Long-necked stringed instrument of northern India, the dominant instrument in Hindustani music.
It is used in ensembles and as a solo instrument with the tamboura (drone-lute) and tabla . The sitar developed from the Middle Eastern tanbur . It has a deep pear-shaped gourd body, metal strings, front and side tuning pegs, a wide neck, and movable frets. It normally has four or five melody strings, which are plucked with a plectrum worn on the forefinger; several drone strings; and numerous sympathetic strings (strings caused to vibrate by the other strings' vibrations). A gourd resonator is attached to the top of the neck.