G-G-D-D-A-A
• OVERVIEW •
The bağlama is a three-course lute of variable neck length, popular in Turkish folk music (n.b. nearby cultures call similar variants the saz, while other local names include kopuz, irisva, balta, and bulgari). Played with a hard cherrywood pick, the frets, often made of fishing line, are moveable – opening up infinite microtonal shades.
Bağlamas take many different tunings (known as düzen). This one mimics the ‘long neck A‘ layout of GG-DD-AAA. On guitar, the vast tension changes give a ‘chaotic 12-string‘ feel – see if you can use the wild slackness to find some messy makam-tinged magic! (n.b. for another Anatolian adaptation, see Turkish Oud tuning).
Pattern: 0>7>0>7>0
Harmony: Gsus2 | 1-1-5-5-2-2
• TUNING TONES •
Multi-step meend in Raag Bageshri: some riyaz improv in one of my all-time favourite ragas
Sep 30
E8 Boogie (Squarepusher): @sqpusher did I get them right? Tried to work out guitar voicings for this curious chord sequence in E8 Boogie (…originally at the request of a student!)
Sep 27
Raag Jaiwanti Todi (SrgmPDnS): An Ahiri-prakriti raga introduced by Maharaja Jaiwant Singh Waghela (1904-1980): the hereditary ruler of Sanand who gained wide renown as a spiritual teacher, vocal educator, and generous patron of the nascent Mewati gharana (also the creator of Gyankali and other ragas). Sung here by his student Pandit Jasraj – a bandish I’ve always loved, especially the ferocious taan and colourful harmonium accompaniment…
Sep 22
Raag Prabhateshwari (SrgmPDnS): A mysterious raga created by Hariprasad Chaurasia, played here by his nephew Rakesh – resembling a blend of the morning Ahir Bhairav and the late night Bageshri. I was inspired to learn the raga when researching Maa Annapurna Devi’s time teaching Hariprasad (many thanks to my crack team of experts including Rupak Kulkarni, Alam Khan, George Ruckert, Suresh Vyas, Anindya Banerjee, and Gopi Shanker, who all gave valuable assistance in illuminating the raga’s origins)
Sep 15
—Home | Menu | About—
• Support ad-free, AI-free musicology by joining my PATREON. And to intensify your six-string imagination, try some online lessons: get in touch to book a free taster session!
Apologies to anyone experiencing page-load issues in the past few weeks: this is due to bot-scraper requests overloading the server – a fix is in the works (…if you have expertise in this area, hit me up!)
#raga #jazzguitar #indianmusic #icm #londonmusic
Original: Squarepusher/Tom Jenkinson (from 1997’s Hard Normal Daddy)
#jungle #jazzguitar #warprecords #idm #dnb @warprecords
—Original: Pandit Jasraj (khayal); Appa Jalgaonkar (harmonium); Nizamuddin Khan? (tabla)
#raga #khayal #indianmusic #worldmusic #icm
—Original: Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri), live at Darbar 2008 @chaurasia_rakesh @darbarfestival
#raga #darbarfestival #indianmusic #bansuri #worldmusic
• SOUNDS •
To sample a scattering of bağlamasters from across the ages – see innovators including Muharrem Ertaş and his son Neşet Ertaş (the ‘Plectrum of the Steppe’), Erdal Erzincan (the ‘Eddie van Halen of bağlama’), and Erkan Oğur – also known for pioneering the fretless classical guitar (“long notes make you freer…I looked around for Turkish music, because I was living then in a very authentic place and time. I started then with what they call bağlama…a little instrument, very handy”).
- Tahran Konseri – Erdal Erzincan & Kayhan Kalhor (2012):
“The ozans wandered from campsite to campsite [in the 11th century], performing Oghuz epics [and] popular folk songs…They were present at national hunting rites (sgir), and at mourning ceremonies (yog), and travelled with the Seljuk army performing heroic poetry after military victories…The Anatolian Turks possessed a large body of love poems and folk songs…Unfortunately, almost nothing is left of these epics…” (from Hans de Zeeuw’s 2020 book The Turkish Long-Necked Lute: Saz or Bağlama, p.13)
Share this page! My site is 100% reliant on organic visitors – send this page to fellow sonic searchers!
—Join my PATREON!—
• My Music | Global Guitar •
(Currently accepting Zoom students! Book in a free taster session)
Like everything on my site, the World of Tuning will always remain 100% open-access and ad-free: however, this doesn’t pay the bills! I put as much into these projects as time and finances allow – so, if you like them, you can:
• Support the site! •
—Documenting more altered tunings—
—Engaging with peg-twisting guitarists—
—Ensuring that high-quality guitar knowledge will remain open to all!—
Insights to share? Get in touch!
• NUMBERS •
| 6str | 5str | 4str | 3str | 2str | 1str | |
| Note | G | G | D | D | A | A |
| Alteration | +3 | -2 | 0 | -5 | -2 | -7 |
| Tension (%) | +41 | -21 | 0 | -44 | -21 | -55 |
| Freq. (Hz) | 98 | 98 | 147 | 147 | 220 | 220 |
| Pattern (>) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – |
| Semitones | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| Intervals | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
- See my Tunings Megatable for further such nerdery: more numbers, intervallic relations, comparative methods, etc. And to any genuine vibratory scientists reading: please critique my DIY analysis!
• RELATED •
—Associated tunings: proximities of shape, concept, context, etc…
- Oud (Turkish): another folk lute from the Anatolian region
- Open Dsus: the famous DADGAD takes the same three tones
- Zen Drone: more paired strings for wide open explorations
• MORE INFO •
—Further learnings: sources, readings, lessons, other onward links…
- Bağlama horizons: a short historical talk from Ulaş Özdemir on The Stringdom, and musicologist Hans de Zeeuw’s intriguing 2020 book The Turkish Long-Necked Lute Saz or Bağlama (“which played…an important role during the ceremonies of [the] âşıks: the Anatolian wandering poet-musicians…”) – also find out what happens when a Saz teacher “sweeps an entire village“
- Erkan Oğur’s inventions: fretless designs on Neu Guitars, plus a fascinating RootsWorld interview (“while waiting…at a red light, Erkan, sitting at the steering wheel, took out a small home-made guitar-like instrument and proceeded to play a fast piece under his friend’s astonished eyes. When the light turned green, as he drove on, he explained…’That’s my traffic-light music'”)
Header image: 20th-century baglamaster Aşık Daimi
Search the Altered Tunings Menu (100+): type in notes, artists, adjectives, intervals, sequences, etc. Also see Tag List:
.
—TUNING TAGS—
ALL (100) | 2-note (6) | 3-note (28) | 4-note (26) | 5-note (30) | 6-note (8) | 7th: Dom. (7) | 7th: Maj (12) | 7th: Min (21) | A-listers (11) | Alliterative (16) | Drone (4) | Drop (6) | Global (20) | Inst. (12) | Interval (6) | Narrow (12) | Non-taut (63) | Odd jumps (10) | Oddball (17) | Power (26) | Re-ent. (7) | Slack-key (5) | Slide (12) | Standard (11) | Superlow (15) | Sus. (22) | Triad: Maj (11) | Triad: Min (7) | 1-twist(7) | 2-twist (12) | 3-twist (16) | 4-twist (20) | 5-twist (20) | 6-twist (24) | Wide (24)
George Howlett is a London-based musician, writer, and teacher (guitars, sitar, tabla, & santoor). Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, interconnecting fresh vibrations with the voices, cultures, and passions behind them. See Home & Writings, and hit me up for Online Lessons!
—Join the Patreon!—
(Get in touch for Zoom lessons!)
my site is ad-free, AI-free, & open-access