Bağlama

What it means

The bağlama is a long-necked lute belonging to the saz family of instruments, found from the Balkans to Afghanistan. It is considered the mid-sized and most widespread member of this family and is today the most popular instrument in Turkey.

The pear-shaped body is usually carved from a single piece of wood and closed with a soundboard; the long, slender neck carries movable, tied frets made of gut or nylon. This movability allows players to set the finer pitch steps of Turkish makam music, which do not exist in the Western semitone system.

In the notation

Bağlama music is usually transmitted through tablature or orally within the makam tradition; standardized Western notation has only become more common with the spread of the instrument to music schools and conservatories.

Musical use

The bağlama typically has six to seven strings grouped into three courses; the two most common tunings are called bağlama düzeni and bozuk düzen. It traditionally accompanies the aşık, the traveling folk singer and poet of Anatolia, and plays a central role in Alevi religious ceremonies.

The bağlama should be distinguished from the Arabic and Persian oud, which has a fretless neck and a rounder body, and from the Greek bouzouki, which is also a long-necked lute but has metal strings and a different body construction.

Other names

The name bağlama is often used interchangeably with the broader term saz, which properly refers to the whole family of instruments in various sizes, from the small cura to the large divan sazı.

Performance practice

Practice plucking with the tezene, a thin plectrum, before attempting the şelpe finger technique, in which several fingers of the right hand strike and dampen strings at once. Listen to recordings of makam scales for guidance, since the movable frets call for a different sense of intonation than you may be used to from the guitar.