My first sitar lesson

One of the highlights of Bombay was sitar shopping, and in the process, getting my first sitar lesson. I kept trying to compare it to other stringed instruments, like the harp or guitar, but it's totally unique...and really difficult to learn!

First even just holding it is a process. You must sit cross-legged on the floor, and the sitar is balanced between your left foot and right knee. Considering how hard it is for me to even sit Indian-style, this was quite a challenge ;) The entire instrument is balanced with your legs, so your hands are free to move freely.

My instructor, a third-generation professional sitar player (whose cd's lined the music stores walls), was the epitome of patience. Sitting across from me, he demonstrated a riff on the sitar, and then I was expected to mimic back. Definitely a case of a professional making something look easy! The thumb stays anchored on the fretboard, and your index and middle fingers are used for pluck. What's pretty incredible is the range of sounds you get from the strings. The most basic is just plucking. But then you can also literally "pull" the string out, and get a sound almost resembling the human voice. Pulling the string out while playing was a definite psychological barrier for me, as anything remotely resembling that on a harp would just break the string in two. But for the sitar, that's all part of the playing.

After one lesson, I was hooked. Now I just need to find a teacher in Hyderabad...