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. The origins of the word tar its self may have came from ancient Sanskrit "tarah", in Farsi the name "tar" means "string". There are two types of tar that I will be using the name "Shiraz tar" to destinguish the type of tar featured on my site and the Gafghaz tar that is found in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georiga and in North Eastern Turkey.

In Iran the Shiraz tar is a highly admired it is sometimes referred to as the “sultan of musical instruments”. The Shiraz tar does have a special place among the classical instruments and it is considered one of the "great" instruments of Persian classical music. 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" its wrapped around with wax this forms a grip when playing the tar.

Anatomy of the Shiraz Tar: The body, neck and tunings pegs of the Shiraz tar are all made of mulberry wood. 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 long strips of parallel bone inlay runs down the top of the fingerboard. The strings are made of steel, copper or brass they are classified as white, yellow or brown. The fifth string is referred to as a "Vakhan or Moshtagh" string it is made of steel. The famous tar player Darvish Khan (b. 1872 d. 1926) he was a highly regarded composer and tar player he 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 peace of leather is held underneath the strings in order to protect the membrane so the strings don’t come into contact.