Tar (lute)

Tar (lute)

Tar (Tār) (Persian: تار‎) is a Persian long-necked, waisted instrument, shared by many cultures and countries like Iran, Afganistan, Armenia, Georgia, Republic of Azerbaijan, and other areas near the Caucasus region. The word tar (Persian: تار‎) itself means "string" in Persian, though it might have the same meaning in languages influenced by Persian or any other branches of Iranian languages like Kurdish. This has led some Iranian experts to hold that the Tar must be common among all the Iranian people as well as the territories that are boldly named as Iranian Cultural Continent by the Encyclopædia Iranica.

This is claimed to be the root of the names of the Iranian setar and the guitar as well as less widespread instruments such as the dutar and the Indian sitar. The exact place of origin of the tar cannot be confirmed. However, the tar was invented in the Artsakh region (nowadays called Karabakh), or influenced by, the Persian Empire: Media/Persia (Iran), Afghanistan, and parts of the former Soviet republics, such as Armenia and Georgia.

Tar is one of the most important musical instruments in Iran and the Caucasus. The formation, compilation, edition, and inheritance of the most authentic and most comprehensive versions of radif are all worked on tar. The general trends of Persian classical music have been deeply influenced by tar players.