Friday, September 3, 2010

The Magical Sitar

All right, so I have officially decided that I must learn how to play the sitar.

Introducing, the sitar:

If you have ever seen "Moulin Rouge," perhaps you know of the talking magical sitar that can only speak the truth.

The sitar is a plucked string instrument commonly used in India. Generally the sitar is used in playing a raga, or style of Indian classical music, which is associated with either the time of day or season. Ragas can be anywhere from 10 minutes to hours long.

The sitar has also been used in popular western music. For example, a few Beatles songs such as "Love You to," and "Norwegian Wood," have the unique sounding sitar in them.

I really enjoy the sound of the sitar and how it is played without metrical rhythm; not to mention it just looks awesome. In this youtube "video," that isn't really a video at all, you can hear a raga played on the sitar.




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