Tar

Persian tar. Courtesy of Pooyesh

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Name: Tar. Also known as taar. 

Class: Chordophone

 Category:

Origin: Iran

Instrument maker:

Date:  20th century.

Description: A lute type chordophone that is widespread in the Turkish/Azeri/Persian world and the Caucasus. It has a resonance chamber carved in an ";8"shaped block of solid walnut approximately 30x18x18cm, closed on the face with a stretched membrane (usually of sheep bladder) on which the bridge is pressed, much as in the banjo.

The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate box with nine wooden pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect. 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 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).

The most interesting characteristic of today's Tar is that the fingerboard is fretted (using gut or nylon wire, as in the old lutes) so as to divide the octave in seventeen intervals, thereby giving the musician the possibility of using temperate or natural semitones, in order to perform traditional or western music.

The Tar is played with a rather long plectrum and much in the flourishing style of the ";ud". The instrument's body being held in the elbow's pit by a standing player, the right arm is almost parallel to the strings and the plectrum hand keeps them vibrating with a continuous alternating stroke while the left hand runs along the fingerboard with perfect coordination and incredible speed. Interestingly enough, this technique is not forgotten in the West and formed the basis of Django Reinhardt's guitar style: most Gypsy players still use it.

Dimensions: 

Museum or collection: Courtesy of Pooyesh.  

Photo credit: - Courtesy of Pooyesh.  

Information Source: World Music Portal and Pooyesh.  

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Last Updated Thursday, April 03 2003 @ 12:49 PM EST|5,664 Hits