Saz Types and Their Characteristics
When we think of stringed instruments, Saz is one of the first which comes to mind. Saz is a musical instrument that is widely spread from Central Asia to Balkans. It consists of sap (neck), tekne (body) and burgu (pegs). It is produced in various lengths. Moreover, various types of trees are used in saz production. This variety is a direct result of old Turkish nomadic lifestyle. In Central Asia, it was named Dombıra. However, today it has different names and types. In this article, we will answer the question “what are different types of saz?” and we will give some information about their characteristics.
Saz has a coherent and enchanting sound suitable for every composition. The number of frets varies between 17 and 24. It is customary to see this type of variation between different types of Saz. We can analyze this instrument in two styles; either short necked or long necked. Saz has seven strings, a neck, and the body. The body is the part that sits on our lap when we play the instrument. It is named “tekne”. The body is produced either by carving or staving techniques. When these parts are produced, durable trees are preferred. Then what about types of saz and their characteristics?
How many kinds of Saz are there?
How many kinds of saz are there is a question everyone who has a bit of an interest in music wonders. There are several types that vary in accordance with the region it is played and the length of the instrument. There are ten types of Saz. Sometimes, one can easily get confused about the different types, all of which have different names but similar outlooks. Getting into such confusion is understandable as characteristics of even one type may vary in different regions in terms of length and playing style. Size of the instrument is determined by its tekne (body) length. Short necked (Kısa sap) and long necked (uzun sap) are the ones people are most interested in. In this article you will have detailed information about types of Saz and their names.
Saz Types and Their Names
Saz has different lengths and functionalities. For this reason, their names vary as well. What are these, then?
If we make a list, we can sort it based on the length of the instrument, from shortest to longest: cura, tambura curası, bağlama curası, âşık sazı, bozuk, tambura, bağlama, çöğür, divan and mekan bağlama. Now we will give details of these different types of saz.
Cura
Cura has the shortest length among all. It is also known as the most high-keyed type of Saz. It is played mostly in the Aegean and Mediterranean parts of Turkey and is known as a Yörük (Anatolian nomads) instrument. Cura has a length of about 55 to 60cm. Its body size is about 26cm long. Cura generally has 6 strings, but there are other alternatives with 5, 4 and even with 3 strings.
Because it is the shortest, cura has fewer frets. In 4-stringed cura, the top string is called the “accord string”. Other three strings are tuned according to this one. Cura can be played with fingers but it can also be played with mızrap (pick/plectrum). It is possible to play by tapping the strings.
Cura is usually played along with other types of Saz. It is very uncommon to play it solo. It is very important to tune Cura correctly. The second and third strings should be tuned as follows: the bottom string (3rd string) to A and the upper string (2nd string) to D.
Tambura Cura
Tambura cura is generally played with seven strings. It is common to tune the bottom string to A, middle string to D and the top string to G. These notes are not standardized, however. They represent the first frets’ notes. For example, the A sound in the bottom string may not be the same A in 440 frequency. Thus, the A, D and G keys that are represented in tuning of tambura cura, may differ from the standard sounds.
Bağlama Cura
Bağlama cura is the third in the list. It consists of 3 parts; face, body and neck. The body part is usually produced from mulberry, but time to time chestnut and alder are used as well. The face is made of a spruce tree and the neck part is made of chestnut.
Its neck length is about 35cm long and it has a body depth about 15cm. There are tuners at the neck where the strings are attached and the instrument is tuned to the A note. Frets are made of nylon threads. Bağlama cura can be played with fingers or plectrum. Playing it fingerstyle is named “selpe” (tapping).
Âşık Saz
Aşık saz is the type that bards used to play in the past. Bards told their stories and voiced their poems along with a melody by this type of saz. It is named Âşık (Bard) sazı because of this reason. Its neck is shorter than a bağlama. It has 6 to 9 strings. Usually, it has 15 frets, but fret numbers may vary according to the luthier who produced the instrument. So we can conclude that it may have 13 and 14 frets from time to time. It is tuned to C.
Bozuk
Bozuk is an intermixed type of saz, made as half bağlama and half guitar. Because of this, it is said that the instrument is not stable in sound. Because it is distorted from bağlama and combined with guitar, creating a new kind of saz, it is named bozuk (distorted). It has an egg-shaped body and a long neck.
It is likely to encounter this type of saz in Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. Bozuk’s body is generally coated with mother-of-pearl coloring. Fret numbers differ between 15 to 18. It has 9 strings, each third forming a group. Its size is almost the same as a bağlama. It is tuned as follows: the top group to G, middle group to D and the bottom group to A. It is common to play it with a plectrum or a pick.
Tambura
Tambura is known as the cura of divan bağlama. However, its size is smaller and its range is 4 keys higher than a bağlama. Therefore, it has an octave high. Its neck is about 50 centimetres long. Its body depth is about 23 centimetres. It is tuned as the middle string to C and the bottom string to D. Neck sizes of newer tamburas are about 40 centimetres long.
Bağlama
Bağlama is the most preferred instrument in traditional music and one of the most common stringed instruments. Bağlama’s sizes are proportional to the human body. Its neck size is about 55cm and its body is about 25cm long. Fret numbers vary between 17 to 24. In order to make it durable, stronger trees are preferred in the process of production. Walnut, chestnut, and alder are the most preferred tree kinds as these trees are firm and strong. It does not have a standard tuning. This is because it is tuned according to the melody of the song. This is called düzen (tuning). Kara düzen (black tuning) or in other words bozuk düzen (distorted tuning) is the most preferred tunings. In bozuk düzen the top string is tuned to C, middle string is tuned to G and the bottom string is tuned to D.
Çöğür Saz
Çöğür, known as Long Saz is the closest saz to divan bağlama in terms of its size. It has 15 frets on its neck. Çöğür is usually played in religious ceremonies such as rituals or in threnodies. Top two strings are tuned to G, one of the middle strings is tuned to D and the other is tuned to A and the bottom strings are tuned to A. Among all the saz types, Çöğür is one of the easiest instruments to learn as it is easy to sound melodies by using top and middle strings more often.
Divan Bağlama
Divan bağlama is the second biggest saz. Divan bağlama usually has 7 to 9 strings. It is tuned 4 octaves higher than meydan bağlama. Divan bağlama’s bottom string is tuned to 146 frequency D note and the other strings tuned in accordance with this sound. Its neck length is about 65cm long and its body has a depth of about 30cm. The body’s length is just a little shorter than 50cm. It has a deep sound which is very close to meydan bağlama. Therefore, it sounds very enchanting when played. It is mostly used in studio recordings or folk songs’ intro parts.
Meydan Bağlama
Meydan bağlama has the biggest size of all types of saz. It is mostly played in the Central Anatolian region. Its neck length is about 70cm long and it has a body depth of about 31.5cm. Its body length is often longer than 50cm. It has a deep and epic sound. Its acoustic resonance is very strong. For that, when played outdoors it can be heard from a distance. The name Meydan bağlama (square bağlama) derives from this characteristic of the saz.
It is different from other kinds of bağlama. It has 12 strings. Thus giving it the name “12-stringed-bağlama”. It has 32 frets and it is tuned to 110 frequency A note. Its body size is regarded as an advantage. In order to utilize this advantage, thick strings are used for the lowest note string of this type of saz.
