The bağlama or saz is a long-necked fretted lute used in the folk music of Turkey and neighbouring regions of the Balkans, Middle East and Central Asia. It belongs to the wider family of long-necked lutes known as Tanburs, a group of instruments historically distributed from Iran and Mesopotamia across Central Asia and Anatolia.

Musicologists classify the saz as part of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes.

Within this broader organological tradition, the modern saz developed in Anatolia as the principal folk lute of Turkish folk music and became closely associated with the repertoire of itinerant poet-musicians known as âşıks.

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).

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:

  • 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, instrument makers now often set frets on the bağlama with the aid of fret calculators 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

thumb|300px|[[Asik Veysel was a bağlama virtuoso, and the prominent representative of the Anatolian ashik tradition in the 20th century.]]

thumb|300px|[[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 (1944–)
  • İbrahim Tatlıses (1952–)
  • Mahsun Kırmızıgül (1969–)
  • Arif Sağ (1946–)
  • Nida Tüfekçi (1929–1993)
  • Orhan Ölmez (1985–)
  • Ozan Hilmi Şahballı (1953–)
  • Yusuf Polatoğlu (1956–2021)
  • Azer Bülbül (1967–2012)
  • Erkin Koray (1941–2023)
  • Hasret Gültekin (1971–1993)
  • İbrahim Erkal (1967–2017)
  • Aşık Mahzuni Şerif (1940–2002)
  • Ankaralı Namık (1976–2015)
  • Ankaralı Turgut (1963–2024)
  • Ahmet Koç (1968–)
  • Oğuz Yılmaz (1969–2021)
  • Nuray Hafiftaş (1964–2018)
  • Fatih Kısaparmak (1961–)
  • Arif Şirin (1949–2019)
  • Uğur Işılak (1971–)
  • Yavuz Bingöl (1964–)
  • Ferdi Tayfur (1945–2025)
  • Müslüm Gürses (1953–2013)
  • Hakan Taşıyan (1973–)
  • Esat Kabaklı (1954–)
  • Orhan Hakalmaz (1965–)
  • Ahmet Kaya (1957–2000)
  • Onur Şan (1981–)
  • Sümer Ezgü (1960–)
  • Kıvırcık Ali (1968–2011)
  • Aşık Murat Çobanoğlu (1940–2005)
  • Aşık Sefai (1956–)
  • Özlem Özdil (1979–)
  • Şahin Kendirci (2002–)
  • Aşık Şahsenem Bacı (1945–2022)
  • Güler Duman (1967–)
  • Cahit Berkay (1946–)

See also

  • 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

References

  • Article about documentary featuring the saz: "From Berlin to Khorasan: seeking the roots of saz music"