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{{Short description|Indian plucked stringed instrument}}
{{about|the South Asian musical instrument|the Persian classical instrument|Setar|the Indonesian zither |Siter|other uses|Sitar (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Cetar|the Czechoslovak military rank Četař|Ranks of the Czechoslovak Armed Forces}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name           = Sitar
| image          = File:Sitar, late 19th Century.jpg
| image_size     = 
| image_capt     = 
| background     = string
| classification = * [[Necked bowl lutes]]
* [[String instruments]]
| hornbostel_sachs = 321.321
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Composite [[chordophone]] sounded with a [[plectrum]]
| developed      = 18th century
| related        = {{collapsible list|
* [[Setar]]
* [[Pandura]]
* [[Surbahar]]
* [[Rudra veena]]
* [[Saraswati veena]]
* [[Chitra veena]]
* [[Vichitra veena]]
* [[Sarod]]
* [[Sursingar]]
* [[Tambouras]]
* [[Tanpura]]
* [[Sitarla]]
}}
| sound sample = [[File:Sitar clipping.ogg|Sitar clipping]]
}}

The '''sitar''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|pron|ˈ|s|ɪ|t|ɑr}} or {{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|ˈ|t|ɑr}}; {{IAST3|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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vedabala |first=Samidha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhwzEAAAQBAJ&dq=sitar+Khusrau+khan&pg=PA11 |title=Sitar Music: The Dynamics of Structure and its playing Techniques |date=2021-06-14 |publisher=Wizard Publisher |isbn=978-93-91013-13-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&dq=sitar+Khusrau+khan&pg=PA21 |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=April 2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1493-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSZKCXtx-wEC&dq=sitar+Khusrau+khan&pg=PA30 |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |date=2006-04-24 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-1815-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLsQbFeUec0 The Sitar: Origin, Culture, and More: Featuring Dr. Usman Chohan.] ''The Intelligentsia.'' Interviews: Episode 4. 11 April 2023.</ref>

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.<ref name="Temple">{{cite web |author=Julien Temple |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012ht1t/Dave_Davies_Kinkdom_Come/ |title=BBC Four – Dave Davies: Kinkdom Come |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=2011-07-18 |access-date=2012-06-15}}</ref> The advent of [[Psychedelia|psychedelic culture]] during the mid-to-late 1960s set a trend for the use of the [[sitar in popular music|sitar in Western popular music]], with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as [[the Beatles]], [[the Rolling Stones]], [[Metallica]] and many others.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jenkins|first1=Mark|title=Sitar Jam! From The Beatles to Eddie Vedder, Rock and Roll Has Long Sought The Spice of Indian Music. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/technology/1996/05/29/sitar-jam-from-the-beatles-to-eddie-vedder-rock-and-roll-has-long-sought-the-spice-of-indian-music/62d6245b-86fd-42d1-adba-aa6c9d003b2a/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 28, 1996}}</ref>

==Etymology==
The word ''sitar'' is derived from the [[Persian language|Persian]] word {{Transliteration|fa|sehtar}}, meaning {{gloss|three-stringed}}.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Nettl | first1=B. | last2=Arnold | first2=A. | last3=Stone | first3=R.M. | last4=Porter | first4=J. | last5=Rice | first5=T. | last6=Olsen | first6=D.A. | last7=Miller | first7=T.E. | last8=Koskoff | first8=E. | last9=Kaeppler | first9=A.L. | last10=Sheehy | first10=D.E. | title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent | publisher=Garland Pub. | series=Garland Ency. World Music v.5 add to holding 304235 | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC | access-date=2022-10-04 | page=178}}</ref> 

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. 

By example: 

* ''Du'' + ''tar'' is the 2-stringed [[Dutar|dutār]], 
* ''se'' + ''tar'' is the 3-stringed [[Setar|setār]], 
* ''čar'' + ''tar''  is for a [[Tar (string instrument)|tar]] with 4 strings, 
* ''panč'' + ''tār''  is for a tar with 5 strings.<ref>{{cite book |author=Curt Sachs |title=The History of Musical Instrumts |date=1940 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |place=New York |pages=256–257}}</ref>

== History ==

{{multiple image
| caption_align     = center
| header_align      = center
| align             = right
| image1            = 
| size1             = 
| caption1          = 
| image2            = Painting of a woman with a sitar.jpg
| width2            = 194
| caption2          = 19th-century sitar with 4 strings
| image3            = Sitar MET MIDP89.4.190.jpg
| width3            = 100
| alt3              = 19th-century sitar with 6 strings
| caption3          = 19th-century sitar. This instrument does not have sympathetic strings.
}}

It was theorized that the sitar was invented, or rather developed by [[Amir Khusrow]] ({{c.}}&nbsp;1253–1325), a famous [[Sufi]] inventor, poet and pioneer of [[Khyal]], [[Tarana]] and [[Qawwali]], during the 13th century.<ref name="grove">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |publisher=MacMillan Press Limited |place=London |date=1984 |editor=Stanley Sadie |pages=392–400 |isbn=0-943818-05-2 |entry=Setār |author1=Alastair Dick}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Kapoor |first1=Subodh |title=The Indian Encyclopaedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__uUoaurFisC&pg=PA2988 |page=2988 |year=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=9788177552676}}.</ref><ref name="calcutta" /><ref name=":2">{{cite book |author=Allyn Miner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&dq=Tritantri+vina&pg=PA17 |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |pages=17–24 |isbn=9788120814936}}</ref> However, the tradition of Amir Khusrow is considered discredited by scholars.<ref>{{cite book |author=Allyn Miner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&dq=Tritantri+vina&pg=PA17 |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |pages=17–24 |isbn=9788120814936 |quote=Popular books on music nearly all recount this story. Admit Khusrau's role in the creation of the sitar in India has gradually been discredited by historians, but social motivations and the tenacity of the tradition cause the idea to persist...}}</ref> Whatever instruments he might have played, no record exists from this period using the name "sitar".<ref name="calcutta">{{cite book |author=James Sadler Hamilton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP5Wzqq7I80C |title=Sitar Music in Calcutta: An Ethnomusicological Study |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1994 |isbn=9788120812109 |page=50 |quote=Due to the absence of any mention of the sitar in the writings of Amir Khusrau (1285-1351) or in those of his contemporaries it is unlikely that any musical instrument with this name existed at that time.}}</ref> An ambiguous statement made in a 19th century work by Captain N. Augustus Willard may have resulted in the incorrect association of the renowned poet Amir Khusrau with a later individual, potentially named Khusrau Khan, who lived during the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=http://archive.org/details/sitarsarodin18th00mine |title=Sitar and sarod in the 18th and 19th centuries |date=1997 |publisher=Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |others=The Archive of Contemporary Music |isbn=978-81-208-1299-4}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasliwal |first=Suneera |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVsUAQAAIAAJ&q=sitar+1739+earliest+reference |title=Classical Musical Instruments |date=2001 |publisher=Rupa |isbn=978-81-291-0425-0 |language=en}}</ref> Oral and textual evidence analysed by historians indicate that an eighteenth-century figure of the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] court, named Khusrau Khan originated the sitar from the small persian three-stringed [[setar]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&dq=khusrau+khan+sitar&pg=PA21 |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1493-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Vedabala |first=Samidha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhwzEAAAQBAJ&dq=khusrau+khan+sitar&pg=PA11 |title=Sitar Music: The Dynamics of Structure and its playing Techniques |date=2021-06-14 |publisher=Wizard Publisher |isbn=978-93-91013-13-4 |language=en}}</ref> 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 (instrument)|nut]] on the neck.<ref name=grove/> Masid Khan added two more strings to the sitar.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Caudhurī |first=Vimalakānta Rôya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gQWLa--IHjIC&q=%22who+throughly+renovated+the%22&pg=PA64 |title=The Dictionary of Hindustani Classical Music |date=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1708-1 |language=en}}</ref> The modern seven string sitar was created by [[Allauddin Khan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSZKCXtx-wEC&q=%22stringed+model+was+created+by%22&pg=PA30 |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |date=2006-04-24 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-8264-1815-9 |language=en}}</ref> Sympathetic strings on sitar were first added by [[Imdad Khan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vedabala |first=Samidha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhwzEAAAQBAJ&q=sympathetic+string+imdad+khan&pg=PA78 |title=Sitar Music: The Dynamics of Structure and its playing Techniques |date=2021-06-14 |publisher=Wizard Publisher |isbn=978-93-91013-13-4 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raja |first=Deepak S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xUg6EAAAQBAJ&dq=khusrau+khan+amir+Khusraw+sitar&pg=PT58 |title=Hindustani Music Today |date=2021-02-01 |publisher=DK Printworld (P) Ltd |isbn=978-81-246-1126-5 |language=en}}</ref>

Another, discredited hypothesis is that the sitar is derived from locally developed Indian instruments, such as the [[veena]], prior to the arrival of [[Islam]]. Proponents of this hypothesis claim that Indian temple sculptures from the 9th and 10th centuries feature sitar-like instruments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&dq=sitar+representing+19th+century+ideas+that&pg=PA18 |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=April 2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1493-6 |language=en}}</ref> 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 is in the absolute dark.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vedabala |first=Samidha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhwzEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22So+its+authenticity+is+in+the+absolute+dark%22&pg=PA9 |title=Sitar Music: The Dynamics of Structure and its playing Techniques |date=2021-06-14 |publisher=Wizard Publisher |isbn=978-93-91013-13-4 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC&q=Too+weak+conclusion |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=April 2004 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1493-6 |language=en}}</ref> According to Alastair Dick, the "modern view that&nbsp;... invading Muslims simply changed into Persian the name of an existing Hindu instrument&nbsp;... has no historical or musical foundation".<ref name="grove" /> 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 is no evidence for the existence of long-necked lutes in the Indian subcontinent prior to the era of Muslim expansion into the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hamilton |first=James Sadler |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP5Wzqq7I80C&dq=The+information+above%2C+confirms+the+statement+made+earlier%2C+that+there+is+no+evidence+for+the+existence+of+long-necked+lutes+in+the+Indian+sub-continent+prior+to+the+era+of+Muslim+expansion&pg=PA51 |title=Sitar Music in Calcutta: An Ethnomusicological Study |date=1994 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publisher |isbn=978-81-208-1210-9 |language=en}}</ref>

==Physical description==
[[File:sitar parts.jpg|thumb|left|170px|Anatomy of a sitar]]

A sitar can have 18, 19, 20, or 21 strings; 6 or 7 of these run over curved, raised [[fret]]s 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 the played strings. The frets, which are known as {{IAST|pardā}} or [[thaat]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Thāṭ (Instrumental) |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopaedia of the Music of India |author=Saṅgīt Mahābhāratī |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195650983.001.0001/acref-9780195650983-e-4974?rskey=LEF1wZ&result=4974 |access-date=5 September 2018 |language=en |url-access=subscription |isbn=9780199797721 |date=2011}}</ref> 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 the smaller tuning pegs that run down the instrument's neck.

The instrument has two [[bridge (instrument)|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 the creation of [[overtones]] and giving the sound its distinctive tone.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Sitar String, a Vibrating String with a One-Sided Inelastic Constraint |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2101114 |access-date=2022-05-29 |journal=SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics |jstor=2101114 |language=en|last1=Burridge |first1=Robert |last2=Kappraff |first2=Jay |last3=Morshedi |first3=Christine |year=1982 |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=1231–1251 |doi=10.1137/0142086 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The maintenance of this specific tone by shaping the bridge is called ''[[jivari|jawari]]''. Many musicians rely on instrument makers to adjust this.

Materials used in construction include [[teak|teak wood]] or ''tun'' wood (''[[Cedrela toona]]''), which is a variation of mahogany, for the neck and faceplate (''tabli''), and [[Calabash|calabash gourd]]s for the resonating chambers. The instrument's bridges are made of deer horn, ebony, or very occasionally from camel bone. Synthetic material is now common as well.

== Construction styles ==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2022}}
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).

[[File:Sitar mogara.jpg|thumb|left|200px| Close-up of the pen work on a "Ravi Shankar style" sitar]]
The instrumental style sitar is most often made of seasoned [[Toona|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 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 [[Wood drying|seasoned wood]] are  guarded trade secrets. Therefore, instrument builders look for old [[teak]] that was used in old colonial-style [[villa]]s as whole trunk [[column]]s for their special sitar constructions.

[[File:Sitar taraf pegs layout.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Preferences of taraf string and peg positioning and their total number]]
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).

Among all sitar styles, there are student styles, beginner models, semi-pro styles, pro models, master models, and so on. Prices are often determined by 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 sustain.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.raga.com/interviews/207int1.html | title=Nikhil Banerjee Interview New York November 9, 1985 }}</ref>

==Tuning of sitar==

{{unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}
Tuning depends on 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 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 peg]]s, and the main playing strings can be fine-tuned by sliding a bead threaded on each string just below the bridge.

[[File:Sitar jawari.jpg|thumb| A black [[ebony]] wood ''Jawari'']]
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:
* ''Chikari'' strings: Sa (high), Sa (middle), and Pa.
* ''Kharaj'' (bass) strings: Sa (low) and Pa (low).
* ''Jod'' and ''baaj'' strings, Sa and Ma.

There 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.

==Playing==
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.{{Citation needed|date = October 2014|reason = Is this true? No images seem to show this.}} The player plucks the string using a metallic pick or [[plectrum]] called a [[Mezrab (plectrum)|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 a seven-[[semitone]] range of notes. This was developed by [[Vilayat Khan]] into a technique that imitated the [[melisma]] of the vocal style, a technique known as ''gayaki ang''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-10 |title=Vilayat Khan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/vilayat-khan-549666.html |access-date=2021-04-06 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> Sometimes, a sitar could be played with a [[Bow (music)|bow]]. Its sound is similar to [[sarangi]], but raspier.

Adept players bring in charisma through the use of special techniques like Kan, Krintan, [[Murki]], Zamzama, etc. They also use special Mizrab Bol-s, as in Misrabani.<ref>Ragini Trivedi, ''Sitar Compositions in Ome Swarlipi'', {{ISBN|978-0-557-70596-2}}, 2010.</ref>

==World music influence==
[[File:Dia5275 Ravi Shankar.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Ravi Shankar]] in 1988]]
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 music when, guided by [[David Crosby]]'s championing of Shankar,<ref name="Gallo/Billboard">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1481439/ravi-shankars-impact-on-pop-music-an-appreciation|last=Gallo |first=Phil |title=Ravi Shankar's Impact on Pop Music: An Appreciation |date=12 December 2012 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|billboard.com]]}}</ref> [[George Harrison]] played it on [[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,<ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |publisher=Continuum |location=New York, NY |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-2819-3 |pages=172–173, 180}}</ref><ref>''World Music: The Rough Guide (Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)'' (2000). London: Rough Guides/Penguin. p.&nbsp;109. {{ISBN|1-85828-636-0}}.</ref> particularly once Harrison began receiving tutelage from Shankar and the latter's protégé [[Shambhu Das]] in 1966.<ref>{{cite book |last=Everett |first=Walter |year=1999 |title=The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=0-19-512941-5 |page=71}}</ref> That same year, [[Brian Jones]] of [[the Rolling Stones]] used a sitar on "[[Paint It Black]]",<ref>{{Cite web |title=The first No. 1 hit to feature a sitar |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/06/21/sitar-rolling-stones|accessdate=17 September 2020 |publisher=[[KNOW-FM|MPR News]]}}</ref> while another English guitarist, [[Dave Mason]], played it on [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]]'s 1967 hits "[[Paper Sun]]" and "[[Hole in My Shoe]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |publisher=Continuum |location=New York, NY |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-2819-3 |pages=174–175, 180}}</ref> These and other examples marked a trend of [[Sitar in Western popular music|featuring the instrument in pop songs]], which Shankar later described as "the great sitar explosion".<ref>{{cite book |first=Ravi |last=Shankar |title=My Music, My Life |publisher=Mandala Publishing |location=San Rafael, CA |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-60109-005-8 |page=100}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |publisher=Continuum |location=New York, NY |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-2819-3 |page=65}}</ref> Speaking to ''[[KRLA Beat]]'' in July 1967, he said: "Many people, especially young people, have started listening to sitar since George Harrison, one of the Beatles, became my disciple&nbsp;... It is now the 'in' thing."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/issue/29july67.pdf |author=KRLA staff |title='My Music Not For Addicts' – Shankar |work=[[KRLA Beat]] |date=29 July 1967 |page=18 |access-date=19 August 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Star's Electric Sitar RD.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Star's electric sitar guitar]]
[[Led Zeppelin]]'s [[Jimmy Page]] talked about his love of [[Music of India|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..."<ref>{{cite book |title=Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page |last=Tolinski |first=Brad |year=2012 |publisher=Broadway Books |location=New York, NY |page=84 |isbn=978-0-307-98575-0}}</ref> [[Robbie Krieger]]'s guitar part on [[the Doors]]' 1967 track "[[The End (The Doors song)|The End]]" was heavily influenced by Indian ragas and features melodic and rhythmic qualities that suggest a sitar or [[veena]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |publisher=Continuum |location=New York, NY |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-2819-3 |page=158}}</ref> Many pop performances actually involve the [[electric sitar]],<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.hipwax.com/music/oddpop/sitar.html
|publisher=Hyp Records
|title=Odd Pop: Pop Sitar
|author=HypWax
|access-date=16 March 2021
}}</ref> 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 was widely mistaken to be a sitar.<ref name="Temple" /> Crosby's band, [[the Byrds]], had similarly incorporated elements of Indian music,<ref name="Gallo/Billboard" /> using "only Western instrumentation", on their songs "[[Eight Miles High]]" and "[[Why (The Byrds song)|Why]]" in 1966.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lavezzoli |first=Peter |title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West |publisher=Continuum |location=New York, NY |year=2006 |isbn=0-8264-2819-3 |pages=155–156}}</ref> [[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 the [[Vox (musical equipment)|Vox]] [[Wah wah pedal]], which touted the effect's ability to make an electric guitar sound like a sitar.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKqSg-A2eRk |title=The Electric Prunes – Vox Wah Wah Commercial |access-date=18 April 2021 |publisher=[[YouTube]]}}</ref>

[[Donovan]]'s personnel on his 1966 album ''[[Sunshine Superman (album)|Sunshine Superman]]'' included [[Shawn Phillips]] on sitar. Phillips also played sitar on one song on Donovan's next album ''[[Mellow Yellow (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 the homeland among the [[Pakistani diaspora]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Huma Yusuf|title=Pakistan's flagship carrier needs a radical overhaul. The Karachi crash is the latest reminder |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/26/opinions/pakistan-airlines-crash-opinion-intl-hnk/index.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Singing on a jet plane: A brief history of Pakistan International Airlines' in-flight music|url=https://scroll.in/magazine/916624/singing-on-a-jet-plane-a-brief-history-of-pakistan-international-airlines-in-flight-music}}</ref>

[[Steve Howe]] of the British progressive rock band [[Yes (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 cover of [[Hall & Oates]]'s song "[[Everytime You Go Away]]" included an electric sitar played by [[John Turnbull (musician)|John Turnbull]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Behind The Vinyl: "Everytime You Go Away" with Paul Young |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDjZ7XNbljU |access-date=2023-12-05 |language=en}}</ref>

== Sitar gharanas ==

A gharana is a system of social organisation in the Indian subcontinent, linking musicians or dancers by lineage or apprenticeship. Notable gharana include:
* [[Imdadkhani gharana]]
* [[Maihar gharana]]
* [[Bishnupur gharana]]

== See also ==
* [[:Category:Sitar players]]
* [[:Sitar in popular music]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Sitars}}

{{Indian musical instruments}}
{{Lute}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sitars|*]]
[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Indian inventions]]
[[Category:Lute family instruments]]