Baglama

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The bağlama is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Turkish bağlamak means 'to tie,' a reference to the tied-on frets of the instrument. Like most stringed instruments, it can either be played with a plectrum (i.e., pick), or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe.

Contents 1 Turkish bağlama 2 The kopuz and the baglama 3 Baglama (Saz) family 4 Baglama accords 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Turkish bağlama

The bağlama, sometimes referred to as saz or a member of saz family, is the fundamental instrument in Turkish folk music. Its name literally translates to "something that is tied up".

The bağlama is a string instrument consisting of 7 strings divided into groups of 2, 2 and 3. These groups of strings can be tuned to different combinations, each corresponding to a different system.

The bağlama is believed to be a synthesis of historical musical instruments in Central Asia and pre-Turkish Anatolia. Bağlama is the most commonly used string folk instrument in Turkey. It takes different names according to the regions and according to its size such as Bağlama, Divan Sazı, Bozuk, Çöğür, Kopuz Irızva, Cura, Tambura, etc.

Cura is the smallest member of the bağlama family with the highest pitched sound. The member one size bigger than cura which gives a sound that is one octave lower than cura is the tambura. And the one with the deepest sound is the Divan sazı whose sound is one octave lower compared to tambura. Bağlama has three main parts called Tekne(the bowl), Göğüs(sounding board) and Sap(neck). Tekne part is generally made from mulberry trees as well as from woods of juniper, beech, spruce or walnut. The göğüs part is made from spruce and the sap section from beech or juniper. There are pieces called burgu (literally screw, here tuning peg) at the end of the sap which is opposite to tekne part to which the strings are tied. These screws are used for tuning. There are pitches on the sap tied with fish line. Bağlama is played usually with a Tezene (similar to Guitar pick ) made from cherry wood bark or plastic and fingers are used in some regions. It can also be played with a finger picking style called Şelpe or Şerpe. There are three string groups, courses, on bağlama in groups of two or three. These string groups can be tuned in a variety of ways, each variety giving a Düzen. For the Bağlama Düzeni, the common one, the strings in the lower group give "A" note, middle group strings "D" note and upper group strings give "G" notes. Some other düzens are Kara Düzen, Misket Düzeni, Müstezat, Abdal Düzeni, Rast Düzeni. There are also electric baglamas which can be connected to an amplifier. They can be either single pickup or double pickups.

[edit] The kopuz and the baglama

The kopuz or komuz differs from the baglama in having a leather covered body, a fingerboard without frets, and two or three strings made either of horsehair, or of sheep or wolf gut. It is played by beating with the fingers, rather than being plucked with a plectrum.

The Turkish settlement of Anatolia from the late 10th century onwards saw the introduction of a two-string Turkmen dutar, which was still being played in some areas of Turkey until recent times. According to the historian Hammer, metal strings were first used on a type of kopuz with a long fingerboard known as the kolca kopuz in 15^th century Anatolia. This marked the first step in the emergence of the çöğür (cogur), a transitional instrument between the kopuz and the baglama. According to the 17th century writer Evliya Celebi, the cogur was first made in the city of Kütahya in western Turkey. To take the strain of the metal strings the leather body was replaced by wood, the fingerboard lengthened and frets introduced. Instead of five hair strings there were now twelve metal strings arranged in four groups of three. Today the cogur is smaller than a medium sized baglama.

Meanwhile the five string kopuz is thought to have been transformed into the six string instrument known as the sestar or seshane by the 13th century mystic Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi. The word sestar is also mentioned in the poems of the 14^th century poet Yunus Emre. Evliya Celebi describes the kopuz as a smaller version of the seshane.

The word baglama is first used in 18th century texts. The French traveler Jean Benjamin de Laborde, who visited Turkey during that century, recorded that "the baglama or tambura is in form exactly like the cogur but smaller". He was probably referring to the smallest of the baglama family, the cura.

[edit] Baglama (Saz) family

• Name, freq (lower), sb length, bowl radius, neck length, wire length, descripton
• cura, 586Hz D, 22.5cm, 13.5cm, 30cm, 48cm smallest one
• üçtelli sazı has three wires (1 wire per course)
• çöğür saz
• tambura, 293Hz D 38cm, 22.8cm, 52cm, 80cm
• bağlama, 220Hz A, 44.5cm, 24.9cm, 55cm, 88cm the most common one
• bozuk saz, G see bouzouki
• meydan sazı, 110Hz A, 52.5cm, 31.5cm, 70cm, 112cm
• aşik sazı
• divan sazı, 146Hz D, 49cm 29,4cm 65 cm 104 cm
• baş sazı

Note: freq(lower) is the frequency of the lower course; sb length is the length of sounding board sazı is the genitive case of saz

[edit] Baglama accords

• Name Notes (lower, middle, upper) course
• Bağlama düzeni (La, Sol, Re) (A, G, D)
• Bozuk düzen, kara düzen (Sol, Re, La) (G, D, A)
• Misket düzeni (Fa#, Re, La) (F#, D, A)
• Fa müstezat düzeni (Fa, Re, La) (F, D, A)
• Abdal düzeni (La, La, Sol) (A, A, G)
• Zurna düzeni (Re, Re, La) (D, D, A)
• Do müstezat düzeni (Sol, Do, La) (G, C, A)

[edit] See also

• Music of Turkey
• Komuz
• Dutar
• Dombra
• Greek baglama
• Sallaneh (lute)
• Çiftelia

[edit] External links

• Baglama
• All about Turkish bağlama and pictures
• Bağlama pictures
• www.baglamacilar.net
• http://www.eraydinsazevi.com.tr