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Home , Azerbaijani folk music, Bar (dance), Dutar, Islam Abdullayev, Khananda, Rubab (instrument)

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A of global sounding Saadat Abdullayeva Doctor of Arts, Professor

The is probably the most popular musical instrument among “The trio”, 2005, Zakir Ahmadov, . Its shape, which is different from other stringed instru- bronze, 40x25x15 cm ments, immediately attracts attention. The juicy and colorful sounds to the lineup of , and of a coming from the strings of the tar bass string that is used only for per- please the ear and captivate people. forming them. The wide range, lively It is certainly explained by the perfec- sounds, melodiousness, special reg- tion of the construction, specifically isters, the possibility of performing the presence of twisted steel and polyphonic chords, virtuoso passag- copper strings that convey all nuanc- es, lengthy dynamic sound rises and es of popular tunes and especially, attenuations, colorful decorations mughams. This is graphically proved and gradations of shades all allow by the presence on the instrument’s the tar to be used as a solo, accom- neck of five that correspondent panying, ensemble and orchestra

46 www.irs-az.com instrument. But nonetheless, the tar sounding board instead of a leather is a recognized instrument of solo sounding board contradict this con- mughams when the performer’s clusion. The double body and the mastery and the technical capa- leather sounding board are typical of bilities of the instrument manifest the geychek which, unlike the tar, has themselves in full. The tar conveys a short neck and a head folded back- the feelings, mood and dreams of a wards. Moreover, a bow is used play person especially vividly and fully dis- this instrument. Given all this, it is pos- closes his soul. sible that the tar migrated from the The tar became most famous i.e. from Azerbaijan [1, 6, 7]. in Azerbaijan in the 18th century. At Historically, the tar was wide- the same time, its presence in the spread in a relatively small area 10th, 11th, 14th, 16th and 17th centuries confined to Azerbaijan and . It is proved by the words of the poets had five strings (two white, two yel- Baba Tahir Uryan, Farrukh Sistani, Qa- low and one bass string), a big and tran Tabrizi, Assar Tabrizi, Muhammad deep body, while 27-28 frets were Fizuli, Hovsi Tabrizi, as well as minia- tied on its long neck. Since the in- tures [1, 2, 3]. At the same time, what strument is heavy, performers held it we said shows that this instrument on their knees – under their breast - was unpopular in separate periods. when they played it. Tar means a “string” or “thread” in In the 1870s, the tar was recon- Persian. This word was usually used structed by the outstanding per- to describe instruments of the same former and native of , Mirza type that differ from each other only Sadig Asad oglu (1846-1902), who by the number of strings, for example, was popularly known as Sadigjan yektar, , , chartar, panjtar, because listeners who admired his sheshtar, in which the changing first performance could not help exclaim- syllable means numbers (from one to ing “jan!” or “Sadig jan!”. Initially, he six). It is difficult to explain why the increased the number of strings to root of this word was chosen to name 18 and then confined himself to 13 a many-stringed instrument, which is strings – two three-chord strings at the tar. Most likely, the name of the tar the bottom, double and single bass was derived from the simplification of strings in the middle and two double Woman playing the tar, the word “gimtar” (gim – sound, tar/ ringing ones in the upper part of the Abu Gasim Tabrizi, 1816 dar – tree), which means a “sound- , leaving 22 frets on the ing tree” [4]. It is interesting that the neck. To avoid the neck bending, it name of the many-stringed (up to is fastened on a special protuber- exist in Central and Southern Iran. At 16 strings) instrument - the , ance on the body, and from within, the turn of the 20th century, the Ira- which is popular in , is a wooden strut is installed inside the nian musician Gholam Hoseyn Dar- based not on the number of strings, protuberance. Moreover, Sadigjan re- vish (1873-1926) added a sixth string but on sounds (tan means a heart duced the thickness of the body and to it [7], while the reconstructed tar, and bur means to pull). straightened its sides, thus expand- which was called the “Azerbaijani tar”, Structurally, only the Pamir ing the upper part of the body and became more common in Azerbaijan is regarded as being close to the tar; increasing the strength of the sound. from the last quarter of the 19th centu- according to another version, the The lighter instrument could now be ry. In 1929, the number of strings was tar is regarded as some sort of a hy- held on the breast. This suddenly reduced to 11 in order to secure more brid of the tanbur and ud [5]. Earlier boosted the performance of the stable tuning for the instrument. sources put forward the version that tar. Gaining popularity, such a tar After the heated debates of the tar formed from the setar [6] or quickly spread to the whole of the the 1920s and 1930s on the issue geychek [7], which are widespread in Caucasus, ’s of preserving or refusing the tar, Iran. But the pear-shaped body of the and Central Asia. the genius Azerbaijani composer, setar and the presence of a wooden The five-stringed tar continued to Uzeyir Hajibayov, managed to www.irs-az.com 47 Focusing on Azerbaijan

from a mulberry, apricot or tree. The head is shaped as a narrow, deep box open from the front, up- per and lower sides and has round and figured (often star-shaped) cuts on the sides. Three big chips (with a round head) and three small chips (with a flat head) are attached to it from the top, while three big ones are attached from the opposite side. They are made mainly from pear. Such chips “sit” very well on the head. The protuberance from pine wood has a square shape. One of them rests on the lower part of the body from in- side, while the other end rests on the end of the neck. It does not allow the neck to bend downwards, upwards or sideways. The heart membrane of cattle (except for the buffalo) or sheatfish breast skin is pulled on the open side of the body – the sounding board (uz), which acts as a sound resonator. Twenty-two frets are tied across the neck at certain distances from each other. This number of frets cor- responds to the sound pitch char- acteristic of Azerbaijani music. They are made from a sheep’s small bowel which gives the instrument gentle . Musical instruments factory sounding. In the recent period, the bowel has been replaced with catgut defend­ it among instruments with small bowls. Masters figuratively say or capron thread. Because of this, the uniformly tempered 12-tone pitch that the big and small bowls play the tar has started to sound rougher, but and thus ensure that it is included role of the heart and the kidneys. The the frets have become stronger. in musical, opera and symphonic sound increases in the heart, and go- A big stand is placed in the center orchestras. Thanks to this, tar classes ing through the “navel” (the zone of of the sounding board of the big bowl, began to open in higher, special sec- transition from the big to the small while a smaller stand is placed on the ondary and music colleges. bowl), is filtered in the kidney. The lower part of the body. A threshold is The main components of the tar body resembles the number eight placed at the place where the head are the body (chanag), the protuber- from above. The body is made from and the neck are connected, while ance (uch gol), the butt (kup), the one piece of mulberry tree. small additional stands are placed neck (gol), the head (kalla), chips The neck is long. It is flat from on the upper edge of the neck in its (ashikh), thresholds (parda), stands the upper facial side and round from middle part. Their purpose (except for (kharak) and strings (sim). The total the bottom. In order to facilitate the the lower stand) is to keep the strings length of the instrument varies from movement of the left hand while over the body and the neck at a cer- 830 to 890 mm. playing, the neck gradually becomes tain height and at a distance from The body of the tar, which acts as narrow towards the top. The core of each other. a resonator, is elongated and convex a nut tree is used to make the neck. The tar has 11 metal strings (sim) with dents on the sides and consists The body and neck are attached of various degrees of thickness. The of two unequal halves – big and to the peg-shaped butt that is made lower thin double white, yellow and

48 www.irs-az.com bass (kok/dam) strings are regarded as the main ones and play the tune. The next bass (bam kok, pitch strings) red thick string is used for enriching the sound and chords. Above the bass strings, there are two pairs of white strings – zang, jingana and simlar (ringing strings), and they are almost twice as shorter. Like the pitch string, they do not hug the neck when you play, but play the role of resonance, ensuring cadence with a certain pitch and sounds during endings, as well as between phrases. The main strings (two white and two yellow ones) and ringing strings are wound around the big chips and the bass strings – around the small ones. Such an order of tightening the strings helps the performer to find very quickly the chip that cor- responds to this or that string while tuning the instrument. The strings are sounded with the help of a plectrum (mizrab) in the form of a tooth. It is made from the bark of a cherry tree, bone, bull’s and ebonite (previously, from copper or gold). The body, neck, head and chips 1. Body. 2. String holder. 3. Bi stand. 4. Back. 5. Pivot. 6. Frest. 7. Neck. 8. Small stand. are decorated with special national 9. Head. 10. Pins. 11. Strings patterns from mother-of-pearl and colored bones (previously, silver and gold were used for this purpose). right shoulder of the performer. The above and below, or vice versa, at a Such tars are normally called “sadafli plectrum, which is located between high speed from above and below, tar”. It is worth noting that apart from the thumb and index finger of the always from above, below and above, playing an aesthetic role, the fanciful right hand, is hit against the strings moving the fingers on the string, designs on the front of the instru- in the middle of the big bowl of the shaking the instrument, vibration, ment’s neck also play a functional body. At this moment, three fingers glissando, playing near the small bowl role, indicating the location of the (index, long and ring fingers) press the or closer to the big stand, pauses. frets on the neck. strings against the frets in certain plac- In order to emphasize individual Tars made by Azerbaijani mas- es, producing various sounds, while episodes of pieces of music and con- ters have been repeatedly dis- the thumb holds the neck of the in- vey them in a more colorful fashion, played in Turkey, Iran, , France strument. While performing mugham, experienced musicians also use other and Holland. Some of them are kept experienced performers also use their complicated plectra (rukht, chahar, in the world’s leading museums. little finger on the part of the neck chirtig, alif, gosha-mizrab, mizrabi- The tar is played in the sitting po- closer to the body. The instrument can gulriz, zangi shutur, etc.). The tar also sition. The tar is held near the upper also be played with the fingers of the provides other techniques for getting part of the breast in a horizontal posi- left hand that touch the strings. dynamic shades: “khun”, “hal mizrab”, tion and slightly pressed by the right Various plectra (mizrab) and tech- narin mizrab”, etc. hand, while the lower part of the body niques are used for playing: hitting Depending on the particularities is positioned slightly lower than the with the plectrum from above, below, of the use of fingers on the left hand, www.irs-az.com 49 Focusing on Azerbaijan they have different names: “adi - Zulfi Adigozalov and Khan Shushin- Suleyman Alasgarov; “A without mag”, “surusdurme barmag”, “dartma”, ski were extremely popular in the 19th words”, “A lyrical ” by Vasif Adigo- “lal barmag”, etc. century and in the first half of the 20th zalov; “Chahargah”, “Scherzo” and “Toc- The double white, yellow and century. In the past and nowadays, cata dance” by Hasan Rzayev, etc.); ringing strings are tuned in unison to mugham trios and ensembles are in the score of the “First Fantasy” by a certain pitch, i.e. have a permanent very popular among listeners. Suffice Uzeyir Hajibayov; in the works “Dance lineup. The three bass strings (dam it to note the ensemble of Alim Gas- of Joy” and “Azerbaijani Suite” by Said and pitch strings) between the yel- imov whose art is admired in many Rustamov; “Eternal Movement” by Su- low and ringing strings have a vari- countries of the world. leyman Alasgarov; “Egyptian Pictures” able lineup, i.e. depending on the The tar is the main instrument in by Jahangir Jahangirov; “Shahnaz- mugham that is being performed or orchestras and ensembles of Azer- sayagi” and “Bagchagurd” by Adil Ga- the modal basis of the piece, they are baijani folk instruments. The tar also ray; in the Double Concert for the Tar tuned to various pitches. In this case, plays a great role during the entire and Violin with a Chamber Orchestra every bass string in the form of the performance of mugham operas. It by Tofig Bakikhanov; “Memory poem organ point or harmonic background was skillfully used in operas and bal- for the tar with a chamber orchestra” forms a system characteristic of mu- lets, as well as in music comedies by by Sevda Ibrahimova; “Duma” and gham or its sections. Azerbaijani composers who allocated “Gaytagi for the tar with a chamber Before playing, a tarist definitely special parts for it in the score. orchestra by Azar Rzayev, etc. tunes his instrument in compliance The tar was first introduced as Without the tar, Azerbaijani folk- with the tonality of the mugham he a solo instrument in pop music by professional music would have hardly wants to perform. The double white Gurban Primov, while Haji Mam- achieved its current high level. It was and yellow strings are tuned first and madov was the first to play Europe- exactly through the tar and closely then, the ringing and finally, bass an classical pieces, as well as vocal related mugham art that the whole strings are tuned. pieces of Azerbaijani composers to world learnt the essence and specific- The tar has a range from doh in the accompaniment of the piano. ity of Azerbaijani in all its the small octave to G and A-flat and The tar was played by Ramiz Guliyev richness. A (in solo performance) in the second in the pop-symphony orchestra of As is known, in the Middle Ages, octave. Parts for the tar are written in Russian radio and television and the the ud was regarded as the “king” of the mezzo-soprano clef. Academic Orchestra of Russian Folk all musical instruments. This epithet The names of wonderful virtuoso Instruments in Moscow. Haji Khan- can be boldly applied to the Azerbai- tarists (tarzans) such as Mirza Sa- mammadov was the first to write a jani tar nowadays. dig, Meshadi Zeynal, Meshadi Jamil concert for the tar with a symphony Amirov, Shirin Akhundov, Mirza Faraj, orchestra and then composed three References Gurban Primov, Mirza Mansur Man- more concerts. Five concerts (the last surov, Ahmad Bakikhanov, Bahram one for the tar, violin and symphony 1. Abdulgasimov V. Azerbaijani tar. Mansurov, Haji Mammadov, Ahsan orchestra) were composed by Tofig , 1990. Dadashov, Habib Bayramov and oth- Bakikhanov. Their initiative was sup- 2. Abdullayeva S. The folk musical ers are known in Azerbaijan and far ported by Zakir Bagirov, Nariman instrument of Azerbaijan. Baku, beyond. Their artistic traditions are Mammadov, Ramiz Mirishli, Firangiz 2000. being continued by talented youth. Babayeva, Mammadaga Umidov and 3. Karim M. Azerbaijani musical in- As a solo and accompanying Nazim Guliyev. Listeners were de- struments. Baku, 2010. instrument, the tar was one of the lighted by the first concert for the tar 4. Dagli A. Ozan-Garavalli. Baku, first to be included in expanded with an orchestra of folk instruments 2006. ensembles created in the early 19th composed by Said Rustamov. Then, 5. Janizada T. Sing, tar. From the his- century. The tar is an unfailing “par- three concerts for the tar with an tory of Azerbaijani musical instru- ticipant” in the ensemble orchestra were written by Suleyman ments. http://www.azcongress.ru/ (sazanda dastasi) which, apart from Alasgarov. A similar concert was com- article.php?204. a tarist, also includes a (a posed by Jahangir Jahangirov. 6. Khaligi R. The history of Iranian singer with a gaval) and a kaman- The tar also plays a great role in music. Tehran, 1333/1956. chist. The sazanda ensembles of Jab- works of Azerbaijani composers writ- 7. Zonis E. Classical Persian Music. bar Garyagdioglu, Abdulbagi Zulalov, ten in different genres (“Sonatina”, An introduction. Cambridge, , Said Shushinski, “Scherzo” for the tar and the piano by 1973.

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