Make a Guitar Sound Like a Sitar

Sitars can add a cool sound to any song, but they can be quite expensive. If you already have a guitar, you can simply make a few small adjustments to make it sound like a sitar!

Steps

  1. Decide what key the song you are playing is in. The easiest to tune is E.
  2. Make your guitar have a twangy sound. If you are playing an electric, add more treble on your amp and change it to the fourth or fifth pickup. If you are playing an acoustic, simply play closer to the bridge.
  3. Re-tune your strings. For the key of E, tune it like the following (Starting from the lowest string): E B E E B E. If you are tuning to another key, just remember: Your tuning should only include the root or the fifth on all strings, with the highest string being the root.
  4. Play, using the highest string for melody, and the lower strings for a drone.
  5. The most important thing is the following pick technique:
  6. Just as you normally do when you're using your picking hand to do a palm mute at the bridge, move the hand forward while picking, raise it just a hair above the strings, so that when the string vibrates it should tickle your skin on the side of your palm while picking a note. Then it touches the string slightly and acts just like a sitar with a sound similar to a sitar. This works just one string at a time, try the second string first, it works best there.
  7. This is very difficult to describe, but if you try it, and move the palm forward on a string while playing, you'll sure hear when you have reached the sweet spot, and the tone goes "tweeonng" just like a sitar. It's a narrow spot. Just like the sweet spot of a harmonic node on the string. It's on a very narrow spot on the string.
  8. Moving past that point will leave the string vibrating too much and you'll only be muting the note. Be careful not to mute the string completely dead while doing this. This is THE most important thing and hardest to home in. But you should spend like 5 minutes on it in total. Max. You can very well rest your pinky of the picking hand on the top, to help align the side of your palm perfectly over the strings. It works on acoustic guitar too without any effects. Some people call this technique "Curry Picking", a tongue in cheek moniker.



Tips

  • Try learning Norwegian Wood for an easy song in E.
  • Try to play in eastern sounding scales and modes, not your regular blues licks or western scales. Pay attention to how wide bends sitar melodies have.
  • Do not strum the lower string as frequently, but use the higher strings in rhythm with the melody.

Warnings

  • If you tune too high up, you WILL snap your strings.

Things You'll Need

  • A guitar
  • A pick
  • A cable for the guitar
  • An amp

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