Ḋ-Ḋ-D-G-B-E

• OVERVIEW •

My fellow British-based Indian raga explorer Jack Jennings replaces his Strat’s 6+5str with super-light gauges, both tuned to high D tones, in imitation of a sitar‘s chikari: two unfrettable ‘rhythm strings’ on the top side of the large Indian lute, used to add groove and textural colour to the main melody (more info on the instrument below!).

 

Jack’s ingenious restring allows him to emulate Hindustani right-hand ideas on his Strat, while also narrowing the note range to roughly sitaristic territory. It also allows for wider ‘upward bends’ on 3str (as you no longer have to shove the heavy-gauge 6+5str out of the way).

Pattern: 0>0>5>4>5

Harmony: D6/9(sus4) | 1-1-1-4-6-2

• TUNING TONES •

• SOUNDS •

Jack Jennings, a student of sitar maestros Roopa Panesar and Shakir Khan, explores Hindustani raga music across a range of settings. Aside from teaching and releasing videos online, he is a member of the Attuned trio (with Gurdain Rayatt on tabla and Manish Pingle on Indian lap-slide) – and has recently sought to create “a new electric guitar…specially made for playing North Indian Classical Music…incorporating aspects of the sitar into the design” (see the plans here).

 

I asked him for more info on his ‘sitaristic’ setup: “My [1-4str] are from an .11 set: .8 .8 .28 .18 .14 .11 or similar. I find that a thicker G string works much better for bending – it gives you more pitch range before you run out of space on the fretboard”. Watch him demo his re-set Strat below – and also check out lots more content on his excellent YouTube channel.

 

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• Indian-style tricks – Jack Jennings (2020):

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“Donough Sanfay introduced me to the sitar in 2007. He gave me my foundations…from the basic posture to the subtleties of [how] you can accent each note. Through him, I learned the system of sargam, and how to improvise within ragas and rhythm cycles…Developing the ability to play this music on guitar is an ongoing process: I look forward to continuing this journey for the rest of my life…” (Jack Jennings)

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• More on the sitar itself (from my Global Instruments article):

BASICS: Full of deep drones, sweeping bends, and intense bursts of speed, the sitar’s sparkle has found fame around the world. The instrument’s wide melodic capabilities arise from its intricate design: around 20 strings are set in two ‘layers’, with different lengths, tensions, and alloys producing various shades of buzz and sparkle, which combine into a hyper-resonant whole. It has roots in Persian folk instruments, having been introduced to India during the Islamic conquests of the 17th and 18th centuries – although the design was also heavily influenced by India’s own long lineage of droning lutes. Today, it is perhaps the most prominent string instrument in the Hindustani tradition, hailed for its ability to conjure gayaki ang: the expressive fluidity of the human voice.

 

DESIGN: Despite the fame of the sitar’s multi-strung nature, almost all melodic movement happens on just one of them (baaj tar). The six or so running above it (chikari) purely provide percussive timbre – while a layer of around a dozen more is set underneath the frets (taraf), resonating ‘sympathetically’ with the oscillations of the main playing string (in a way, they ‘play themselves’). Musicians fit a metal plectrum (mezrab) onto their index finger, and utilise the low tension to reach sweeping bends of over half an octave – while traversing wide, moveable frets (the scale length of mine is ~880mm: near-identical to my fretless bass).

 

TUNING: The main baaj tar is always set to the raga’s perfect 4th (ma) – with the top-side support layer typically taking roots-4ths-5ths (in sargam: ‘Sa-ma-Pa’), and sympathetic strings set according to the raga‘s required range of swaras (scale steps). Pegs slot directly into the side of the neck, with no gearing mechanism (although you can fine-tune by sliding small swan-shaped ornamental beads placed near the bridge). The tuning process can be awkward (trust me!), but – if carried out with requisite finesse – can sound melodious enough to be mistaken for the performance itself: e.g. Ravi Shankar’s pre-set tune-up received a huge ovation from a 1971 Madison Square Garden crowd, who assumed it to be the main course (I once experienced something at the start of a set in the chillout room of Bristol’s Lakota nightclub…n.b. Being a sitarist myself, I’ve written plenty more on it: e.g. a quick taster for Ragatip, a two–part overview for Darbar, and an interview with Imdadkhani master Shahid Parvez).

 

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• Raag Bhimpalasi – Kushal Das & Satyajit Talwalkar (2010):

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“The cultural history of our motherland is perhaps the most wonderful story of a long and sublime integration. [India] has had to face currents issuing from different foreign sources, as a sequel to the numberless invasions that had been carried out through the ages. But none of the forces could annihilate the inherent vitality of our culture – which assimilated them…and enlarged its own dimension…” (Nikhil Banerjee: for me, probably the G.O.A.T. of sitar)

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• NUMBERS •

	6str	5str	4str	3str	2str	1str
Note	D	D	D	G	B	E
Alteration	22	17	0	0	0	0
Tension (%)	(-)	(-)	0	0	0	0
Freq. (Hz)	294	294	147	196	247	330
Pattern (>)	0	0	5	4	5	–
Semitones	0	0	-12	-7	-3	2
Intervals	1	1	1	4	6	2

• See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!

• RELATED •

—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…

• Carnatic Drone: a droning configuration from South India
• Db Standard: sitar-rooted for Indian bends and ornaments
• Mi-composé: another partially high-strung global layout

• MORE INFO •

—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…

• Jack Jennings: find out more about my fellow raga searcher via his Personal Home and Indian Guitar websites, including his online courses (“I became interested in altered scales…this led me to seek out a sitar teacher…”) – also check out his playing on solo-led raga demos (e.g. Raag Bhairavi & Raag Kafi) and as part of the aforementioned Attuned trio (e.g. Raag Jog)
• Hindustani guitar: Bengali virtuoso Debashish Bhattacharya wields his own self-designed ‘Trinity of Guitars’: consisting of the chaturangui (a 23-string amalgamation of sitar, sarod, violin, and rudra veena), the gandharvi (which blends the 12-string guitar with veena, santoor, and sarangi), and the anandi (a small 4-string slide ukulele) – check out my Darbar interview with the man himself (“Religion and science are useless if they don’t help each other. But I can find myself happy with or without them, lost in the addiction of pure sound, portraying love in the groove of time…I think art will always claim surrendered lovers to itself…I’m a student, and my drive is to learn new things. That’s the best way to live the rest of my life: I’m just the adventurous raga-guitar wala!”)

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Header image: Jack Jennings plus Gurdain Rayatt’s tabla