Editing Sitar (section)

==Tuning of sitar==

{{unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}
Tuning depends on the sitarist's school or style, tradition and each artist's personal preference. The main playing string is almost invariably tuned a perfect fourth ''above'' the tonic, the second string being tuned to the tonic. The tonic in the Indian solfège system is referred to as ''ṣaḍja'', ''ṣaḍaj'', or the shortened form ''sa'', or ''khaṛaj'', a dialectal variant of ''ṣaḍaj'', not as ''vād'', and the perfect fifth to which one or more of the drones strings are tuned is referred to as ''pañcam'', not ''samvād''.

The player should re-tune for each [[raga]]. Strings are tuned by [[tuning peg]]s, and the main playing strings can be fine-tuned by sliding a bead threaded on each string just below the bridge.

[[File:Sitar jawari.jpg|thumb| A black [[ebony]] wood ''Jawari'']]
In one or more of the more common tunings (used by Ravi Shankar, among others, called "Kharaj Pancham" sitar) the playable strings are strung in this fashion:
* ''Chikari'' strings: Sa (high), Sa (middle), and Pa.
* ''Kharaj'' (bass) strings: Sa (low) and Pa (low).
* ''Jod'' and ''baaj'' strings, Sa and Ma.

There is a lot of stylistic variance within these tunings, and like most Indian stringed instruments, there is no default tuning. Mostly, tunings vary by schools of teaching ([[gharana]]) and the piece that is meant to be played.