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title: 'How is a sitar tuned?'
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date: '2026-10-19T14:58:01+00:00'
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summary: "A sitar's main string is tuned to Ma and the second to Sa, with the sympathetic strings tuned to the notes of the raga."
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  FAQ · Instruments & artforms

# How is a sitar tuned?

 Updated 19 October 2026

 A **[sitar](/instrument/sitar)** has no fixed pitch for Sa, the tonic, so the player sets it; Grinnell's example sets Sa at C4. The main playing string (baaj) is tuned to Ma, a fourth above Sa, and the second string (jod) to Sa. The sympathetic strings run beneath the frets and are tuned to the notes of the raga.



 

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