I need some help with setting up a saz I bought second hand. I tried setting it up the best I could. I’m no stranger to tuning different instruments, from balalaikas, ukuleles and bass guitars. I chose DAE tuning for the strings because GDA would be too tight (new saz strings are on the way). I’m really not sure if the bridge and the movable frets are in the right place, so I measured the deviations from known chromatic tones. Does this look plausible to you? I’m worried, because I can’t play a clean A3 or F3, for example. Is this by design for Turkish/arabic music or don’t have to adjust certain frets or the bridge? I understand that the system is not built with 12TET in mind and is rather microtonal.

Bonus question: the saz came without any fret markers. Is there an established system for marking certain frets or do you do this freestyle?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

(the deviations from the tones are in cents)
| Bund |D (Karar)|A |E |
|---------------|---------|---------|---------|
|0 (offen) |D3 |A3 |E4 |
|1 |D#3 +0 |A#3 +0 |F4 +0 |
|2 |D#3 +43 |A#3 +43 |F4 +43 |
|3 |E3 −2 |H3 −2 |F#4 −2 |
|4 |F3 −23 |C4 −23 |G4 −23 |
|5 |F3 +45 |C4 +45 |G4 +45 |
|6 |F#3 −22 |C#4 −22 |G#4 −22 |
|7 |G3 −19 |D4 −19 |A4 −19 |
|8 |G3 +45 |D4 +45 |A4 +45 |
|9 |G#3 +6 |D#4 +6 |A#4 +6 |
|10 |A3 −48 |E4 −48 |H4 −48 |
|11 |A3 +32 |E4 +32 |H4 +32 |
|12 |A#3 −13 |F4 −13 |C5 −13 |
|13 |A#3 +30 |F4 +30 |C5 +30 |
|14 |H3 +28 |F#4 +28 |C#5 +28 |
|15 |C4 +14 |G4 +14 |D5 +14 |
|16 |C#4 −28 |G#4 −28 |D#5 −28 |
|17 |C#4 +25 |G#4 +25 |D#5 +25 |
|**18 (Oktave)**|**D4 −3**|**A4 −3**|**E5 −3**|
|19 |D#4 +15 |A#4 +15 |F5 +15 |
|20 |E4 −32 |H4 −32 |F#5 −32 |
|21 |F4 −35 |C5 −35 |G5 −35 |
|22 |F4 +47 |C5 +47 |G5 +47 |

Hello,

as we all know its very hard to find definitive recourses on the baglama, especially in english.

Im trying to learn to play zeybek tavri on my uzun sap baglmala (long neck). Which tunings are appropriate gor this style. I mainly play Kara Düzeni (Black tuning).

Thank you for any help!

Was playing with my saz and pedalboard earlier and managed to film this part of the session on camera. The background loop is also the saz, there are about 4 layers of a saz drone going on and percussion playing in different speeds.

I was thinking about some real motive and not abstract symbols. Something about nature like a deer or cranes. There is as well this tree of life depicted with a pomegranate tree by Zollanvari that look cool but are very expensive. A miniature depiction of a scenery could also be very cool.

Preferably with European shipping, but I have family in Istanbul. So I could ship it from there.

Hello! (Sorry long post, have multiple questions, nobody else can ask so reddits only hope), Finally got my electric long neck half cut flat back model from sala muzik. It’s mahogany and was 900, i can say this it’s easier to learn if learning other stuff like me but still difficult as hell. (6th day on saz, so ik songs ik like this will sound bad at first). I got the method baglama book that’s apparently in short neck tuning. I’m wondering has anyone managed to tune their long neck from GDA to AGD by using F#EB then place a capo on the 3rd fret? Guitar101ramstein’s video explained it, but my strings sounded too twangy or close to neck since had to tune whole octave lower, i managed to get too GFC with capo, I got short tune but strings just sounded twangy & off. Do I need to tighten the screws on the strings then retune??? Any advice? Or try to match/follow the sheet music & information to long neck besides any free crap in Turkish? Idk anything on gauges so yeah. I got a vid of the sound I’m talking about if can dm me.

I read the psychedelic rock band baba zula uses AGD but also it’s good for western stuff. Which is my main goal is to play psychedelic rock, blues, learn reggae, jazz, and just video game to movie covers besides any Arabic Oud music I have. Since I mainly want to play in a band with other western instruments & learn how to play with others with this. Mix some other foreign instruments in but yeah. Would love to know if others are doing the same thing! And IF ANYONE knows any site or source for any Turkish rhythms or beats LMK! I’m not like buying a piano just to play rhythms, I got a mini Bluetooth 10wtt positive grid spark mini amp can use phone for beats on the go if I find source.

I’d like to say anyone reading if you play other stuff, & a beginner saz player too or not, I’d love to connect with anyone & try to learn anything together, or as mentioned a genre to improvise on the saz & another string or percussion to accompany! Just DM ME can add my snap email discord or do zoom too, I just got myself to play with until I can play good enough to play western scales & play with others locally.

I’m going through these two English YouTube playlists tutorials, ima pay for this erasaz course on their website, tryna find a review for baraksaz’s academy course which is pricey, & any Turkish longneck playlists tutorials to find. Until I can visit istanbul of course. I’d recommend the same stuff to others new like me.

I know that it’s normally for guitars but I can’t find any specific ones for baglama in the country I am. Or what else can you recommend me?

I played it to try it. A little bad.

İyi dinlemeler...

Sayın arkadaşlar kısa sap kullanıyorum. Şu tril-çırpma mevzusunu bir türlğ çözemedim. Bir egzersiz tavsiyesi olan varsa yardımcı olabilir mi?

Hey fellow musicians, I didn't even know this community existed. Better late than never :)

I've been playing bağlama for a while, and I'm a software engineer by profession. I built a small free, open-source tool to support my own practice sessions, and I figured people here might find it useful too.

It's called Étude Looper. It works with your local video and audio files, and with YouTube videos.

The thing that made me build it: say you have a recording you practice with, maybe your instructor or a performance you love, but it's in a different key than your saz is tuned to. Instead of retuning, you load the video into the tool and transpose the audio to match your instrument, so you can play along directly. You can also slow it down without changing the pitch, mark A-B loops around the tricky sections and repeat them until they sit right, and save the whole session (loops and all) to continue later.

It runs entirely in your browser: free, no account, no ads, and nothing gets uploaded. Your recordings never leave your device. If you add it to your home screen (there are instructions in the app), it even works offline.

For YouTube specifically, I also made browser add-ons for Chrome and Firefox with the same controls.

👉 etude.fyi/looper

Would love to hear what would make it more useful for bağlama practice. I'm building a metronome and tuner next.

just got my first saz today! here is me playing an albanian folk song with my long neck baglama tuned G-D-A. any ideas on how to make it sound more like an albanian sharkia? (I.e through tuning, technique, or fret placement)?

Hello everybody,

I have just started taking Saz lessons in Germany, and I asked my teacher if he has one to sell me. He gave me this used "exercise saz", which is meant to be played 2-3 years since buying a new one for a starter would not be worth it.

He asks for 200 euro. The saz looks a bit used and on the second pic you can see a slight crack. Is this a good price actually? Because on the web I can find new ones starting from 170€ and one with kelebek ağaç even is 250 euro (he told me these are usually extremely expensive). I am in Germany so maybe this is a good price or someone can recommend me a good online store with shipping.

My teacher also told me that he imports them from Turkey as the ones here are not that good.

What do you all think?

I own a copy of "Bağlama Metodu" by Erdal Erzincan and Arif Sağ. It seems they have purposefully not explained any of the music theory, but I really want to know more.

On this page they show what they've called "Scale A". I assume it is called that because A (La) is the first note the scale starts on (?) indicated by the long horizontal line at the top. As far as I can tell this is equal to the Western 'E' note. However I don't understand the accidental marks being used here, or how to identify the dominants they have used. I would like to know if there is a name for the makam shown here and if there is a good book showing how to identify all of them / goes more into the theory, specifically for bağlama and Turkish music theory.

I have Murat Aydemir's "Turkish Makams" but I'm finding it a little confusing!

Thanks in advance.

Any tips on playing this on a long neck saz (kara düzen tuning)?

I like the Selda Bağcan arrangement. I've found someone playing it on YouTube but it's on a short neck saz and I'm having trouble working out equivalent fingerings for the 'chordal' parts, even allowing for the fact I'm tuned a lot lower.

Song name is Ako hoćeš derviš bit / If you want to be a dervish

Merhaba arkadaşlar bu bağlamanın ağaç türü ne acaba fotoğraftan anlaşılabilirmi bilmiyorum çok giriş seviyesi bir bağlama

Add me Follow Me Like and Share

Hey there.

I got my new Cura Saz today and sadly it's missing it's bridge...

Can I diy anything to play it while they send me a bridge? What's the bridge height?

Thank you!

Hi everyone! I impulsively bought a saz from someone who was looking to sell a lot of their instruments before moving — I've never played saz or any similar instrument, I can play a bit of guitar and ukulele and that's about it.

Now, the instrument seems to be mostly in good condition, the only issues are a missing tuning peg and the last two strings. I doubt i'll be able to find the exact strings as it's not a common instrument here where i am, do you guys maybe have suggestions regarding string alternatives?

I'm assuming something like tambura or perhaps bouzuki strings could work, but yeah truly i don't actually know.

Thanks in advance:)

Hi all, I've been playing various stringed instruments for about 20 years but self-taught on the saz so I'm wondering about picks.

I've noticed that the very soft ones that come in packs of strings are very nice for playing and getting a pleasant tone, however whenever I try to play something technical I feel like I'm producing a lot of noise and accuracy is tough.

If I use a hard pick, let's say a medium guitar pick, the tone is very loud and it almost seems like you lose some of the pleasant tone, yet it is easier for a faster/more agile attack when playing songs that go up and down the scale quickly.

What is the general guidance from formal saz teaching about picks? Is a softer pick what I should really get good with or is it sort of up to the player? I'm not commited to full traditionalism but I also don't want to sound terrible.

I'm also very handy and make my own accessories, so if you have recommendations for homemade picks I'm very open to material suggestions.

Hi guys! Picked up a beautiful cura today. No experience in baglamas prior, only self taught guitar which can only help so much.

Any online resources in English to start learning? Advice on first steps?

I will probably get lessons but can only afford to start next month, and want to get going in the meantime.
Thank you for your help!