263 divan

( JPEG format )

Turkey
body: mulberry wood, front face of cypres, with 1 soundhole; L.220.0cm
strings: 3 double courses, steel and copper wound wire
frets: 19
tuning: c-g-d'

A larger type of saz. The body of the instrument is placed horizontally on the right knee. A small plectrum of plastic (originally of cherry bark) is held in the right hand, and the thumb of the left hand is used to press the strings onto the fingerboard. The frets are movable so as to facilitate microtonal adjustments. Widely used in accompanying folk song and dance and, most characteristically, narrative performance of epics by minstrels called asik or ozan.

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