Turkish Bağlama Saz String Instrument Model High Neck

Bağlama String Instrument

The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, Iraq and the Balkan countries. Bağlama is Turkish from bağlamak, “to tie”. It is pronounced pronounced. Saz (Persian: ساز‎) means “to make; to compose” in Persian. It is pronounced pronounced. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, “the terms ‘bağlama’ and ‘saz’ are used somewhat interchangeably in Turkey.” Like the Western lute and the Middle-Eastern oud, it has a deep round back, but a much longer neck. It can be played with a plectrum or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe. In the music of Greece the name baglamas is given to a treble bouzouki, a related instrument. The Turkish settlement of Anatolia from the late eleventh century onward saw the introduction of a two-string Turkmen dutar, which was played in some areas of Turkey until recent times.