Bağlama

The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, Khazar, and Central Asia, including Germany, France, Belgium, Northern Cyprus, Netherlands, Albania, Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey.^[1] It is commonly used by ashiks.

Bağlama

Different sizes of bağlama: Cura (left) and Çöğür bağlama (right)
String instrument
Classification	Plucked string instruments
Related instruments
Tar (lute), Dutar, Setar and Tanbur (Iran) Baglamadaki (Greece) Bouzouki (Greece) Çiftelia Šargija Tambouras (Greece) Balkan tambura (Тамбура) (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Serbia) Buzuq (Lebanon) and (Syria) Tambur
Sound sample
Saz Sound

Name

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "the terms 'bağlama' and 'saz' are used somewhat interchangeably in Turkey. 'Saz' is generally used interchangeably with 'enstrüman' (instrument) and it is used to refer single or group of musical instruments like 'üflemeli sazlar' (wind instruments).^[2]

Bağlama scale

The musical scale of the bağlama differs from that of many western instruments – such as the guitar – in that it features ratios that are close to quarter tones. The traditional ratios for bağlama frets are listed by Yalçın Tura:^[3]

• Fret 1: 18/17
• Fret 2: 12/11
• Fret 3: 9/8
• Fret 4: 81/68
• Fret 5: 27/22
• Fret 6: 81/64
• Fret 7: 4/3
• Fret 8: 24/17
• Fret 9: 16/11
• Fret 10: 3/2
• Fret 11: 27/17
• Fret 12: 18/11
• Fret 13: 27/16
• Fret 14: 16/9
• Fret 15: 32/17
• Fret 16: 64/33
• Fret 17: 2/1

However, as confirmed by Okan Öztürk,^[4] instrument makers now often set frets on the bağlama with the aid of fret calculators^[5] and tuners based on the 24-tone equal temperament. The frets include the 12 tones within 12-tone equal temperament, along with 5 more. This means that 12 tone songs can be played on the Bağlama.

Notable performers

Asik Veysel was a bağlama virtuoso, and the prominent representative of the Anatolian ashik tradition in the 20th century.

Erdinç Ecevit Yıldız from the band Altın Gün performs with an electric bağlama.

• Aşık Veysel (1894–1973)
• Muharrem Ertaş (1913–1984)
• Neşet Ertaş (1938–2012)
• Musa Eroğlu (1945–)
• Orhan Gencebay
• Arif Sağ (1946–)
• Nida Tüfekçi
• Orhan Ölmez
• Aşık Mahzuni Şerif (1940–2002)
• Nuray Hafiftaş (1964–2018)

See also

See also: Lute § History and evolution of the lute

• Alevism
• Art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs
• Baglamas
• Bouzouki (Greece)
• Buzuq (Lebanon & Syria)
• Çiftelia
• Dombra
• Dutar
• Innaby, Azerbaijani dance
• Komuz
• Music of Turkey
• Sallaneh (lute)
• Šargija
• Setar
• Tambura (instrument)
• Tanbur