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Encyclopedia ID 247

Tar and mugham modes

Also known as Tar · Muğam · Azerbaijani long-neck lute

Tar and mugham modes: photograph by Urek Meniashvili
Photo: Urek Meniashvili, CC BY-SA 3.0, source on Wikimedia Commons

Pick the doubled strings along a chosen mugham mode (dastgah-like scale) and improvise short phrases to match target contours.

Heritage note

Part of the living heritage of Azerbaijan.

Origins

Usually placed in the era of Crossroads and Golden Ages (about 500 to 1500), although its exact origins are uncertain, within the cultural world of Persia, Caucasus and Central Asia.

Sources

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