Tanpura is always an accompanying instrument. It is not able to create any tone variations. Tanpura’s main purpose is to keep the performer in tune. It has four strings. The overall shape of Tanpura somewhat matches the shape of sitar, although the squash (Toomba) is a little bigger in the male Tanpura. Tanpuras come in many different sizes.

Tuning Tanpura:
Tanpura’s first three strings are steel strings and the fourth is a brass string. Only exceptions to this are the big Tanpuras. Then even the first string is a brass string. However, generally you can achieve any tuning with the steel strings.

a. First string: This string is tuned to the fifth (Pa) of the lower octave.
b. Second and third string: Just as sitar’s paired strings, these are also called ‘Jodi ke tar’. These are tuned to the keynote from the middle octave (Sa).
c. Fourth string: This is the fattest string of all and it is tuned to the keynote (Sa) of the lower octave.

Exceptions: As you see above that a Tanpura is tuned to the keynote and the fifth (first and fifth or ‘Sa’ and ‘Pa’). It creates a drone of fifths. The problem emerges when the Composition (Raag) you are about to perform does not have fifth. As we know that lots of Raags are Chhadav (hexatonic) or audav (pentatonic). If the fifth is Verjit (forbidden in ascending and descending) in a Raag then the first string is tuned to the fourth (Ma). Although ‘Ma’ and ‘Pa’ (fourth and fifth) cannot be completely absent from a Raag at the same time, some times one is missing and the other is a very weak in the given Raag. In those conditions the first string is tuned to the third (‘Ga’). If a Raag has a very inharmonic scale, the tuning of Tanpura has to be creative. As an example, When performing Marva Raag, the first string is normally tuned to the Shudh Ni (major senventh). The other three strings are never a problem because they are tuned to the keynote (‘Sa’) and a ‘Sa’ is never excluded from any Raag.

In professional situations, some performers use two Tanpuras. One is tuned to 1-4 and the other one is tuned to 1-5. With this tuning, every other note has a direct relation (minor or major 3rd) to Tanpura’s drones.

Playing Tanpura:
The middle finger plays the first string and the index finger plays the rest. Strings are played one after another. The speed of playing does not depend on the tempo of the song. Playing all four strings once, completes one loop of Tanpura’s continuously varying tone. Singers usually play Tanpura by themselves and the instrumentalists use an accompanist.

Twang:
Tanpura has a distinguish tone. This tone is achieved by setting the threads on the bridge. While a string is ringing, the thread is moved under the string to get the exact position where the string is touching the bridge. When the thread goes to that position the ring will get louder and you will hear a twang in the tone. How much of the twang you desire is matter of personal taste. The amount of twang can be adjusted by moving the thread.

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Amir Khusro (1253-1325), a Sufi mystic and a spiritual disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya contributed a lot to northern Indian music. He was a famous poet and musicologist. He had a deep understanding of both Indian and Persian music styles. Although he used some Persian terms to describe Indian music in his writings, he only played and composed in Indian music.

His main contributions to Indian music are said to be defining the Indian style of Qawwali, invention of Tabla and invention of Sitar. Although these claims are not right. We will discuss his real contributions to Indian music in another post.

The actual Sitar was invented by another great musician named Khusro Khan. Khusro Khan was a royal musician and younger borther of the great vocalist Sadarang in the court of Mughal Emperor Jahandarshah (1664-1713). A historian Dargagh Kuli Khan writes that Khusro khan played a ‘strange thing’. So at that time the Sitar wasn’t even named yet. There were three strings on Khusro Khan’s sitar. The word ‘seh’ meaning ‘three’ comes from Persian and ‘tar’ means ‘a string.’ The Indian Sitar has evolved over time. Nowadays it has seven main strings.

Khusro’s ‘sehtar’ had two brass strings and one steel string. It had 14 frets. The brass strings were tune to the keynote and the fifth (Sa and Pa) and the steel string was tuned to the fourth (Ma). Its head was made from a big dried half squash. The strings were played with index finger of right hand with a finger pick. There were no rules how to hold it, although it was supposed to be played in a sitting position.

Eventually the descendants of Khusro Khan made the new version of Sitar. They first put six strings on it and then eventually added another one. Even today the greatest Sitar players of our time are from that family. They are known as ‘Seni Family’.

Tuning Sitar: Nowadays sitar has seven strings. The names and the tuning order of these strings are like this:
1. First String: This is a steel string. It is also called ‘Baj ka Tar’ or the playing string. It is tuned to the fourth (lower ‘Ma’) of lower octave. Melody of sitar is played on this string.

2. Second and Third string: These are brass strings and are called ‘Jodi ke tar’ (paired strings). These are tuned to the keynote (lower ‘Sa’).
3. Fourth string: This is a steel string and it’s tuned to the fifth (lower ‘Pa’).
4. Fifth String: This is a brass string and its gauge is double than the paired strings (second and third). This is tuned to the fifth (double lower ‘Pa’) of second lower octave. It is called ‘Lurge ka Tar’.
5. Sixth string: It is a steel string and is tuned to the fourth (Ma) of middle octave. It is called ‘chikari ka tar’.
6. Seventh String: This is also a steel string. It is the thinnest of all strings. Some people tune it to the upper keynote (upper Sa) and some tune it to the fifth (Pa) from the middle octave. This is also called ‘chikari ka tar’ or ‘papaea ka Tar’

To tune a Sitar, first a keynote is created by another instrument (a Harmonium, a tuner or a tuning fork etc.) or if it’s a solo performance the player can tune the sitar by itself. Here are the steps:
1. Jodi ke Tar (the paired strings) are first tuned to the given note or by themselves to the lower keynote.
2. The first string is tuned to the lower octave’s Fourth (Ma).
3. Then the fourth string is tuned to the lower octave’s Fifth (Pa).
4. Next the fifth (fattest) string is tuned one octave lower to the fourth string (very low fifth, or ati-mander Pa).
5. The sixth string is tuned exactly one octave higher to the paired strings (second and third) to the middle (Sa).
6. Finally the seventh string is tuned one octave higher to the sixth string. As mentioned earlier, some people tune it to the fifth rather than the eighth.

Above tuning order is important to create a just intonation scale. That is something I have totally ignored in the basic theory. We will discuss the position of notes in different scales in the advance theory.

Sitar also has secondary strings or the sympathetic strings. Normally these are not played directly. These strings are tuned to all the notes used in the composition to be played. We will discuss the exact tuning order of these strings in the advance theory. When a note is played on a primary string the sympathetic strings vibrate by themselves. Almost all original Indian stringed instruments have sympathetic strings. These strings add a special ring or sustain to every note.

Moveable and unmovable frets: If you have seen a sitar, you may have noticed that some sitars’ frets can be adjusted and some are fixed. The sitars with moving frets have 17 frets. In these sitars the Vikrat (moved or flat and sharps) notes are adjusted by moving the frets to the appropriate position.
In the fixed fret style, there are 19 frets. They are positioned with semitone differences and cannot be moved. Some fixed style sitars have 22 or 24 frets too. It depends on the designers’ and players’ choices.

Sounds of Sitar: The sitar has two basic sounds ‘Da’ and ‘Ra’. ‘Da’ is when a string is plucked towards the player and ‘Ra’ is when a string is plucked away from the player. The notation of sitar is written in these two ‘boles’ or sounds under the appropriate notes.
Such as:

If there are two notes and only one pluck, as the first and second pluck in the given example, the second note is a slurred note. On sitar, pulling the string creates the slurred notes. The beauty of playing sitar is in its unique slur style. Pandit Ravi Shankar is the most famous sitar player of our time.

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Indian musical instruments are divided into four categories:

1. ‘Tut’ Instruments
2. ‘Sushir’ Instruments
3. ‘Avnudh’ Instruments &
4. ‘Ghan’ Instruments

These categories also exist in Western Music.
1. ‘Tut’ Instruments: The ‘stringed instruments’ are known as ‘Tut’ Instruments’. These instruments use one or more strings to create sound. These are further divided into two sub-categories:

a. Plucked instruments: such as Sitar, Veena, Srode, Taanpura, Guitar etc.
b. Bowed instruments: such as Sarangi, Esraj, Violin etc.

2. ‘Sushir’ Instruments: These are the ‘wind instruments’. Such as Flute, shehnai, Been, Clarinet, saxophone etc.
3. ‘Avnudh’ Instruments: These are the instruments that have heads made from animal skin. Such as Tabla, Dhole, Pkhavaj, Dejambe etc. Mostly these are rhythmic instruments.
4. ‘Ghan’ Instruments: These are the instruments that create a note (musical sound) by hitting something with hammer or stick. You may call them tuned percussions too. Such as Jal trung, Munjeera, Kartaal, Vibraphone etc.

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