Harmonic

s in Sitar
Siddharth S. Shukla

‘Kala Saurabh’

Khairagarh
Harmonics in Sitar
Siddharth S. Shukla

The Sitar is unique in its own ways in terms of physics it utilizes to produce its
own timber. The resonating gourd and sympathetic string provide it the acoustics to be
called Sitar, moreover in recent studies it has been discovered that due to Jawari of the
instrument, it produces dynamic harmonics1 which is unique in stringed instruments. This
paper concentrates to describe the use of harmonics in Sitar.

In history of music, Harmonics is basis of construction of notes, scales, octaves. 2 In Indian

context the great musicologist ‘Pdt. Ahobal’ first demonstrated the positions of notes in
relation to harmonics of a Veena string in ‘Sangeet Parijat’. Sitar is a representative of old
Indian string instrument Veena and my article focuses on establishment of harmonic notes
on Sitar and providing its practical use in Sitar playing which very few artist actually did.
In today’s time use of harmonic note on Sitar is limited to one or two notes only which is
used for tuning some strings.

Harmonic note: A harmonic note is a musical note played by preventing or amplifying 

vibration of certain overtones of a string of an instrument. 3 To understand harmonic note
we need to understand the procedure of production of sound from a string.

When a string is plucked, it oscillates producing series of frequencies. The lowest normal
mode frequency is known as the fundamental frequency, while the higher frequencies are
called overtones. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz) which means oscillations per
second.
The fundamental frequency determines the pitch of the note which is determined by
number of factors such as length of the string, tension and linear density of the string.

Length: The frequency is inversely proportional to the length: 4 A string twice as long
will produce a tone of half the frequency (one octave lower).

Tension: The frequency is proportional to the square root of the tension: 5

Linear density: The frequency is inversely proportional to the square root of the linear
density:6 Given two strings of equal length and tension, the string with higher mass per
unit length will produce the lower pitch.

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In a string of a musical instrument when a string is plucked it also produces overtones with
fundamental frequency, these overtones are responsible for timber of sound or we can say
the characteristics of voice. Timber is dependent on the number of overtones produced by
the instrument along with the fundamental frequency.

Overtone: In the event of production of sound, an overtone is any frequency higher than

the fundamental frequency of a sound. The fundamental and the overtones together are
called partials.  Harmonics, or more precisely, harmonic partials are partials whose
frequencies are integer multiples of the fundamental (including the fundamental which is 1
times itself). These overlapping terms are variously used when discussing the acoustic
behaviour of musical instruments.7

Harmonics: The overtones which are integer multiple of fundamental frequency are
called harmonics. All overtones are not harmonics but all harmonics are overtones. If the
fundamental frequency is f, then the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f and so on.

Harmonics are of two types Natural and artificial discussed later.

Harmonic note: A harmonic note is a

musical note played by preventing or
amplifying vibration of
certain overtones
 of a string of an instrument hence
harmonic note is essentially higher in
pitch to the base note and pleasant to
hear. While playing harmonic note an
artist avoids other frequencies by
touching the string on certain points
called nodal points of the overtone.

Figure 1 showing harmonic motion of a string.

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 OVERTONES FREQUENCY Harmonics or partial tones
[Hz]

If Fundamental frequency = 220 1st harmonic

1st overtone 440 2nd harmonic
2nd overtone 660 3rd harmonic
3rd overtone 880 4th harmonic
4th overtone 1100 5th harmonic
5th overtone 1320 6th harmonic
6th overtone 1540 7th harmonic
7th overtone 1760 8th harmonic

A harmonic note or partial is essentially higher in pitch compared to the fundamental note
because it’s a multiple of base note. The first overtone is directly one octave higher than
the base note.

If we consider a string of Sitar or Tanpura to be tuned in 220Hz considering it to be Shadaj

then following notes will be produced by Harmonics.

OVERTONES FREQUENCY [Hz] EQUVILANT IN INDIAN

NOTES
Fundamental frequency 220 Mandra Shadaj
1st overtone 440 Madhya Shadaj
2nd overtone 660 Pancham
3rd overtone 880 Tar Shadaj
4th overtone 1100 Tar Gandhar
5th overtone 1320 Pancham(Tar)
6th overtone 1540 Komal Nishad (Tar)
7th overtone 1760 Ati Tar Shadaj
8th overtone 1980 Ati Tar Rishabh
9th overtone 2200 Atitar Gandhar

Nodal Point: The nodal points or nodes of natural harmonics are located at the whole
number fractions of a string.

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 Figure 2 showing nodes on a string.

In reference to musical
string instruments, the total
length of string counted is
from bridge to bridge and
the nodal points are located
in fractions of length from
bridge to bridge of the
string.

Figure 3 showing nodal points of guitar finger board.8

Since the nodal points are located in fractions of length of the string therefore to get the
position of nodal point of a given string we have to divide the total length of string to the
fractions respectively.

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Nodal points ¿ n × L

Where n is sequence of harmonic and L is total length of string.

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If we consider a string of 100 cm length tuned at 220 Hz then

NODAL HARMONICS FRE.[Hz] LENGTH OF INTERVAL

POINT Cm
st
0 1 harmonic 220 100
1 2nd harmonic 440 50
2 3rd harmonic 660 33.3
3 4th harmonic 880 25
4 5th harmonic 1100 20
5 6th harmonic 1320 16.66
6 7th harmonic 1540 14.28
7 8th harmonic 1760 12.5
8 9th harmonic 1980 11.11

Technique for playing harmonic

note: Harmonics are most often
played by lightly placing a finger on a
string at a nodal point of one of the
overtones at the moment when the
string is struck. The finger
immediately damps all overtones that
do not have a node near the location
touched. This gentle touching of a
string will force it into a harmonic
mode.9

As described in figure 4 if a string is

tuned at 110 Hz, touching at the nodal
points will produce harmonics at the
respective nodes which are multiple of
frequencies of fundamental frequency.

Figure 4

Nodal points on string of Sitar: According to the above mentioned formula the nodal
point of a Sitar string can be calculated.

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 1
Nodal points ¿ n × L

Mostly all Sitars have bridge to bridge length of around 30 to 35 inches/ 90 cm.

In this case study I have used my Sitar which has length of 90 cm. This is a crucial
measurement10 because when a person measures bridge to bridge length it includes the
length of bridge. In Sitar considering two bridges one bridge has contact point of
negligible length but the other bridge called Jawari has significant amount of length along
the string contact point.

Hence to calculate the length of freely suspended string of Sitar we have to minus the
length of Jawari from total length. In this case my Jawari is 3 cm long hence the total
freely suspended string length comes to 90 - 3 cm = 87 cm. *

NODAL HARMONICS LENGTH OF INTERVAL

POINT Cm

0 1st harmonic 87
1 2nd harmonic 43.5
2 3rd harmonic 29
3 4th harmonic 21.75
4 5th harmonic 17.14
5 6th harmonic 14.5
6 7th harmonic 12.42

Likewise all the nodes can be found for the string however practically it is difficult or not
possible to produce harmonic after 5th harmonic on the Sitar since it is very low in volume.

* Note: Neglecting the curve of Jawari and thus neglecting dynamic harmonics.

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 Figure 5 showing nodal points on Sitar

Practical implementation of harmonics in Sitar.

1. To tune the Sitar.

2. To define placement of frets.

3. To add artistic acrobatic and aesthetics in a performance.

Harmonics are used to tune the Sitar. Almost all good Sitar players (at least) know to play
one or two overtone on the first and second string. But most of them don’t utilize this
technique on the stage during the performance and neither they use harmonics during
Raga performance except Pt. Balram Pathak who introduced playing of harmonic notes as
melody or phrases of ragas in real time concerts as per my knowledge.

The Shadaj is generally tuned in C# but there are variations in the key. Pdt. Ravi Shankar
in 70’s sometimes used to tune Sitar in C and later in C# and finally shifted to D in last
quarter of life. He suggested tuning my Sitar in D and giving performance in C #. Artist
like

Ust. Shahid Parvez sometimes tune Sitar in D#. Pdt. Nikhil Bannerji tuned his Sitar in
between C# and D.

The second string of Sitar is considered to hold the main note in which the instrument has
to be tuned. The second string called Jodi, is tuned in Shadaj or Sa.

Considering the second string to be tuned in C#, Shadaj, the Jodi is reference for all the
other strings in the instrument. Hence producing harmonics on Jodi provides reference for
other notes and thus provides help for tuning.

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NODAL HARMONICS LENGTH OF FRE.[Hz] EQUVILANT IN
INTERVAL On INDIAN NOTES Shadaj
POINT Sitar strings in Cm = C# = 138.5Hz

0 1st harmonic 87 138.5 Mandra Shadaj

1 2nd harmonic 43.5 277.1 Madhya Shadaj
2 3rd harmonic 29 415.7 Pancham
3 4th harmonic 21.75 554.3 Tar Shadaj
4 5th harmonic 17.14 692.9 Tar Gandhar
5 6th harmonic 14.5 831.5 Pancham(Tar)
6 7th harmonic 12.42 970.1 ~Komal Nishad (Tar)

Therefore playing 2nd harmonic on Jodi provides reference for Madhya Sa. Playing 3rd
harmonic on Jodi provides reference for Pancham. There are two playable nodes for
Pancham at 29 cm and 58 cm. Playing 4th harmonic on Jodi provides reference for Tar Sa.
There are three playable nodes for Tar Shadaj at 21.75 cm, 43.5cm and 58 cm however at
43.5 cm there is node for 2nd harmonic as well and volume of 2nd harmonic is dominant.
Playing 5th harmonic on Jodi provides reference for Tar Gandhar. There are four playable
nodes for Tar Gandhar at 17.4 cm, 34.8 cm, 52.2 cm and 69.6 cm. Playing 6 th harmonic on
Jodi provides reference for Tar Pancham and playing 7th harmonic on Jodi can provide
reference for Komal Nishad theoretically but practically it is very difficult to produce on
Sitar and even if it is produced, its volume is very low and practically has no use.

NODAL HARMONICS LENGTH OF FRE.[Hz] EQUVILANT IN

INTERVAL On Sitar INDIAN NOTES
POINT strings in cm

0 1st harmonic 87 184.8 Mandra Ma

1 2nd harmonic 43.5 369.6 Madhya Ma
2 3rd harmonic 29 554.4 Tar Shadaj
3 4th harmonic 21.75 739.2 Near Dhaivat

The first string of Sitar called Baaj or ‘the main’ string. Playing 2nd harmonic on Baaj
provides Madhya Madhyam. Playing 3rd harmonic on Baaj produces Tar Shadaj. There are
two playable nodes for Tar Shadaj at 29 cm and 58 cm.

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NODAL HARMONICS LENGTH OF FRE.[Hz] EQUVILANT IN
INTERVAL On Sitar INDIAN NOTES
POINT strings in cm

0 1st harmonic 87 103.9 Mandra Pancham

1 2nd harmonic 43.5 207.85 Madhya Pancham
2 3rd harmonic 29 311.7 Rishabh
3 4th harmonic 21.75 415.6 Tar Pancham
4 5th harmonic 17.14 519.5 Tar Nishad

The third string of Laraj Kharaj Sitar is tuned in Mandra Pancham. Playing 2 nd harmonic
on 3rd string produces Madhya Pancham. Playing 3rd harmonic on 3rd string provides
Rishabh. There are two playable nodes for Rishabh at 29 cm and 58 cm. Playing 4 th
harmonic on 3rd string provides Tar Pancham. There are three playable nodes for Tar
Pancham at 21.75 cm, 43.5cm and 58 cm however at 43.5 cm there is node for 2 nd
harmonic as well and volume of 2nd harmonic is dominant.

Harmonics for the placement of frets on the Sitar.

As told by the Sitar makers11 harmonics are used to place frets correctly in the place. The
frets of Sitar are moveable and every Sitar has its own characteristics like shape, size,
Javari etc hence one can’t fix a standard for the placement of frets on the Sitar. Using the
harmonics, placement of fret is defined in Sitar.

First of all after approximately tying the frets on the finger board, the 11th fret (Madhya
Madhyam) is positioned below the first overtone of first string or we can say first nodal
point which is half of the length of the string from the bridge. Since the first string is tuned
in Madhyam therefore its 1st harmonic is also Madhyam hence the 11th fret should be
below Madhyam. After this, the seventh of Shadaj is placed below the 3 rd harmonic since
the first string is tuned in Madhyam therefore its 3rd harmonic is Shadaj and all the other
frets are positioned with reference to this. For tuning Rishabh fret, 3rd harmonic of
Pancham string (third string of Laraj Kharaj) is used.

Another observation is that all the frets are slightly before the respective nodal points
because while playing harmonics the angle of string with respect to plain is zero degree but
while playing a note via fret the angle of string changes with respect to plain thus the frets
are just before respective nodal points.
To conclude about tuning, the placement of bridge, placement of frets and the nodal points
are correlated.

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To add artistic acrobatic and aesthetics in a performance only a few
harmonics on open string (called natural harmonic) are not sufficient. To get more
harmonics a technique is used called Artificial Harmonics.

Artificial harmonics are harmonics which are produced by altering the length of
instrument’s string. In case of fretted instruments such as Sitar when length of string is
reduced by pressing string on a fret as when playing a note, and producing harmonic on
new string length is called artificial harmonics.

With this technique player can get harmonics of any desired note. Guitar players utilize
many artificial overtones of one fret. In Sitar only one overtone of every note seems
sufficient since no work has done upon it by any artist except Pdt Balram Pathak. Below is
a list of measurements and 1st overtone of artificial harmonics on string of subjective Sitar.
However it is very tricky to play harmonics after the 11 th fret and the harmonics are of very
high pitch and do not seem to be aesthetically important moreover they are very less
audible hence we can conclude that in case of Sitar, artificial harmonics till 11th fret are
only important.

Fret Note LENGTH OF 1st OVERTONE AT

No. STRING FROM cm
BRIDGE in cm
1. Tivra Madhyam 82.2 41.1
2. Pancham 77.6 38.8
3. Komal Dhaivat 73.8 36.9
4. Dhaivat 70 35
5. Komal Nishad 65.8 32.9
6. Nishad 62.2 31.1
7. Shadaj 58.8 29.4
8. Rishabh 52.6 26.3
9. Komal Gandhar 50 25
10. Gandhar 47.4 23.7
11. Madhyam 44.8 22.4
12. Tivra Madhyam 42.2 21.1
13. Pancham 39.8 19.9
14. Dhaivat 36 18
15. Komal Nishad 33.8 16.9
16. Nishad 31.8 15.9
17. Shadaj 30.3 15.1
18. Rishabh 27.4 13.7
19. Gandhar 24.5 12.25
20. Madhyam 22.8 11.4

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Sympathetic Resonance and harmonics
Sitar is an instrument having sympathetic strings. Sympathetic strings vibrate
automatically when a similar note is played on the instrument. This happens due to
physical property of string resonance. “The resonance can be described as increase in
amplitude of oscillation of system exposed to a periodic force whose frequency is equal or
very close to the natural un-damped frequency of the system.”12

In my study I have seen that sympathetic resonance also occurs at the harmonic
frequencies. In Sitar if we play Jodi string, the sympathetic string of Sa is vibrated and
along with it sympathetic string of its harmonics also vibrates which are Pancham and
Gandhar. This is because the frequency of Jodi is 138.5Hz and its 3 rd harmonic is 415.7Hz
which is equal to frequency of Pancham, and so on. Especially in Sitar of Laraj Kharaj
type while playing the Kharaj Shadaj the sympathetic string of Gandhar specially vibrates
with intensity. This is because of inert resonance of instrument; the Gandhar is 5 th
harmonic of that string. Similarly when Kharaj Pancham is played its 3rd harmonic,
Rishabh sympathetic string is greatly audible. The value and the amplitude of these
resonances greatly depend upon the shape and size of Tumba of Sitar which is a resonator
for the instrument.

Conclusions: 1. Formula derived for finding nodal point on a string and nodal points
derived for subjective Sitar.

2. Harmonics and their equivalent Indian notes derived on the subjective Sitar along with
their measurements.

3. Artificial harmonics defined and derived for the first string of subjective Sitar.

4. Not all harmonics are musically utilitarian, musically useful overtones described.

5. Use of harmonics to tune the Sitar and to define placement of frets explained. Reason
for sympathetic harmonic resonance explained.

1. LI, ZHIYE ET AL, ALL THIS BUZZ ABOUT THE SITAR: PHYSICALLYMODELINGLY SPEAKING. MUSIC DEPARTMENT,
TULANE UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS, UNITED STATESPARK@TULANE.EDU, ZLI@TULANE.EDU

2. HEWITT, MICHAEL (2013). MUSICAL SCALES OF THE WORLD, THE NOTE TREE. ISBN 978-0957547001.

3. JAHNEL, FRANZ. MANUAL OF GUITAR TECHNOLOGY: THE HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY OF PLUCKED STRING
INSTRUMENTS, BOLD STRUMMER, 2000 ISBN 9780933224995

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4. HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/STRING_INSTRUMENT#CITE_REF-MP_1-0

5. IBID.

6. CHISHOLM, HUGH, ED. (1911). "STRINGED INSTRUMENTS". ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA (11TH ED.).

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

7. ALEXANDER J. ELLIS (TRANSLATING HERMANN HELMHOLTZ): ON THE SENSATIONS OF TONE AS A PHYSIOLOGICAL

BASIS FOR THE THEORY OF MUSIC, PAGES 24 AND 25. 1885, REPRINTED BY DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC., NEW
YORK, 1954.

8. HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:GUITAR_HARMONIC_NODES.SVG

9. KENNAN, KENT AND GRANTHAM, DONALD (2002/1952). THE TECHNIQUE OF ORCHESTRATION, P.69. SIXTH
EDITION. ISBN 0-13-040771-2

10. LI, ZHIYE ET AL, ALL THIS BUZZ ABOUT THE SITAR: PHYSICALLYMODELINGLY SPEAKING. MUSIC DEPARTMENT,
TULANE UNIVERSITY NEW ORLEANS, UNITED STATESPARK@TULANE.EDU, ZLI@TULANE.EDU

11. SHARMA, SANJAY, RIKHIRAM MUSIC, NEW DELHI. AND OTHERS.

12.THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FOURTH EDITION 2000 BY HOUGHTON
MIFFLIN COMPANY. PUBLISHED BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

Siddharth S. Shukla

Strings Department
Faculty of Music
IKSVV
Khairagarh C.G.
India

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