The bağlama, also called the saz, is a long-necked lute with frets. It is used in folk music from Turkey and nearby areas in the Middle East and Central Asia. The saz is part of a larger group of long-necked lutes called tanburs. These instruments were historically found in regions such as Iran, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, and Anatolia.

Musicologists group the saz with the tanbur family of long-necked lutes.

In this musical tradition, the modern saz became the main folk lute in Turkish folk music. It is often linked to the music of traveling poet-musicians known as âşıks.

Name

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the words "bağlama" and "saz" are often used in the same way in Turkey. The word "saz" is generally used to mean "instrument" and can refer to a single instrument or a group of instruments, such as "wind instruments."

Bağlama scale

The musical scale of the bağlama is different from that of many Western instruments, such as the guitar, because it uses ratios that are close to quarter tones. Yalçın Tura has listed the traditional ratios for the bağlama's frets as follows:

• Fret 1: 18/17
• Fret 2: 12/11
• Fret 3: 9/8
• Fret 4: 81/68
• Fret 5: 27/22
• Fret 6: 81/64
• Fret 7: 4/3
• Fret 8: 24/17
• Fret 9: 16/11
• Fret 10: 3/2
• Fret 11: 27/17
• Fret 12: 18/11
• Fret 13: 27/16
• Fret 14: 16/9
• Fret 15: 32/17
• Fret 16: 64/33
• Fret 17: 2/1

However, as confirmed by Okan Öztürk, modern instrument makers often use fret calculators and tuners based on the 24-tone equal temperament system to set the frets. This system includes the 12 tones of the 12-tone equal temperament, along with 5 additional tones. This allows songs based on the 12-tone system to be played on the bağlama.

Notable performers

• Aşık Veysel (1894 to 1973)
• Muharrem Ertaş (1913 to 1984)
• Neşet Ertaş (1938 to 2012)
• Musa Eroğlu (1945 to present)
• Orhan Gencebay (1944 to present)
• Arif Sağ (1946 to present)
• Nida Tüfekçi (1929 to 1993)
• Orhan Ölmez (1985 to present)
• Azer Bülbül (1967 to 2012)
• Erkin Koray (1941 to 2023)
• Hasret Gültekin (1971 to 1993)
• İbrahim Erkal (1967 to 2017)
• Aşık Mahzuni Şerif (1940 to 2002)
• Nuray Hafiftaş (1964 to 2018)
• Fatih Kısaparmak (1961 to present)
• Arif Şirin (1949 to 2019)
• Uğur Işılak (1971 to present)
• Yavuz Bingöl (1964 to present)
• Ferdi Tayfur (1945 to 2025)
• Müslüm Gürses (1953 to 2013)
• Hakan Taşıyan (1973 to present)
• Esat Kabaklı (1954 to present)
• Orhan Hakalmaz (1965 to present)
• Ahmet Kaya (1957 to 2000)
• Sümer Ezgü (1960 to present)
• Kıvırcık Ali (1968 to 2011)
• Aşık Murat Çobanoğlu (1940 to 2005)