Dr. Dwight Gatwood of UTM's Music Department gave a look into the world of music in India on Tuesday by discussing and demonstrating one of the country's most popular native instruments, the sitar.

The sitar is an instrument with seven strings that are played, as well as a number of sympathetic strings. It has been around since the 13th or 14th century, when it was created as a combination of two instruments, the Indian veena and the Persian sehtar.

The sitar makes a very distinctive and familiar sound to fans of international music. The "brrroiiiinnng" sound is created as the strings basically slap each other as they are played. This sound is also partly created because of the material from which part of the sitar is made. The most noticeable part of the instrument is a gourd at the bottom of the instrument. Gourds are related to plants such as squash and pumpkins, with the difference being that gourds become hardened rather than rotting, and gourds can be hollowed out. This helps make the sound of the sitar reverberate.

Probably the most interesting aspect of the sitar that Dr. Gatwood showed the crowd of observers was the way that it has to be played. The player must remove his/her shoes and socks and place his left foot underneath the right thigh. They must then balance the gourd body of the instrument against the bare foot and right forearm, leaving the left arm free to play the instrument.

Music plays a large part in the cultures of other countries, just as it does in the United States today. Dr. Gatwood's presentation, as part of International Week, gave his listeners a small look into the sitar's workings and its place in the music of India.