Who Invented the Sitar?
The sitar is a string instrument, similar to the European lute, used throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is primarily utilized in Hindustani classical music.
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History
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The exact circumstances of the sitar's invention are unknown. Some sources, such as famous sitarist Ravi Shankar, claim that the sitar was invented by Amir Khusrau in the 13th century AD. Khusrau supposedly developed the sitar from a zither-like instrument called the veena. He was influenced by Persian instruments.
Significance
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The sitar is a vital instrument to Hindustani classical music and has all but superseded the use of the veena among classical musicians in India.
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Geography
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The sitar is used throughout the Indian subcontinent and in other places where Indian musicians have settled. The instrument has also traveled to the Western world through its influence on British and American popular music (see Famous Ties, below).
Types
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There is a larger variant of the sitar called the surbahar, or "bass sitar," that can be anywhere from one to five full steps lower in pitch than a standard sitar.
Famous Ties
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The sitar became widely known to the Western world beginning in the 1950s, at first through the work of Ravi Shankar and then, much more prominently, after George Harrison of The Beatles took lessons from Shankar and used the sitar in such hit songs as "Norwegian Wood."
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