Thanks for this. I think that it might have been clearer for those new to the sitar to have explained the following: 1. The second string, Sa, is the 'tonic' or name note of the key one is in - i.e., if you are tuning to what in the West we would call the key of C, then the second (Sa) string should be tuned to that note. 2. All other notes/strings are tuned and thought of relative to the Sa. 3. The Sa can be tuned to any note, and does not have to be tuned to a note accepted in the Western method of tuning. 4. However, most sitar players these days tune to a Sa of either C, C#, or D
So clear and good! I wish the other videos I watched were 1/2 as good. Thanks so much! One thing I find interesting is that the note names in the Indian system are dependent on the key. Almost like for a country guitar player to say "play 1, 4, 5" Sa or the root note might be western "D" or "C" or C#" whereas in western music, a C is a C. Thanks - I'm going to borrow my friends Sitar and learn to play.
Well, I guess that isn't entirely true. A western "A" would normally be tuned to the standard "440" pitch - but some baroque "A" tunings are lower, maybe "420" so maybe a C isn't a C, or and A isn't an A, depending on where you live, and what type of music you play. But, most agree on 440 these days.
Very nice illustration. Thanks for this video. If one wants to play a composition in another key than D, what should one do? Tune the sitar in that key or transpose the notes?
Good video, but two critiques: First, the taraf strings should be tuned first, then the upper strings, with the fine-tuning of the main playing string done last. This is because taraf strings that are properly tuned support the tuning of the upper strings by providing full spectral resonance, especially when the pancham and kharaj strings are being tuned! It's also useful to know that the taraf strings are properly tuned - they are not if they don't resonate properly.) Second, tune the main playing string (baaz ka tar) to "Ma" only roughly and then move on to the 2nd to 7th strings in the sequence: jod, pancham, kharaj, pancham, shadja and tar-shadja. This is because the process of tuning these strings requires several iterations. If they are too loose to begin with, the changing tension as each upper string is tuned will alter the bend on the fret-board and change the tension for other upper strings. This can affect the taraf strings too, but not by as much because they do not span the entire length of the fret board. Finally, when the tension on the 2nd-7th strings is settled, one can finely tune the main playing string -- which was roughly tuned already. This way bringing stability to the main playing string can be accomplished quicker as all other strings, now tuned, support the main-string's tuning. Hoping this is helpful.
This was a very interesting video, and has answered a lot of questions for me, I live in the UK and I am hobby banjo and cigar box guitar builder, and i am going to build a sitar i have most of this worked out but the thing that is causing me a problem with the build before I start is the scale length and the basic fret positions, I know the overall length of a sitar is 4 foot long but i am unable to scale any pictures up to get this position, can you help please Regards Steve
Is it possible to tune the 1st String to A? Primarily I want to have E as the tonic. Will this string and the other strings be able to take the load or will they break?
i've tuned the first string of my old Sitar (MA) in "F#", then C# and so on. You suggest to tune Ma in G, then D and so on. There's a lot of difference, because i think that with a lower tuning, the sound have a more "grace", doing to the less tightness of the strings. Do you suggest to tune my sitar with Ma in G and not in F#, even if i have seen that many tuned Ma in F# (including the Ravi Shankar book....)? In fact, i feel the strain now is too high...... Thanks so much!
I think it depends on which scale you like playing with. If it's D, then you have to tune the main string to G. But in case you like to tune to C# (tonic 2nd string), then the main string becomes F#. The main string (open) is always Ma and tuned to the fourth with reference to either of tonic C# or D. I personally find tonic D is nicer to my ear, although in some instruments C# sounds really nice. I think the make of a sitar (the wood) plays key to the scale of its intrinsic sound and most likely the best scale would be somewhere between C# and D ! We usually tune the 2nd string first and then main string. Here, he has shown it other way around. I find it's easier to set the main string after getting the 2nd string set.
thanks for this informed reply. The sound of my old sitar is very sharp, the main string is tuned in F# and if i tune it in G the sound becomes even less sweet. Of course the wood of the sitar makes a decisive contribution to sound quality.
Actually, the strain would be slightly less tuned to F#, as it is lower than G. The comment below is interesting that some sitars have a natural resonance in F# as opposed to G (or really C# vs D tuning).
Thank you for that. I am not sure of the word that you use to describe the style of sitar. It sounded like 'my-har'. I have tried various spellings unsuccessfully in Google searches. Does it refer to D tuning or not necessarily? If the latter, what would the difference be?
"Maihar". Name of a place in India. Another word you will hear is "Gharana" which will translate to "system" or "style", for example, here he is showing the Sitar as in "Maihar Gharana", while Zakir Hussain plays Tabla per "Punjab Gharana".
Thus, we would say that Ravi Shankar belongs to Maihar Gharana, and so did George Harrison too as he learned from Ravi Shankar who invariably taught him the system he knew, which is Maihar System or Maihar Gharana, or, we can even Maihar School.
Truly, "Gharana" in colloquial terms means "household". "School", "system" or "style" are the closest in meaning when its musical application is to be translated to English.
thanks for explaining this in a more indepth way than others. As a guitar player, and new to this, you were the best so far. Not to quick not to slow
Your calm, assured, patient explication of the tuning method is very much appreciated. Great vid!!
Thanks for this.
I think that it might have been clearer for those new to the sitar to have explained the following:
1. The second string, Sa, is the 'tonic' or name note of the key one is in - i.e., if you are tuning to what in the West we would call the key of C, then the second (Sa) string should be tuned to that note.
2. All other notes/strings are tuned and thought of relative to the Sa.
3. The Sa can be tuned to any note, and does not have to be tuned to a note accepted in the Western method of tuning.
4. However, most sitar players these days tune to a Sa of either C, C#, or D
There are a million sitar tunming videos on UA-cam but this is BY FAR the best I have seen. Thanks very much 💰
Thank you so much for providing the video I just picked up a sitar today I've been wanting one of my whole life and I'm 50 years old
Coming right behind ya!
Mind Blown!!! I find it really Amazing to watch videos as such and see the craftmanship that went into these instruments. Im lost for words!
Such useful clip. Awesome job in explaining by Arjun Verma. Thanks a lot!!
Best teacher ever!!!! More lessons!!!!
So clear and good! I wish the other videos I watched were 1/2 as good. Thanks so much! One thing I find interesting is that the note names in the Indian system are dependent on the key. Almost like for a country guitar player to say "play 1, 4, 5" Sa or the root note might be western "D" or "C" or C#" whereas in western music, a C is a C. Thanks - I'm going to borrow my friends Sitar and learn to play.
Well, I guess that isn't entirely true. A western "A" would normally be tuned to the standard "440" pitch - but some baroque "A" tunings are lower, maybe "420" so maybe a C isn't a C, or and A isn't an A, depending on where you live, and what type of music you play. But, most agree on 440 these days.
Such an excellent video on tuning the sitar ! Thanks!
Your sitar really sounds Well and perfectly tuned for my voice.
Thanks for the clear explanations
Thank you so much for putting up this video. Of all the video’s I have watched yours is by far the most usefull. Namaste bhaya 🙏🏻
Fantastic video!
Very excellent
Thank you very nicely done🌷
Thank you ❤ 😊 🙏💐
Thanks for sitar lesson, l want learn more with arjun sir. Plz give more sitar lessons further, l am looking for a it. Thanks.
Very informative, can you please also show us how to tune it in C#?
Excellent - are there any other videos by Arjun Verma besides tuning and playing the Bilawal scale?
Very nice illustration. Thanks for this video. If one wants to play a composition in another key than D, what should one do? Tune the sitar in that key or transpose the notes?
Good video, but two critiques: First, the taraf strings should be tuned first, then the upper strings, with the fine-tuning of the main playing string done last. This is because taraf strings that are properly tuned support the tuning of the upper strings by providing full spectral resonance, especially when the pancham and kharaj strings are being tuned! It's also useful to know that the taraf strings are properly tuned - they are not if they don't resonate properly.) Second, tune the main playing string (baaz ka tar) to "Ma" only roughly and then move on to the 2nd to 7th strings in the sequence: jod, pancham, kharaj, pancham, shadja and tar-shadja. This is because the process of tuning these strings requires several iterations. If they are too loose to begin with, the changing tension as each upper string is tuned will alter the bend on the fret-board and change the tension for other upper strings. This can affect the taraf strings too, but not by as much because they do not span the entire length of the fret board. Finally, when the tension on the 2nd-7th strings is settled, one can finely tune the main playing string -- which was roughly tuned already. This way bringing stability to the main playing string can be accomplished quicker as all other strings, now tuned, support the main-string's tuning. Hoping this is helpful.
Jagadeesh Gokhale do you have a video recording on how to tune for raag Yaman?
@@ramaarung I don’t, sorry.
This was a very interesting video, and has answered a lot of questions for me, I live in the UK and I am hobby banjo and cigar box guitar builder, and i am going to build a sitar i have most of this worked out but the thing that is causing me a problem with the build before I start is the scale length and the basic fret positions, I know the overall length of a sitar is 4 foot long but i am unable to scale any pictures up to get this position, can you help please
Regards
Steve
Thnaku sir ji 👌👌👌👌
Is it possible to tune the 1st String to A? Primarily I want to have E as the tonic. Will this string and the other strings be able to take the load or will they break?
i've tuned the first string of my old Sitar (MA) in "F#", then C# and so on. You suggest to tune Ma in G, then D and so on. There's a lot of difference, because i think that with a lower tuning, the sound have a more "grace", doing to the less tightness of the strings. Do you suggest to tune my sitar with Ma in G and not in F#, even if i have seen that many tuned Ma in F# (including the Ravi Shankar book....)? In fact, i feel the strain now is too high...... Thanks so much!
I think it depends on which scale you like playing with. If it's D, then you have to tune the main string to G. But in case you like to tune to C# (tonic 2nd string), then the main string becomes F#. The main string (open) is always Ma and tuned to the fourth with reference to either of tonic C# or D. I personally find tonic D is nicer to my ear, although in some instruments C# sounds really nice. I think the make of a sitar (the wood) plays key to the scale of its intrinsic sound and most likely the best scale would be somewhere between C# and D !
We usually tune the 2nd string first and then main string. Here, he has shown it other way around. I find it's easier to set the main string after getting the 2nd string set.
thanks for this informed reply. The sound of my old sitar is very sharp, the main string is tuned in F# and if i tune it in G the sound becomes even less sweet. Of course the wood of the sitar makes a decisive contribution to sound quality.
Actually, the strain would be slightly less tuned to F#, as it is lower than G. The comment below is interesting that some sitars have a natural resonance in F# as opposed to G (or really C# vs D tuning).
Please do a video of how to tune a sitar in D please
Thank you for that. I am not sure of the word that you use to describe the style of sitar. It sounded like 'my-har'. I have tried various spellings unsuccessfully in Google searches. Does it refer to D tuning or not necessarily? If the latter, what would the difference be?
"Maihar". Name of a place in India. Another word you will hear is "Gharana" which will translate to "system" or "style", for example, here he is showing the Sitar as in "Maihar Gharana", while Zakir Hussain plays Tabla per "Punjab Gharana".
Thus, we would say that Ravi Shankar belongs to Maihar Gharana, and so did George Harrison too as he learned from Ravi Shankar who invariably taught him the system he knew, which is Maihar System or Maihar Gharana, or, we can even Maihar School.
Truly, "Gharana" in colloquial terms means "household". "School", "system" or "style" are the closest in meaning when its musical application is to be translated to English.
My sitar's string broke I was tuning the right string