{"id":2046,"date":"2010-12-20T12:54:58","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T10:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mandoisland.com\/?p=2046"},"modified":"2018-11-02T11:24:20","modified_gmt":"2018-11-02T09:24:20","slug":"the-tar-an-important-long-neck-lute-from-persia-azerbaijan-and-armenia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mandoisland.com\/?p=2046","title":{"rendered":"The Tar – An Important Long Neck Lute from Persia, Azerbaijan and Armenia"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you need a break from the holiday music at the moment, maybe it is a good idea to listen to some music of a completely different culture.<\/p>\n

I have collected some videos with an instrument that is used in Persia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – the tar<\/strong>. There are many more interesting videos, including some lessons on how to play the tar. You can use the youtube search links I have added at the end to find more!<\/p>\n

In the Atlas of Plucked Instruments<\/a> we can find the basic information about the tar:<\/p>\n

The body of the Azeri tar <\/em> has a double-bowl (figure-of-eight) shape, carved from one piece of mulberry wood. It lacks the slanting sides of the Iranian tar<\/em>, and the top half is rounded. The front is a thin membrane of stretched bladder.<\/p>\n

The neck is glued to the body (which has a strengthening stick through it) and a separate (quite large) square pegbox. The friction pegs (with big round knobs) are on both sides of the open pegbox. The frets are tied-on nylon (4 windings), with some in 1\/4 note intervals (based on 17 intervals in an octave). These fret intervals differ from the Iranian tar<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ramiz Guliyev – Tar<\/h4>\n

Ramiz Guliyev playing “Tar ” Azerbaijan’s national instrument<\/p><\/blockquote>\n