mentioned this fix though. Thank you for posting a comment to share. It might be a bit tricky for a beginner but still 100% valid and helpful to anyone having tuning problems.
I was considering buying one because I love the sound, but that looks like an absolute nightmare.. I think I won't!
excellent. thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
Very nice example on sitar tuning.I have been playing sitar for about 5 years also and understand the difficulties as it is a very hard instrument to learn,I must say you have made awesome progress in the short time you have played.Now I too have really struggled with tuning. Nikhil Banerjee once said ''the most difficult thing is to tune the sitar'' I totally agree...here is my thoughts....take them for what they are worth. You are using a tuner,thats fine, but is it set to a just intonation setting?? We have to remember for sitar to sound perfect we CANNOT tune it to the western tempered scale..it will never sound right. Indian music is tuned to just intonation, this makes a BIG difference in the sound.All players in India use this method and once you understand it it is really easy and your sitar will sound awesome.Go on youtube and look up just intonation vs equal temperament,there is a dude from the UK that uses tones to demonstrate the difference just take the time to check this out first.Next, this is what I do to speed the process up,tune second string sa with your tuner from then on, no tuner ...go by ear..tune first string open beatless to second string in the upright playing position,then see if the sa fret matches the second string perfect,then us the sa to tune all the other sas on the instrument,including the sympathetics there are 3 sa s there. then work from these stings to pull the rest in tune. Remember, the fifths will be beatless and sound lower by one octave.when you play sa with pa there is a deep magic that happens. I have found to tune the sympatheics to the second sa helps sa ni sa off the frets till they ring.You cannot tune sypathetics laying flat, tune in the playing position and simply adjust till they ring with the notes on the frets that you are using. Email me if you want for more and we can talk on phone....gnatdavid@hotmail.com..or davidgnat sitarplayer milwaukee on facebook...I am really impressed with how good you play....
Hi David
Are you living in Milwaukee? Where/who do you get lessons from? I'm trying to find a teacher. Trying to learn sitar by oneself is very challenging. Thanks for any advice you may impart.
@@TheGlippe Yes, I live in Milwaukee I am using Indrajit Banerjees sitar performance series dvd's from Raincitymusic,I get a live lesson whenever Indrajit comes to milwaukee. I would love to meet a local dude here that also does sitar. LMK and I will give you my email and we can chat and meet..that would be great.
@notbadfilms if your chickaris get outt of tune easily, a trick is get the pegs out draw with some chalk , they will stick better whn in tune, but also turn slicker when actually tuning the string
draw with chalk on the wooden part of the pegs
lastly there is a tool you can make in order to tune the tarafs with more precision it looks like a belaying pin from ships but smaller or as i call it the tuning dildo :p
You doin it right, but narrative is interruptive.. . But thanks for puttin it out
Yes indeed
Great instructions
Thank you
FYI for folks that are slightly dangerous on string instruments, but like me, don't intuitively know notes/scales like real musicians that read sheet music: I took the standard scales and transposed them in an EXCEL spreadsheet so that I could more quickly tune every string from C to C#, C# to D, even up to E (which feels like will break most sitars, but Norwegian Wood is in the Key of E, so...it must be doable).
I like this idea!! Very cool.
thanks a lot
Does the shirt come in "Double Toomba"?? Very cool!
Sitar Tuning: detailed video on how to go insane
Ha ha ha ha! I concur!
Nice video, although I would recommend tuning all the strings by ear while listening to the base key (D),
it is frustrating at first but once you get it, you will have trained your ears to identify notes more naturally and it helps with your meends
Yes. Good suggestion! When I pick up my sitar to practice and I usually do it by ear. This is why I mentioned listening to "beating" between two strings to hear how out of tune they are to each other. In this video I wanted to help the beginner learn the process - especially if their sitar is widely out of tune to begin with. Thank you for watching and leaving a comment!
Another reason to avoid using electronic tuners as equal temperament does not apply here.
Sadja could it be or should it get close to a 136,1 Hz frequency tone.. and it will be significantly proximate to an a C# on 12 TET temperament for a C Do: 256 Hz frequency or phytagorean tuning system or an A La: 430,5.. ~scientific pitch tuning.. that would be practical for intonation of each scale.. raga or any other kind of features that make the performances of strings instruments more compatible with temperament issues when tuning them..
Nice. Does the app use equal temperament? If so, do you feel that the notes are a bit off tune for hindustani?
This app can use Equal or Just temperament. Good question!
Tuning the sitar is an unbelievable pain in the arse. The oud too, but not as painful as the sitar. I had to tune the oud before shows where there wasn’t a quite place around to sit down and do it properly, in silence. Only people, loud music and 11 nylon string not very receptive to friction pegs. At the end of the tuning I was literally sweating buckets. I shudder to think having to tune a sitar in the same noisy circumstances......great video btw, a great help, thanks. Just one question: is it acceptable to lower the key to C, or B, or even Bb? I have seen a lot of artists in Carnatic music who use Bb as their Sa. I was just wondering how it’d go down.....
Oh man! Tuning in a loud environment it a nightmare. Especially with friction pegs that love to loosen up as the room warms up from a bunch of people. You can totally tune your sitar to C. That is very common. You might be able to go to B or Bb but I would suspect that you would really need to change your string gauges to accommodate extra slack to keep the notes from being flabby sounding. There is an instrument called to Surbahar that is like a bass sitar that is tuned lower. It's amazing sounding.
@@JeffStarr thanks for your reply, mate. Yeah, I know the surbahar, although I have never played one. It is usually tuned in A Just yesterday I was counting all the plucked stringed instruments used In Hindustani and Carnatic music and I counted 19 (including, you know, all the different types of veena), although I am sure I have missed a few. It is just amazing the wealth of instruments the Indian subcontinent has. The other country I know that has a lot (but not as many) is Greece, with “only”. 6 or 7....
How many notes can you tune a sitar past D without breaking. And do sitar strings break easily?
I wouldn’t try to go much higher than D#. Most sitars tune so that Sa, or the root, is C in western music. The strings break now and then. It will depend on how well you tie your knots and how clean you keep the strings. Thanks for watching!
I heard some are tuned as high as E. I'm guessing G is the highest in theory. Those strings are pretty loose i'm guessing they are maybe seven notes away from breaking assuming c tuning. Do all the strings have the same scale length?
What is the name of the app?
I am using ClearTune for iOS but any tuner will work.
You talk to much, just tune the damn sitar
Exactly. What a nob
I know, right? I wish he would just shut up and get to it. ;)
This has confused me greatly! I thought Sa was always C but you're playing Sa as D. So Sa is variable determined by the Sitarist?? Madness!
You are correct. Sa is variable and it has no fixed note or kHz. Sitars are almost always tuned so that Sa is C, C# or D. But other instruments or vocalist may use a different note for Sa.
Sa simply means the first note
Sa.. or sadja tone it's the equivalente for fundamental tone of C or Do in western tuning system and it has a intonation to get a C# or Sa in a 136,1..~ Hz frequency!
your breaths and spit is a bit too loud my guy give sme shivers haha
Fair enough! Sorry about that.
@@JeffStarr love you tho!
Indian sitar teacher worng teaching
Can u provide chart form how to tune sitar in scale D
@@purvabandodkar1165 u go google there is ( d ) map available vilayat khan d sitar map ok.