How Do You Tune Indian String Instruments?
Indian stringed musical instruments are tuned to a specific tonal center, rather like an open tuning on the guitar. An instrument such as the sitar has droning sympathetic strings that are tuned to the key of the piece of music being played. The approach to tuning the sitar, explained below, is similar to tuning other Indian stringed instruments. Use the most common tuning for the sitar, which is C. Tune the second string (from the top side of the instrument) to the C one octave below middle C by using an electronic tuner. Pluck the string with your finger and adjust the tuning peg until the string is at the same pitch as displayed on the tuner. This string is now tuned to the key (or tonic) of the piece of music (C). Tune the fourth, sixth and seventh strings (from the top side of the instrument) to C: The fourth to two octaves below middle C, the sixth to middle C, and the seventh to one octave above middle C. Pluck each string and adjust the corresponding tuning peg until the string
