Saz / Baglama: Why they sound so good?

The saz or baglama is a Turkish musical instrument of the traditional long-necked lute family. In fact both the names saz and baglama may be used in various countries near Turkey. Saz/baglama is very similar to the bouzouki from Greek. The saz has a very narrow, long neck like the trichordo bouzouki.

The strings of saz are made with metal and tuned using friction tuning pegs at the top, it is something like the ones on a violin, instead of using machine heads. Note that for metal strings machine heads are more effective and some modern sazes use them. Although these haven’t caught on yet. These are normally seven strings and mainly grouped into three major courses.

The spectacular function of saz lies on the combination of string arrangement. More widely the arrangements are unusual because both the treble and bass courses have a combination of thin and thick strings tuned an octave apart, while the middle course has a pair of identical strings. Although alternative tunings are common, the tuning described here is the usual one.

>> The treble course very often known as Z-course, discovered with one thick string and two thin strings normally tuned to an A and an octave higher than the thick string. Players play all melodies as normal throughout the entire course with a lot of jumping of the hand up and down the neck.

>> The middle course, sometimes called Y-course is slightly heavier than the ones in the treble course and mainly consists of two thin strings. These are tuned to the D a fourth below the A of the two thin treble strings.

>> The other two courses are mainly used for accompanying harmonic notes and playing chords.

>> And finally the bass course, sometimes called the X-course, has two strings- a thick one is tuned to G, a tone below the thick string of the treble course on the other hand a thin one tuned to octave higher to a tone below the thin strings of the treble course. The seven strings are tuned as follows from bass to treble:

G g | d d | A a a

Saz/Baglama has a great appearance in producing great sound for its courses as well as physical activity. That is why all melodies suit it best. The saz/baglama are most recommended and has a mind blowing sound and you can get them in our online shop.