There are three main types of sitars, with the Ravishankar type being the most popular. It is a long stringed instrument, with a large wooden body at one end and usually 5 strings that extend from the body up the finger board to tuning pegs at the other end.

The sitar is an instrument that is popular in southeastern Asia. People adapted the shape and how it was played in many different ways, resulting in amazing instruments like guitars, mandolins, bases, cellos, and banjos. This general instrument structure, a curved wooden instrument with several strings, became very popular across many cultures. Though it was called a viol or lyre, it had a larger wooden body and many strings than modern-day violins or violas. The earliest version of the violin was likely developed in the 10 th century in Europe. Though instruments with two strings, like the Ravanastron, are still used today, people began adding more strings and creating a bigger instrument body, leading to instruments like the violin. Over time, string instruments evolved to change in size, shape, and pitch. There have also been very old harps found in Egyptian tombs. Harps are fairly simple to make, and a 2550 year old one was found in Iraq. It can be played with a bow.Īnother ancient instrument is the harp, of which versions are found all around the world. This kind of instrument is made up of two strings connected at the bottom to a hollow drum shape and extend to a long neck with tuning pegs. One instrument is very similar to modern-day Ravanastron, which is local to Sri Lanka. The oldest stringed instruments found in the archaeological record are all around 2500 years ago, but come from different parts of the world. Archaeologists have found images of what appear to be stringed instruments painted on cave walls, but instruments this old have not yet been found. This is due to the strings and instrument body being made of materials that break down more quickly in short periods of time. String instruments have a long and rich history but are perhaps the most difficult types of instruments to find in the archaeological record. String instruments are characterized by having strings that are caused to vibrate in some way, either by plucking or using a bow. This week, we’ll be looking at the string instrument family.

Types of stringed instruments