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 •
Raag Jog: exploring different ways the electric guitar can support a Dhrupad-ang nomtom (syllabic improvisation)…
Jun 28
Raag Kafi: Electric guitar improv around the adha bandish ‘Aaj Khel Shaam Sang Hori’
Jun 22
Raag Jog: some sawal-jawab (‘question-answer’) fun with Marc Clayton on tabla
Jun 15
Some tintal improv around a wonderful Durga bandish I’ll be playing at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
Jun 10
Come see me play some bendy raga-guitar at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla
Jun 5
tomato can jungle/DnB (distracted while cooking)
May 23
A great Jaunpuri gat from Senia-Shahjahanpur sarod legend Pt Buddhadev DasGupta, full of fast bends and slides (originally released for Joep Bor’s 1997 Raga Guide, in many ways a precursor to my own raga index)
May 6
just for fun…I had to defend the honour of my main instrument against my second instrument (many thanks to @mountainhead for the original video, as well as some tasty bends) – still no match for the surbahar’s meend range though!
May 4
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(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#dhrupad #raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace
#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc)
#indianmusic #raga #icm #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/
‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc) – including this piece, a famous Bhairavi bhajan by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada)
#bhajan #raga #indianmusic #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
#drumming #percussion #dnb #jungle
Raag Jaunpuri: a late morning raga, likely originating in the Sultanate-era music of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh (as per Subodh Agrawal: “The rulers of Jaunpur were keen patrons of the arts, and the last one – Sultan Hussain Sharqi – was himself a distinguished musician; it is probable that the Jaunpuri flavor of Asavari was developed by him, or under his patronage“). Rajan Parrikar elaborates on its “Asavariant” status, noting that some (including Omkarnath Thakur) see it as essentially indistinguishable from Shuddha Re Asavari, while others consider Jaunpuri to follow more ‘rounded’ melodic motions…
#sarod #ragaguitar #stratocaster #worldmusic #jaunpur
#sitar #guitar #raga #bends #ragaguitar
• 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)
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• 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
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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!
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