Sitar

A late 19th-century sitar from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, decorated from pegbox to gourd. The rounded body is a gourd, and the long hollow neck carries curved, raised frets that can be moved for fine adjustments of tuning. Under those frets runs a second set of sympathetic strings, which resonate with the main strings to give the sitar its lush, shimmering halo. That sound has been at the heart of Hindustani classical music for centuries.