Description: The Persian tar or in this case “Shiraz tar” is a member of the family of long necked lutes. In Iran the Shiraz tar is one of the most ancient stringed instruments perhaps came around the time or second to the time of the tanbur. While the Shiraz tar is found in Iran, the Gafghaz tar or the Caucasian tar is found in Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tabriz North-Western Iran and in North Eastern Turkey. The origins of the word tar its self may have came from ancient Sanskrit "tarah", in Farsi the word tar means "string". A primitive form of the tar is found in Nuristan province of Afghanistan only has two strings. In Iran the Shiraz tar is a highly admired instrument. It is sometimes referred to as the “sultan of the instruments”. The shiraz tar holds a special place in Persian classical music and it is considered one of the great classical instruments. The training and playing techniques of the tar are quite extensive, rhythmic and they are very sophisticated. The plectrum of the tar is made from a brass "pick" in which its wrapped around with a ball of wax over the thick end of the pick. This forms a grip in which holds into the tar player's hand.

 

Shiraz Tar Tunings

Avaz Abu'ata	C-G-C-F
Avaz Afshahari	C-G-C-F
Avaz Bayat Kord	C-G-C-F
Avaz Bayat Tork	B Bomol C G B Bomol

Anatomy of the Shiraz tar: The body of the Shiraz tar is made of mulberry wood, and so is the neck and tuning pegs. The Shiraz tar has a total of 29 animal gut frets tied on to the neck. The skin of the Caspian sea sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) is used as the membrane over the sound whole as a means to amplify the acoustics of the tar. This membrane stretched over the top surface of the body has a desired surface to hold the bridge in place although the surface is fragile yet although the membrane is flexible and in result the acoustics are very resonant during performance of the tar. On the fingerboard of the Shiraz tar two parallel bone inlay’ runs down the neck. The tuning pegs are hand carved of mulberry wood. The strings are made of steel, copper or brass. The strings are’ classified as white, yellow or brown. The fifth string is referred to as a "Vakhan or Moshtagh" string is made of steel. It's been mentioned that the famous tar player Darvish Khan (b. 1872 d. 1926) he was a very talented composer and tar player contributed to the development of the tar by adding the sixth string. The bridge on the shiraz-tar is adjustable and is usually hand carved of bone and rests on the membrane. A thin piece of leather is underneath the strings in order to protect the membrane so the strings do not come into contact with the skin.