For other uses of this term, including another kind of musical instrument, see tar (disambiguation).

Tar

Woman playing the tar in a painting from the Hasht-Behesht Palace in Isfahan, Iran, 1669

Iranian Tar

The tar is a long-necked, waisted lute found in Azerbaijan, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and other areas near the Caucasus region. Esfahān or Isfahan (historically also rendered as Ispahan or Hispahan, Old Persian: Aspadana, Middle Persian: Spahān Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck (either Fretted or unfretted and a deep round back or more specifically to an instrument from Azerbaijan ( English; Azərbaycan officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan Respublikası is the largest and most populous country in the South For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East The word tar (تار) itself means "string" in Persian. This is claimed to be the root of the names of the Persian setar and the guitar as well as less widespread instruments such as the dutar and the Indian sitar. Setar ( Persian: سه ‌تار, from seh, meaning "three" and tār, meaning "string" is a Persian musical instrument The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles The dutar ( Persian: دو تار, Uzbek: dutor (also dotar or doutar) is a traditional long-necked two-stringed Lute The sitar ( Hindi: सितार Urdu: ستار Persian: سی تار) is a Plucked stringed instrument. The exact place of origin of the tar cannot be confirmed. However, the tar was invented in the territories of, or influenced by, the Persian Empire: Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, and parts of the former Soviet republics, such as Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Tar is one of the most important Iranian and Azerbaijani musical instruments. The formation, compilation, edition, and inheritance of the most authentic and most comprehensive versions of radif are all worked on tar. Radif ( Persian: ردیف meaning order in Persian) is a collection of many old melodic figures preserved through many generations by oral tradition The general trends of Persian classical music have been deeply influenced by tar players.

Physical characteristics

The tar appeared in its present form in the middle of the eighteenth century. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system The body is a double-bowl shape carved from mulberry wood, with a thin membrane of stretched lamb-skin covering the top. The long flat fingerboard has twenty-five to twenty-eight adjustable gut frets, and there are three double courses of strings. The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments is a part of most Stringed instruments It is a thin long strip of Wood that is A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a Stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck A string is the vibrating element that is the source of vibration in String instruments such as the Guitar, Harp, Piano, and members Its range is about two and one-half octaves, and it is played with a small brass plectrum. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems Brass is any Alloy of Copper and Zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties Often called a pick or plec, a plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument.

The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate pegbox with six wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect. A pegbox is the part of certain stringed Musical instruments ( Violin, Viola, Cello, Double bass) that houses the Tuning A tuning peg is used to hold a string in the Pegbox of a stringed instrument. It has three courses of double "singing" strings (each pair tuned in unison: the first two courses in plain steel, the third in wound copper), that are tuned in fourths (C, G, C) plus one "flying" bass string (wound in copper and tuned in G, an octave lower than the singing middle course) that runs outside the fingerboard and passes over an extension of the nut. There are also two pairs of shorter sympathetic strings that run under the bass and over two small copper bridges about midway on the upper side of the fingerboard: their tuning is variable according to the piece to be played and with the performer's tastes: (the tuning is somewhat imprecise also because both strings of the same pair are tightened by the same peg). Sympathetic strings or resonance strings are auxiliary strings found on many Indian musical instruments as well as some Western Baroque instruments and a variety

The Persian tar used to have five strings. The sixth string was added to the tar by Darvish Khan. Darvish Khan ( Gholam Hossein Darvish, 1872 in Tehran – 22 November, 1926) was a Persian classical musician and a tar This string is today's fifth string of the Iranian tar. The Azerbaijani tar, designed by Sadigjan, has a slightly different build and has more strings. Sadigjan ( Azeri: Sadıqcan) also spelled Sadikhjan or Sadiqjan born Sadig Asadoglu (1846 Shusha – 1902 Shusha) was an It is an essential component of the traditional Azeri mugham trio (see Sazanda). For the town in Armenia see Mugam Armenia. Mugham also spelled as Mugam ( Azeri: Muğam) is one of the many musical A sazanda or sazandar ( Azeri: sazəndə; Persian: سازنده alternative spellings in English sazende, sazande,

Music therapy

The melodies performed on tar were considered useful for headache, insomnia and melancholy, as well as for eliminating nervous and muscle spasms. Listening to this instrument was believed to induce a quiet and philosophical mood, compelling the listener to reflect upon life. Its solemn melodies were thought to cause a person to relax and fall asleep.

The author of Qabusnama (11th century) recommends that when selecting musical tones (perde), to take into account the temperament of the listener (see Four temperaments). Qabus nama or Qabus nameh Qabusnamah Qabousnameh Ghabousnameh or Ghaboosnameh in Persian قابوس‌نامه book of Qabus is a major work of Persian literature Erich Adickes, Eduard Spränger, Ernst Kretschmer, and Erich Fromm all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names and greatly He suggested that lower pitched tones (bem) were effective for persons of sanguine and phlegmatic temperaments, while higher pitched tones (zil) were helpful for those who were identified with a choleric temperament or melancholic temperament.

Some contemporary tar players

• Ramiz Quliyev[1]
• Mohammad Reza Lotfi
• Haji Memmedov
• Majid Derakhshani
• Hossein Alizadeh
• Parham Nassehpoor
• Payam Jahanmani
• Hamid Motebassem
• Kayvan Saket
• Daniel Hormozi
• Aidin Okhovat

See also

• Music of Azerbaijan
• Music of Iran
• Music of Cetral Asia
• Music of Armenia
• Iranian tar players

External links

• Medieval music therapy
• Nay-Nava the Encyclopedia of Persian Music Instruments
• dejkam.com (mp3's)
• tebyan.net (wma)
• Dariush Talai
• Parham Nassehpoor (mp3's)