‘Sitar’ is most well known of the Indian instruments. It is along necked instrument with several strings usually 17. It has three to four playing strings and three to four drone strings. Tuning technique is somewhat similar to other Indian stringed instruments. A wire figure plectrum called ‘mizrab’ is used to pluck the strings. There are also a series of sympathetic strings lying under the frets.  These strings are almost never played but they vibrate whenever the corresponding note is sounded.  The frets are metal rods which have been bent into crescents.  The main resonator is usually made of a gourd and there is sometimes an additional resonator attached to the neck. It is played in north Indian music, film music and western fusion music and not commonly found in south Indian performances and folk music.