The Turkish Long-Necked Lute Saz or Bağlama

Hans de Zeeuw began to take bağlama lessons and became interested in its long and fascinating history while working at the Free University in Amsterdam and studying at the Open University. This led him to decide to break of his studies and focus, for many years, on research into the Turkish saz or bağlama under the supervision of Dr Leo Plenckers of the Department of Musicology of the University of Amsterdam and Dr Okan Murat Öztürk of the Devlet Konservatuvarı of the Başkent Üniversitesi in Ankara.

Preface and Acknowledgements ;



General Introduction ;



Chapter-1 Historical Background ;


Tanbûr, Saz, Bağlama ;


Early and Late Antiquity ;


The Spike Lute ;


The Necked Lute ;


The Sâsânian Tunbûr ;


The Umayyad and Abbâsid Tanbûrs ;


The Rum-Seljuks ;


The Anatolian Long-Necked Lutes ;


The Ottoman Empire ;


Court and City ;


The Saz in the Work of European Artists and Travellers ;


The Saz in Anatolian Folk Music ;


The Saz in the Âşık, Alevî, and Bektaşî Tradition ;


The Diffusion of the Saz ;


The Republic of Turkey ;


The Saz and the Establishment of a National Musical Culture ;


The Development of the Contemporary Bağlama ;


Towards a New Generation of Bağlamas ;


Trends in Bağlama Performance ;


Migration and the Bağlama in Western Europe ;


The Bağlama in the 21st Century ;



Chapter-2 Variation versus Standardization ;


The Bağlama Family ;


The Cura ;


The Bağlama ;


The Tambura ;


The Divan Sazı ;


The Meydan Sazı ;


Variation versus Standardization ;



Chapter-3 Construction ;


The Choice of Wood ;


The Drying of Wood ;


Construction Process ;


Bowl ;


Soundboard ;


Frets, Bridge, and Strings ;


Ornamentation ;



Chapter-4 Tuning ;


String Tuning ;


Fret Tuning ;


Countryside ;


City ;



Chapter-5 Playing Technique ;


Playing Position ;


Finger Positions ;


Plectrum Techniques ;


Finger Techniques ;


Execution Melody ;


Horizontal Techniques ;


Vertical Techniques ;



Glossary of Musical Instruments and Terms ;



Discography ;



Bibliography ;



Illustration Credits ;



A Note on Turkish ;



Index