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SAZ IS AN INSEPARABLE INSTRUMENT  
OF THE AZERBAIJANI ASHIGS
Saz is one of the most popular stringed-plectrum musical instruments of 
the Azerbaijani people. The saz is played primarily by ashigs, who continue 
the traditions of their predecessors – ozans who sang to the accompaniment of 
the gopuz [35].
Due to the wide spread of ashig art among many Turkic and other peoples, 
the saz is one of the few instruments known under the same name in the vast 
territory covering the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey and the 
Balkans. In Turkey, this instrument is also called as “baglama” [69]. 

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In the Middle Ages, in most cases, the word “saz” was used to refer to 
the musical instruments in general. This meaning is still used in Turkey [67]. 
Over time, this word came to mean an instrument played by ashugs. Another 
meaning of the word “saz” is serviceable or in a good condition, and thus, with 
regard to the instrument, it can be interpreted as “tuned” and “efficient”.
The mentioning of the musical instrument, the saz, is common in the 
medieval classical poetry of Azerbaijan. Various works mention the sound, 
structure and types of the saz. For example, Khagani Shirvani speaks of a one-
stringed saz, and Nizami Ganjavi about the jura-saz. Shah Ismail Khatai sings 
about the saz in one of his poems:
Today I didn’t take my saz,
I  t won’t touch my voice again.
There are four important things for all of us:
Science, word, singing and saz.
According to the numerous evidences, the saz was initially small. It 
was supplied with three strings made of a horse tail hair or silk thread. The 
emergence of new forms of ashig poetry and the influence of mughams required 
the improvements in the technical and artistic possibilities of the saz. This 
led to an increase in the size of the body, the length of the neck, the number 
of strings and frets. The expansion of the sound row of the saz ensured the 
performance of all known ashig melodies and accordingly, the further spread 
of the instrument.         
Modern saz instruments vary in size, number of strings and frets. Large 
instruments (up to 1,000-1,100 mm) are called tavar  or  boyuk saz, middle 
sized ones (800-900 mm) - orta saz, and small ones (540-700 mm)- jura 
(small) or goltug  (axillary)  saz. The number of strings in the tavar is 8-11, 
middle-sized saz - 8-9 and jura - 4-5. Big sazes are used by ashigs and small 
ones in orchestras and ensembles, as well as when ashigs teach their students. 
Previously, there existed larger sazes - bash tavar or ana saz - up to 1,500 mm 
in length and with 12 strings. Currently, the ashugs use the term ana saz to 
refer to 9- or 11-stringed instruments.
The orchestras and ensembles of the Azerbaijani folk instruments include 
the saz (orkestr sazi) in the length of 800 mm with 5-6 strings and 17 frets. 
The wooden parts of the saz include the deep body (chanag, chomcha, 
gobul, govda), the long neck (gol, bilak), the butt (becha, bogaz), the sounding 
board (sina, dosh, gapag), the head (kalla) with pins (ashikh, gulag, burgu) 
and the stand (kharak). 

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The body is made of the mulberry tree cut in the fall and kept for 2 or 3 
months; it has a length of 450-500 mm, a width of 300-450 mm and a depth of 
200-300 mm. In some sazes, the lower contour of the body is convex (garpizi – 
watermelon-shaped), while in others, it is a little flat (yemishi – melon-shaped). 
At present, the so-called Tovuz saz (named for its place of manufacture) is 
quite common by the shape of its body and it occupies an intermediate position 
between the abovementioned types. Previously, a tree stump was cut from the 
outer and inner sides and was shaped as the body of the saz (like the saz of 
the famous ashig Alasgar). Later, the body began to be made from the wooden 
staves (dilim, bugum, gabirga, yarpag) with a length of 420-450 mm in order 
to improve the sound and ease the process of manufacture. The number of the 
staves varies from 5 to 11 but they mostly become 9 in number.
The neck in the length of 650-700 mm, is usually made of the walnut tree. 
To ensure that the instrument sounds well, the neck is sometimes made hollow. 
Such sazes are called khakaband. The stamp of the neck is removed, the neck 
is made hollow, a few small pellets are thrown in and then, the stamp is put 
back in its place. On the 120-mm-long head, which serves as a direct extension 
of the neck, holes are drilled for pins, depending on the number of strings. The 
90-120-mm-long butt is made of mulberry, apricot or walnut trees. The body 
and the neck are attached to it.
The sounding board is made and flattened from a mulberry or oak tree in the 
thickness of 3-4 mm. To ensure that the middle part of the sounding board does 
not sink, it is burnt in the fire. To improve and strengthen the sound of the saz, 
5-6 small resonator openings (seslik) are made under the strings on the sounding 
board. The pins are made of walnut, apricot, pear or beech trees and placed on 
the openings at the head of the saz at the top and sides of the neck. At a distance 
of four fingers (approximately 70-80 mm) from the lower end of the sounding 
board, there is the lower stand made of apricot or pear trees, and on the neck 
closer to the pins – there is a low upper stand made of bull or buffalo horns.
At the rear of the body, there is a small bar (ayag, darag) made of bone, 
metal or wood to tighten the lower ends of the string. The frets made of a 
sheep’s small intestine (kirish) are attached to the neck. Currently, vein frets 
have been replaced by nylon threads.
Most ashug sazes previously had only eight frets. Eleven frets were enough 
to play all the ashig tunes. Now their number is usually 16-17. Each of the 
frets, in turn, has a name passing down from generation to generation and 
characterizing their position on the neck, the sound row of the saz, the pitch of 
the sound and oral ashug songs (bash parda, orta parda, shah parda, divani 

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parda,bayati parda, becha parda, etc.). And the names of the frets may differ 
in different ashig regions. 
Ashigs pull 9-8 or 11 strings (tel) on the saz, but in most cases, nine-
stringed sazes are used. The thin strings have equal thickness and are made of 
an alloy of steel and silver. In the nine-stringed saz, the upper ends of the three 
lower strings and one upper string are twisted around the upper pins and the 
three middle and the upper two strings around the side pins.
The saz is played with a plectrum (tazana) made from the bark of a black 
cherry or cherry tree. To ensure that the hand holding the plectrum can move 
freely on the frets and the performer does not get tired, the saz is held at the 
chest with a belt (gayish, gaytan, ashirma) slung over the shoulder and attached 
to the hooks on the butt in the rear of the body.
Typically, the body, neck, butt, and the edge of the sounding board and 
the heads of the pins are decorated with mother-of-pearl ornaments (sirga-
sadaf) and bone (shirmayi), which have a specific geometric shape known as 
“chilik”, “aypara”, “darag”, “dirnag”, “pitik”, “pakhlava”, “zanjirvari”, 
“buta”, “dama” and “jidaburnu”. The saz is typically kept in a dark fabric 
cover (koynak) sealed with a thin rope at the top end.
While playing, the saz is held horizontally, the body is pressed against the 
upper chest and held with the left hand and a strap slung over the shoulder. The 
plectrum placed between the tips of the right-hand thumb and the index finger 
over the body, strikes the strings while fingers (index, middle and ring fingers) 
of the left hand move along the neck and press the strings against the frets. The 
ashig sings and accompanies himself with the saz in a standing position.
The strings are combined into three groups: a) 3+2+3; b) 3+3+3 and c) 
4+4+3, configured in unison. Therefore, the instrument is normally called uch 
telli saz (three stringed saz).
According to the register, the 3-4 lower (ayag, barmag, alalti, danishan) 
strings are called zillar (high), the 2-3 middle strings – bamlar (low) and the 
3-4 upper strings are called damlar (bourdon – zu tutan, orta ziller). 
Forming an organ point, the bourdon strings are tuned in unison and 
have slightly lower pitch than the high strings. The middle tuning strings which 
are always open, have the lowest pitch. Together with the bourdon strings, they 
are accompanying strings and are tuned in unison with the octave or the fourth-
fifth. In contrast to the lower and upper strings, the height of their sound is 
changing. 
There are seven types of saz settings (ana kok, dilgami, urfani, ayag 
divani and so on). The row of high and bourdon strings in all types of settings 

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is permanent. Respectively, they are tuned for C in the one-accented octave 
and B-flat in the small octave. The row of low strings varies depending 
on the modal-harmonic features of the song played. Regarding the high 
and bourdon strings, they are usually tuned in the fifths-fourth interval, i.e. 
comply with F in the small octave. This is the main setting (ana kok) of the 
saz.
The ashig using changing low strings, achieves a wide variety of chords 
with the unchanging bourdon strings. In addition, ashigs make masterful use 
of the strings of the melodic group; they press only one, two or three strings 
against the fret with their fingers and thus, produce a melodic line with tremolo 
and strikes of the plectrum against the bottom or, conversely, from the bottom 
up against a group of strings, or by dynamics. 
Thus, ashigs sometimes get four-part sounds, reaching a wide range 
of dynamic shades. They often use strokes obtained by alternating through 
clanking – moving the plectrum on all the strings from the top down and 
bottom up. Often, plectrum strikes against all the strings down alternating with 
strikes against a specific group of strings.
While performing, ashigs often use their left-hand fingers in order to get 
nuances and certain sound timbres (basma-pressing, surtma-rubbing, vurma-
striking, etc.). While playing, they also use vibration (titratma), obtained by 
pressing the melodic strings against the fret with their fingers (index, middle and 
ring fingers) and rapidly moving their finger up and down, clicking (chirtig) on 
the sounding board, as well as with soft strikes of the fingers against the strings 
– near the neck and the stand, and over the middle of the sounding board – 
and shaking the instrument up and down over the chest for several times. The 
upper and lower plectrum strikes against the strings and their rotation is the 
main particularity of playing the saz.
The art of ashigs combines ashig songs (whose number exceeds 100) 
performed exclusively on the saz, and songs composed by ashigs themselves 
in a special poetic form (qoshma, gozallama, mukhammas, divani, tajnis, etc.). 
An important place in an ashig’s repertoire belongs to dastans  (heroic and 
epical tales), ustadnamehs (sermon songs) as well as lyrical and heroic songs. 
Dayishmas – contests involving two, three or four ashigs, who offer each other 
riddles (qifilband) in their poems – are also held.
The saz is used for the solo performance of ashig melodies and as part 
of ashig ensembles. Often, instrumental versions of the tunes are performed 
by the venerable musicians who convey the beauty of the ashig melody most 
clearly and subtly.

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It should be emphasized that along with mugham, the ashig art is a rich 
and diverse branch of the Azerbaijani folk music based on ancient traditions 
and has long existed in various regions of Azerbaijan. It is no coincidence 
that it has been included in the UNESCO Representative List of Oral and 
Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The saz, its origin and development, structural features and learning are 
a favorite subject of research by musicologists and folklorists engaged in 
the issues on mutual relationships of the poetry and ashug music [30,41, 44, 
45,54,56,66,70]. This instrument is considered a symbol of the Turkic world, 
expressing the spirit of its peoples. While listening to the saz, one cannot but 
admire its unusually sweet and sonorous sound.
While performing ashig melodies accompanied by the saz, the inner world, 
feelings and emotional state of the performer and his ability to convey diverse 
sounds and rhythms are important. They should always be integrated. Only in 
this case, does the ashig’s solo performance on the saz reach true artistry.
Close familiarity with ashig art gave a great impetus to Uzeyir Hajibeyli 
in creating “Ashigsayagi” for the violin, cello and piano; Akshin Alizadeh – in 
creating a play of “Ashigsayagi” and “The Fifth Symphony” for the chamber 
orchestra; Jahangir Jahangirov – the “Ashig Ali” cantata. Rashid Efendiyev 
wrote a series of “Play” on the theme of ashig tunes and the saz, piano and 
percussion instruments, Rashid Shafag – the scenic song “Ashig Ali Baba” for 
the saz, a soloist and children’s choir; Tahir Akbar –  the epic poem “Azerbaijan” 
for soloists, saz, tar, kamancha and orchestra; Aydin Azimov – the vocal cycles 
“Voice of ozans” for vocals, saz, tar and oud; Elnara Dadashova –  the anthem 
“Glory to your courage” for the saz and choir. 
The artistic and technical capabilities of the saz are well disclosed in 
Suleyman Alasgarov’s suite “Ashigvari” composed for the saz, a singer and an 
orchestra of folk instruments. Javanshir Guliyev composed “Sonata” for the 
saz and viola, “Sonatina” for the saz and a quartet of wind instruments and the 
“Caravan” trio for the flute, cello and saz.
In Said Rustamov’s suite “Azerbaijan” (Part 1), Jahangir Jahangirov’s 
“Egyptian Paintings” (Part 3) and Haji Khanmammadov’s “Festive Suite” 
(Part 1), the saz is the main melodic line and thus, combining with the wind 
instruments – tutek and balaban, it gives the listeners a true pleasure.
The sounds of saz raise the fighting spirit, decorate wedding ceremonies, 
spiritually enrich people and help them to learn about the world, allowing 
them once again to feel the incomparable beauty of the Azerbaijani folk music.

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THE MOST MELODIOUS INSTUMENT
Kamancha  – the ancient Azerbaijani stringed musical instrument, has 
an unusually delicate, soft and captivating sound and its sounds charm and 
immerse one in thought. It is no accident that the founder of the Azerbaijani 
professional music, Uzeyir Hajibeyli, regarded the kamancha as the most 
melodious of the musical instruments of Azerbaijan [40].
Under this name, the kamancha is known in the Caucasus, Iran and 
Afghanistan. In Egypt, a similar instrument is called “kamanga”, in Turkey - 
“iklik”, and in Central Asia - “qijak”. Interestingly, another stringed instrument 
is known in Turkey under the name of “kamancha”, and in Central Asia, the 
bow used to play the qijak is called “kamancha” or “kaman” as in Azerbaijan. 
Thus, the area where the kamancha is common, includes the Asia Minor, the 
Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia.  
The name of the instrument comes from the word “kaman”, which means a 
bow (fighting and hunter), and the ending “cha” is derived from “chal” (play), 
indicating that it is a bow instrument.
Researchers believe that a number of stringed instruments were originated 
by plucking. A rod was used for playing them instead of the fingers or a 
plectrum, and its ends were pulled by animal tendons or horsehair like the 
string of a bow [60]. Experts tend to believe that stringed instruments have 
ancient Indian or Central Asian origins [19].
The kamancha was originally one-stringed, had a relatively small body, a 
long neck and an elongated tip. The body was made from gourds, coconut shells 
or hollowed tree, and snake skin was pulled on the open side. The medieval 
literature suggests the simultaneous existence of the kamancha and gijak, and 
when comparing, the preference was usually given to the former [57].
We know about the spread of the kamancha on the territory of Azerbaijan 
in the Middle Ages from the classics of poetry such as Khagani Shirvani, 
Nizami Ganjavi, Muhammad Fizuli, Fedai Tabrizi, Rukneddin Masud Mesihi 
and the book miniatures of the Azerbaijani artists like Aga Mirak, Mir Said 
Ali and others. According to the prominent musicologist Abdulgadir Maragai, 
the horsetail hair or silk thread, which ensured the best sound, were used for 
making of two strings of the instrument. The film of a bull’s heart was pulled 
on the body. The strings were usually tuned to the fourth, but depending on the 
tune, other settings were also used [57].

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The German naturalist, physician and traveler, Engelbert Kaempfer put the 
kamancha in first place among the stringed and bowed instruments because 
of its beautiful tone. According to his description, the kamancha had three, 
sometimes four strings, which were played by a bow from horsetail hair. The 
lower part of the instrument - the iron tip at a length of half a palm, was placed 
on the ground. The round body of kamancha had a diameter in the size of a 
palm and was covered with a leather membrane, on which a leather “bridge” 
(i.e. support) was placed.
Before the beginning of the 20
th
 century, a three-stringed kamancha 
was mainly used in Azerbaijan. The strings were made from sheep or cattle 
intestines. But according to the museum collections [3], there were also 
kamanchas with four, five and even six strings in that period. There were also 
instruments on whose body skin was pulled from the flat lower side. It should 
be noted that in the old copies of the kamancha, the tip is almost twice longer 
than the one in modern instruments [5].
The main parts of today’s kamancha are the body (chanag), which has a 
spherical shape slightly pointed towards the center, the round neck (gol), the 
curly head (kalla) with pegs (ashikh) and the straight metal rod (mil). The total 
length of the instrument is 700-800 mm. The diameter of the open part of the 
body is 100-110 mm, the diameter of the circle is 180-220 mm and the depth is 
up to 175 mm. It is primarily made of walnut. On the open part of the body (uz, 
parda), the skin of the chest of a large catfish or the film of the bovine heart is 
pulled. An arched support (kharak) with a length of 50-60 mm and a height of 
10-14 mm, made from walnut, is obliquely installed toward the strings on the 
sounding board closer to the neck.  
This arrangement of the support allows for making it possible to get 
stronger and better sound quality in both high and low registers. The round 
neck with a length of up to 450 mm and without modes tapers towards the 
bottom. The neck is made of horny plates. 
For attaching the neck to the body, a metal rod with a length equal to half 
the total length of the kamancha is driven into the lower end of the neck, passing 
through the body. A pin – a support (shish) at a length of 110-120 mm, which 
slightly tapers toward the bottom and ends with a nodular thickening, is screwed 
on the tip of the rod that sticks out of the body. In the upper part, the neck turns 
into a slotted head in the form of a box with a shaped tip (taj). On the sides of 
the head, spherical or pyramidal pegs made of walnut are inserted into holes.
The kamancha has four steel strings (sim), of which the lower third 
and fourth ones are wrapped in copper and brass thread. In some cases, the 

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second steel string is replaced by one made from the intestines to ensure softer 
sounding. The strings rest on a support located on the sounding board and on 
a bone threshold at the upper end of the neck. At one end, they are screwed on 
the pegs, and at the other, they are put on the hooks of the metal support fixed 
to the top of the strut in the form of hinges.
The sounds on the instrument are produced with a 550-590 mm long 
bow (kaman), which is a straight or slightly concave cane (chubug) made of 
dogwood with a diameter of 10 mm. By means of a belt and loose metal tubes 
in the form of cartridge cases, a lock of 160-180 cauda equina is pulled on the 
end. 
The performer plays in a seated position and holds the instrument 
vertically, placing its leg on his left knee. The lower part of the bow is slightly 
pinched with the thumb and forefinger of the right hand. The tension of the 
hair is adjusted by pressing the strap with the middle and ring fingers inserted 
between the shaft and the lock of hair. As a rule, the bow moves on the strings 
at the site corresponding to the middle of the distance between the lower end 
of the neck and the support. If you move the bow on the strings near the 
neck, very soft sounds are produced. The technique of moving the bow on 
the strings of the kamancha is different from playing the cello in that the 
performer rotates the instrument with his left hand toward the plane of the 
movement of the bow.
The attempt to provide the kamancha with the sourdine failed, and 
therefore, in order to mitigate the sound of the strings, they use tightly rolled 
paper, fabric or rubber placed between the sounding board and the strings 
below the support. The instrument is played by four fingers of the left hand.
After playing, the tip is unscrewed and placed into a case or a bag together 
with the instrument. 
The body (especially its upper part), neck, head and pegs are often 
decorated with inlaid mother of pearl, bone, copper wire and gold thread.
The strings of the instrument are adjusted in the range of the four and 
the fifth. But for solo and vocal-instrumental performances of mugams, the 
second, third and fourth strings are tuned according to the modal basis of the 
music played, and the first one remains unchanged. 
The kamancha has e range from A in the small octave to A in the three-line 
octave. The low, wheezing, matte register come out on the 4
th
 and 3
rd
 strings, 
medium (mild, clear, velvet) – on the 2
nd
 and high (soft and silver ringing) – on 
the 1
st
. The most heavily sounding middle register has a clear tone – it is the 
most common one. 

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While playing the kamancha, they normally use various combinations of 
bow and finger strokes, the alternation and interrelation of which are dictated 
by the content and emotional structure of the piece, and they are chosen by the 
performer in accordance with his skill and artistic taste.
The kamancha is the most melodious of the Azerbaijani national musical 
instruments. For its melisma, dynamics and nuances, the kamancha is not 
inferior even to the perfect instrument like tar, and surpasses it in the cantilena. 
It is no accident that many terms and epithets, reflecting different dynamic 
nuances in the Azerbaijani folk performances, were precisely developed on 
the kamancha.
The masterly performance of a performer on kamancha is particularly 
evident in the instrumental solo performance of mughams (especially 
“Shushtar”, “Shur” and “Bayati-Shiraz”). This is where they use all the 
strokes and fingers inherent as well as the hidden two-voice polyphony and 
bourdon open strings in the kamancha. The proximity of its sound to the 
vocal line of the singer is especially felt in an ensemble of sazande, when the 
performer on kamancha accompanies the tarist along with the singer. At times, 
as a performer on the leading instrument, he undertakes the function of the 
tar or begins to play the tune a bit later than the tar player. In the episodes, 
the performer on kamancha often uses simulation, i.e. if the performer on tar 
imitates the singer, then the performer on kamancha imitates the performer 
on tar. 
In this case, something like a three-sound canonical imitation comes out. It 
is no accident that the kamancha is called “a companion of the tar”. 
The audio library of Azerbaijan TV and Radio Programs Closed Joint 
Stock Company and Azeerbaijan State Museum of Musical Culture, keep a 
recording of the rhythmic mugham “Mansuriya” sung by the famous singer 
Jabbar Garyagdioglu to the accompaniment of the kamancha.
Apart from the mughams, the instrumental versions of folk songs, dances 
and plays occupy an important place in the repertoire of the kamancha.
From the second half of the last century, the kamancha, like the tar, became 
one of the leading instruments in the orchestras of folk instruments and various 
ensembles as a solo or an accompanying instrument. The kamancha is also 
played in solo performances of pop music. During the performances of Habil 
Aliyev, the People’s Artist of Azerbaijan, he was often accompanied by balaban 
and gaval performers. It is largely thanks to this wonderful performer that the 
world learned not only about the beauty of the Azerbaijani folk music, but also 
the unusual opportunities of the instrument. 

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The kamancha plays an important role in the development of the 
Azerbaijan’s modern professional music. Based on the technical capabilities 
of the instrument, the Azerbaijani composers wrote many works such as 
the concerts of Ramiz Mirishli, Zakir Bagirov, Haji Khanmammadov, 
Tofig Bakikhanov and  Vuqar Jamalzadeh for the kamancha and symphony 
orchestra, two concerts of Adviyya Rahmatova for kamancha and chamber 
orchestra,  “Scherzo”, “Tarantella” and “Dance Suite” of Suleyman Alasgarov 
for kamancha and orchestra of folk musical instruments, “Melodic Etudes” 
of  Said Rustamov, “A play” of Nazim Guliyev and compositionos Vasif 
Allahverdiyev for kamancha and chamber orchestra.
Noteworthy capriccio “Alwan nahyshlar” (“Colorful patterns”) of 
Dadash Dadashov for kamancha and piano, “Pieces” of Sardar Farajov for 
kamancha, “Pieces” of Ogtay Rajabov and Ilham Abdullayev for kamancha 
and piano, “Double Concerto” of Adviyya Rahmatova for kamancha, ganun 
and symphony orchestra, “Bow without Adalat” poem of Nazim Guliyev, 
“Monologue” of Ramiz Zohrabov for kamancha and piano as well as “Piece” 
of Elnara Dadashova rouse a great interest.
Undoubtedly, the Azerbaijani composers will write new pieces of music 
for this instrument with the charming sound and delight their fans hereinafter. 
A FASCINATING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Among the Eastern musical instruments, the oud has a very interesting 
history of many centuries, which is proved by archaeological findings and 
manuscripts. Thus, according to terracottas (9-10-cm fired statuettes with a 
flat back and embossed face, most of which date back to the first century BC 
– third century AD) of the city of Afrasiyab – Samarkand, the favorite musical 
instrument of the people of the ancient Sogdiana had a great body that turned 
into a short neck and ended with a head bent backwards [83], i.e. it was very 
similar to the modern oud.
The prominent theorists of the early medieval music – Yahya ibn al-
Munajim (855-917) in his “Risala fil-Musiqa” (“Treatise on Music”) and 
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (873-950) in his book “Kitabul al-Musiqi 
al-Kabir” (“The Big Book of Music”) describe a four-stringed (triple – bem, 
double –  maslas, signle - masna and zir) oud at the appropriate levels (frets) of 

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which a particular sound was produced. The open string was called mutlag. In 
order to symbolize the frets, the names of the fingers were used (index finger 
–  sabbaba, long figer - vosta, ring finger – binsir and little finger – khinsir). 
But it should be noted that in order to get a perfect scale, the singer and 
musician Ziryab (789-857, his real name was Ali ibn Nafa), long before Farabi, 
added a fifth string “hadd” (sharp), which sounded a fourth higher than the 
fourth string, and to make the sound more subtle and lighter, he replaced the 
wooden mediator with an eagle feather [27]. In the 8
th
 century, Mansur Zalzal 
added a new fret to the scale of the oud, which became known as vosta zalzal, 
and invented a special form of the oud [78]. But in the time of Farabi and until 
the 13
th
 century, the oud was largely four-stringed, while the five-stringed oud 
was not yet widespread.
According to the contemporaries, the Azerbaijani musicologist Safiaddin 
Urmavi was not only an outstanding music theorist and creator of the perfect 
musical notation in the form of a table, but also a consummate oud performer. 
The 7
th
 chapter of his famous work “Kitabul-Adwar” (“The Book of Circles”) 
is specifically devoted to the oud and examines the theoretical and practical 
aspects of music on the example of this instrument: the nature of the sound, the 
systems of the frets and scales, intervals, rhythms, songs and performing skills. 
The manuscript of this treatise dated 1333-1334 (Oxford, Bodleian Library), 
includes an image of the instrument with five double strings and seven frets on 
a short neck [33]. 
In another work by the musicologist – “Risaleyi-sharafiya” (“Book of the 
Nobility”) – the oud is described as one of the most advanced instruments. It 
stresses the quart tuning of the strings of the instrument and the positions on 
them.
The oud was one of the favorite musical instruments of the medieval 
Azerbaijani poets, who often mentioned it in their works. Information about 
the appearance of the oud and characteristics of the sound of its silk strings 
can be obtained from the works of Gatran Tabrizi and Nizami Ganjavi. In the 
poem “Khosrov and Shirin”, Nizami emphasizes the mastery of the singers 
and musicians Barbad and Nakisa – the former perfectly played the oud and 
the latter - the chang.
The oud is also mentioned in the poems of the other classics of the 
Azerbaijani poetry like Mehsati Ganjavi, Ahvadi Maragai Assar Tabrizi, Gazi 
Burhaneddin, Imadeddin Nasimi, Jahanshah Haqiqi, Shah Ismail Khatai, 
Muhammad Fuzuli, Fedai Tabrizi, Rukneddin Massoud Mesihi, as well as in 
the “Dastani- Ahmed Harami”.

AZERBAIJANI MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS FASCINATE THE WORLD
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The instruments that existed in the second half of the 15
th
 - early 16
th
 centuries, 
can be judged by the heritage of the prominent representatives of the Azerbaijani 
poetry Habibi and Kishvari, who also describe the oud. It is noteworthy that in 
one of Habibi’s poems, the oud is mentioned along with the other stringed 
instruments – sheshtay, chang and barbat. From this, it follows that the names 
“oud” and “barbat” already meant two different instruments at the end of the 
15
th
 century. 
We emphasize this on the grounds that with reference to the medieval 
sources, the modern scholars stress that the barbet, oud and rud are different 
names for one and the same instrument. On the other hand, there is a deep-
rooted opinion in the scientific literature that the barbat is a predecessor of the 
oud or one of the varieties of a lutelike instrument close to the oud [21].
Indeed, the fact that the term “barbat”, which meant “a duck’s breast” 
(bar – breast and bat - duck, it was given this name because of the external 
similarity between the instrument and a duck, if you look at it from the side), 
is synonymous with the word “oud” was mentioned by the outstanding Central 
Asian scholar al-Kharazmi in the 10
th
 century [32]. We read the same fact in 
the dictionary “Sihah al-Fars” (“The Perfection of the Persian Language”), 
compiled in 1328 by Muhammad ibn Hindushah Nakhchivani [20].
The following facts are equally important for clarifying this issue. In his 
treatise on music [27] included in his encyclopedic work “Kitab al-Shafa” 
(“Book of Healing”), the great Central Asian scholar and philosopher Abu Ali 
ibn Sina (980-1037), uses the term “barbat” to describe the oud, although this 
work was written in Arabic. Fakhraddin al-Razi (1149-1209), who also lived in 
Azerbaijan, wrote about four strings of the barbat, which exactly matched the 
name of the oud strings [83].  According to the theorist from Herat, al-Huseyni 
(15
th
 century) [83], after a fifth string was added to the lute, it was called an 
oud (the Arabic name for the tree, from giving a pleasant smell when burning). 
It is possible that this is also due to the replacement of the leather sounding 
board of the lute with a wooden one. The prominent poet Khaqani Shirvani, 
like in the epic “Shahnameh” of Ferdowsi (935-1020), never mentions the 
oud despite of the popularity of the Arab name for the lute in his time like in 
the previous century. Khaqani especially mentioned the eight (four two-choir) 
strings of the barbat. This suggests that in the times of Khaqani and Nizami, 
three and four pair stringed barbets were the most popular.
Abdulqadir Maragai also considered the oud as the most perfect musical 
instrument and recorded that in his time, there were two varieties of the 
oud: the old (qadim) oud had four, and the perfect oud (kamil) had five twin 

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strings. Apparently, talking about the old oud (oudi qadim), Maraghi meant 
the barbat. 
The great Azerbaijani poet Muhammed Fuzuli called the oud “the treasurer 
of the treasury of secrets”, and admiring its sound, asked who taught the “fiery 
song” to the oud, wishing to know the reason for its “briskness toward new 
tunes”. In response, the oud says:
From the earliest days when I was ready, 
There was a voice placed in my soul, and it sings, 
I never knew what they did to me,
 Why and how they made me. 
Of course, these cries of love are not from me, 
You’d better ask the craftsman, he will explain my excitation [11].
Thus implying that the “groans” coming from its strings depend on people. 
The poet means that a man can use a musical instrument at his discretion and 
perform hilarious and sad melodies. The whole “conversation” between the 
poet and the oud shows that this instrument was still one of the perfect ones. 
Embroidery (Budapest Museum of Decorative Arts), made in Tabriz, 
depicting the scenes of dancing and singing accompanied by the oud, chang, 
kamancha, ney and def is also a noteworthy story [29].
According to the book miniatures of the Azerbaijani artists, Sultan 
Muhammad (1470-1555), Mirza Ali (1510-1576) and others, the body of the oud 
was pear-shaped or round. On the head bent backwards, 10-11 pegs are clearly 
visible, corresponding to the number of strings, and there are also three pegs 
on one side of the head. There are sound holes decorated with carved rosettes 
on the sounding board. The oud, especially the neck, was richly decorated 
with ornaments. While playing, it was held on the knees with its head slightly 
bowed down. The instrument was probably played with a plectrum made of an 
eagle feather. None of the works by artists shows the frets on the neck.
Their absence in modern ouds common in Arab countries, Turkey, Iran and 
Azerbaijan, as well as the terracottas of Afrasiyab and Iranian silver vessels 
dating to the 7
th
 -9
th
 centuries suggests [83] that the frets on the oud indicated 
in the diagrams and drawings by al-Farabi, S.Urmavi and others likely served 
to illustrate the theoretical problems of music and sounds of different pitches. 
It is obvious that the oud has no frets. Usually, there are no frets in stringed 
instruments with a short neck. They are available on the instruments with long 
necks because their absence makes it difficult to produce relevant sounds 
correctly.

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143
Judging by the medieval poetic works and miniatures, the oud was most 
often played in the palaces during the feasts. In “Risaleyi Musiqi” by the Central 
Asian musicologist Dervish Ali [79, 87], which describes the musical art of the 
second half of the 16
th
 - early 17
th
 centuries, the oud is described as the king of 
musical instruments, because due to its timbre of sounds and the volume of its 
range, it was the best of all the stringed instruments of the time. It already had 
six silk strings tuned in pairs (zir, masna, maslas, bam, hadd and mukhtalif), and 
the range of the instrument expanded towards the lower sounds. 
The german scientist and traveler Adam Oleari (1603-1671) recorded that 
during the receptions in the palace of the Shamakhy khan, the musicians in 
turbans and colorful striped coats, accompanied the dancers and played the 
stringed instruments like zithers (it was probably ganun, or santur), and when 
female dancers took the floor, they played the def, balaban, naghara and oud 
[69].
The  fifth section of the treatise “Adwar” (“Circles”) by an anonymous 
Azerbaijani author, which characterizes the level of musical theory in the 
second half of the 18th century [18], considers the tuning of instruments. 
For example, it is recommended that the strings of the oud be tuned to the 
following modes: the first - chahargah, the second - rast, the third -Isfahan, 
the fourth - dugah, and the fifth - huseyni.
The oud which was introduced by the Arabs in Spain is now recognized as 
a precursor of the European lute. In the new place, the oud underwent changes 
in constructive terms. The shortnecked oud, i.e. in an original form, gained 
widespread popularity in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia. Today, 
the oud (in two varieties - arabi and sharqi) is the leading stringed instrument 
among the Arabs and is also common in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, 
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The shortnecked lute is called “pipa” 
in China. According to the Chinese chronicles, the oud is a foreign instrument 
and came to China from the western world.
Thus, the main parts of the oud are a convex, pear-shaped body, a short 
neck and a head with pegs bent backwards. The overall length of the instrument 
is 850 mm. The length of the body reaches 480-500 mm, width - 350-360 mm, 
depth - 180- 200 mm, length of the neck - 195-200 mm and of the head - 215-
230 mm. The body is held together with 3 mm thick rivets of 20 pieces, the 
upper ends of which are attached to the butt. On the sides, the upper rivets 
are further attached to small blocks of wood on the sounding board from the 
inside. A neck with a width of 35-50 mm and a height of 22-30 mm is attached 
to the 70-80 mm long butt, and the head is attached to its upper end. 

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On the upper side of the head, there are 6 pegs and at the bottom - 5. The 
wooden sounding board with a thickness of 5 mm has 1-3 sound holes with the 
carved rosettes inserted. At the bottom of the sounding board, there is a shell 
and a wooden stand – a holder of strings with a length of 130 and a height of 
7 mm.
All the parts of the instrument, except for the sounding board, are made of 
walnut, pear and sandal wood. The flat sounding board is made of spruce or 
pine. 
The oud typically has five pairs of strings. In the recent period, an additional 
single string is pulled on the instrument. The first and second pairs are made 
from veins, and the rest from metal. As it is noted, there are no frets on the 
neck. Sounds are extracted with a plectrum in the form of a stylus with a bone 
tip. When playing, the oud is pressed to the chest, while the side of the body 
touches the bent knee of a seated performer. The artist plays it with the four 
fingers of his left hand.  
Music for the instrument is composed in treble clef and sounds an octave 
lower than written. The range of the oud is from E in the great octave to “F” 
in the twice-accented octave. The strings are tuned in the range of second-
quarter. You can play passages, tremolo, glissando and melodic phrases with 
the oud. The soft, velvety sound of the oud allows it to be used for the solo 
performance of mughams and lyrical folk tunes. 
In the orchestras and ensembles of folk instruments, the oud is primarily 
used as an accompanying instrument. Together with the other instruments, its 
sound is enhanced significantly, reaching timbre diversity. While repeating the 
melodic line, due to the sharp differences in timbre from the other stringed 
instruments, the oud creates a kind of harmony. This feature is clearly seen 
in “Poem” and “Song Without Words No.14” by the composer Suleyman 
Alasgarov for the ganun and orchestra of folk instruments, the work of 
“Dervish” by Frangiz Alizadeh. 
Frangiz Alizadeh wrote “Mirage” (from the series of “Silk Road”) for the 
oud and chamber ensemble and Naila Mirmammedli - “Concert” for the oud 
and orchestra.
The talented tar player Ahsan Dadashov (1924-1976) played a major role 
in popularizing of the oud in Azerbaijan. The audience still remembers him 
playing the “Shur” mugham and the song “Garaxal yar” (“My beloved with 
a black mole”) on the oud. Nowadays, the performances by Yasaf Eyvazov, 
Mirjavad Jafarov and Asgar Alakbarov, make a lasting impression.

AZERBAIJANI MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS FASCINATE THE WORLD
145
THE AZERBAIJANI GANUN
The Azerbaijani musical instrument ganun is associated with the ancient 
Egyptian harp, unlike which its many strings were placed on the wooden body 
in a horizontal position. 
The ganun is an instrument akin to the gusli, dulcimer, and zither which are 
common in the European countries. Because of the similar name, it is assumed 
that the ganun was formed from the ancient canon, i.e., the monochord, the 
only string of which was already supplemented with additional strings in 
antiquity [79]. It is no accident that the Tajik musicologist, singer and chang 
performer, Dervish Ali (second half of the 16
th
 - first half of the 17
th
 century) 
considered it as the legacy of the Hellenic world [79]. As evidenced by the 
written records, before the Christian era, it was common in the Ancient Egypt, 
Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Then the ganun migrated to Iran, the Caucasus, 
Central Asia, Pakistan, India and China [67, 80].
The ganun was one of the most common instruments in the medieval 
Azerbaijan and was praised by many classics of the Azerbaijani literature, who 
also list a number of specific properties of this instrument. For example, Nizami 
Ganjavi notes the subtle harmony of the thickened and thin strings as well as 
their influence on the human consciousness. In the allegorical poem “Seven 
Cups”, Muhammad Fizuli compares the ganun with a “chest of secrets” that 
produces a “plaintive and tender song” and advises us not to tell him anything 
because he has “one hundred tongues”, referring to the existence of the multiple 
strings. 
In the Middle Ages, three types of the ganun differing in size, were the 
most common: Turkish (small), Baghdad (medium) and Egyptian (large). The 
Azerbaijani ganun was different from the Turkish and Arabic ones for its scale, 
including with an octave of 17 steps [10].
The appearance of the ganun, which was widespread in the Middle Ages, 
can definitely be judged by the miniatures in the manuscripts of the prominent 
poets’works. Usually, they reflect the entertainment scenes in the rulers’ 
palaces. Among the performers who play the stringed and wind instruments 
accompanied by a percussion instrument, such miniatures also depict a 
musician (mostly woman) who, with her legs crossed, is holding the ganun 
on her knees, and its body is very different from the modern version. When 

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it is viewed from the above, the body reminds the cover of a grand piano. We 
can therefore conclude that the construction of the ganun has undergone a 
significant change since the 17
th
 -18
th
 centuries. It is interesting to note that the 
appearance of the ganun painted by the famous Russian painter and graphic 
artist Prince Grigory Gagarin (1810-1893), the author of the well-known 
watercolor “Shamakhy Bayaderes”, who visited Azerbaijan in 1840-1850, is 
similar to its modern variety.
Currently, the ganun is a popular instrument for playing the traditional 
Arabic music. At the same time, this instrument is common in Turkey, Iran, 
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, as well as Greece under 
the name of kanonaki. By the area where it is common, the ganun surpasses 
another popular stringed instrument of the Arabic world – the oud. The ganuns 
used in various countries today are similar by their external forms differing 
only by the number of strings.
The body of the ganun is shaped like a right-angled trapezoid, whose acute 
angle is 30°.  It is glued together from the wooden staves that are mostly made 
of plane trees. The length of the instrument is 890-900 mm, width – 380-390 
mm and height – 60 mm.
Most of the sounding board of the ganun is wooden. For the best sound, 
resonator holes with carved rosettes are opened in it. The sturgeon, goat or 
sheep skin is pulled on its lower part which is divided into 3-4 equal sections. 
Above the leather membrane, there is a small holder (kichik kharak) 
resting upon it with three or four legs, and on the oblique side – there is a large 
holder (beyuk kharak). 24-25 triple veins (they have now been replaced with 
a nylon thread) strings (sim) are pulled over the holders and sounding board. 
Previously, the thin strings were made from silk and thick ones - from goat, 
lamb and veal intestines. The total number of the strings is 72-75. In the lower