It is strange to see pop musicians with Sitars.
It is perhaps the most famous video of the musician Pandit Ravi Shankar. Sitting before him is George Harrison of the Beatles, eagerly strumming away at a Sitar many times bigger than the guitars he was used to.
I was confused at first. It had too little to do with our classical music. When George Harrison came to me, I didn’t know what to think. But I found he really wanted to learn. I never thought our meeting would cause such an explosion, that Indian music would suddenly appear on the pop scene. It’s peculiar. But out of this, a real interest is growing.
By the time the music maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar reflected on this phenomenon in 1968, the East had firmly entrenched itself in the dominant music of the west. At the time, they called it Raga rock. Bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds fused Indian instruments into their work. Sitars and harmoniums added to the canvas of psychedelic rock. Norwegian Wood, most well known, is a classic Beatles number with a Sitar thrown in for good measure. But other songs, such as “Within You Without You” (from Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) are significantly based on Indian classical composition.
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