Sitar Playing Posture

Video Transcript

Well to begin with when you want to start playing Sitar you need to be able to sit on the floor in a cross-legged position with your shoes and socks off. This position is with my right leg crossed over my left; you don’t really sit in this kind of a cross-legged position because it is not comfortable for the instrument to hold the instrument. But when you sit in this way which is actually there is a Yoga posture like this. You sit in this way you can rest the instrument on your knee. Some people prefer to, including Ravi Shankar, have their leg down. It doesn’t have to be over their knee and kind of rest it against their thigh. You need to have sufficient distance between your torso and the instrument; you don’t want to hold it too close to you. It is like this. And when you are playing the frets you are actually going to look at the back of the neck and you train yourself to relate these strings which hold the frets on with the frets that you are playing. You hold your thumb down at the point where the neck has a joint here, just before you get to the Gourd and this is going to be your access point your pivot point. You need to place quite a bit of weight on your thumb so that you can move your hand in a way that is both strong and relaxed. You rest your elbow on the Gourd like this, so it is kind of slightly obtuse angle. You don’t want it too close; you don’t want it too far. And, depending on the length of your arm also you will place it a little bit differently. The wrist should be slightly forward of the face of the instrument and your hand should be hanging down comfortably over the strings. Your wrist of course will be slightly bent because your hand is hanging over the strings and then you will be moving in a manner that is something like making a fist and opening except that you won’t stretch your fingers upward, you will keep them together while you are moving your hand.

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