Tar: Iran musical instrument
Tar is a Persian long-necked waist-musical instrument that is used in many countries like Iran, Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia ...
https://worldhitz4u.blogspot.com/2013/12/tar-iran-musical-instrument.html
Tar is a Persian long-necked
waist-musical instrument that is used in many countries like Iran, Armenia,
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and some other countries that are around the
Caucasus region. In the Persian language, the word tar means ‘string’ and it is
believed that the name might have the same meaning in any region that the
Persian has influenced or any of the branches of Iranian language like the
Kurdish. For this reason the Iranian expert concluded that the tar must be
common among all the Iranian people as well as the countries that have the
Iranian cultures as their heritage. This was the source of the claims that the
dutar, guitar, setar, and sitar all emanated from this musical instrument.
Though the musical instrument was believed to be developed in the Persian
Empire but the actual region where it was first produced is yet to be
confirmed. The tar is one of the most important musical instruments in Iran and
the Caucasus region. The formation, compilation, edition and passing down of
the most readable version of the radif are all done on the tar.
source of picture: nasehpour.tripod.com
The tar showed up in its present form
in the middle of the 18th century in the Persian region. The body of
the instrument is a double-bowl shape constructed from the mulberry wood having
a thin membrane that is made from the lamb-skin to covering the top. The finger
board is possessing about 25 to 28 adjustable gut frets with about three double
courses of strings. Its range is at least about two and one-half octaves and
can be played with a pointed plectrum. The long and narrow neck of the musical
instrument has a flat finger board running level to the membrane and stops in
an elaborate peg box that has 6 wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions and
this added to the decorative effect of the instrument.
The melodies that are performed on
the tar were believed to be useful for headache and melancholy, also it is
considered to be a good eliminator of nervousness and muscle spasms. It
believed that listening to the instrument can create philosophical mood that
can compel the listener to reflect upon the thing of this life and can cause a
person to fall asleep.