The Saz Baglama

 The Saz Baglama 

On a holiday to Türkiye in 1988, I purchased a Saz Baglama at a market in Antalya. I made attempts to play it but quickly concluded that this was purely a “Tourist Instrument” That would hang on a wall somewhere or more likely live in a cupboard of the attic. Earlier this summer I dug the Saz out from a cupboard, cleaned it up and looked at restoring it. The bridge was broken and the strings broken or rusty. I ordered a new bridge and a set of strings and tried to set it up but again came to the same conclusion that I had in 1988. 

I was fascinated by the sound of this instrument though and looked at where it would be possible to buy one. There were a few shops in London that specialised in Turkish and Arabic instruments, but the choice looked like it would be limited to online stores. 

I’m always a bit wary of buying a musical instrument online but decided to take a punt and buy a short neck Saz Baglama from Ethnic Musical in Izmir. The Saz arrived a week later, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. It’s a beautiful handmade instrument with walnut being the main wood used in the construction. It plays well and stays in tune. There are plenty of YouTube videos available to explain the basics and to get you started and so a new adventure with a new instrument began. 

Saz Baglama from Ethic Musical, Izmir, Turkiye 

Tuning The Saz and Basics 

There are several tunings for the Saz Baglama. This depends on whether it is a short neck or long neck instrument and there tend to be regional variations. The most common tuning is the B A E tuning. 

The Saz Baglama has 7 strings grouped in 3 groups. 

Tuning is as follows based on string nearest the player 

1 – B  

2 – B (Octave higher) 

 

3 – A 

4 – A 

 

5 – E 

6 – E (Octave higher) 

7 – E (Octave higher) 

 

 

https://www.ethnicmusical.com/saz-baglama/learning-to-play-the-long-saz-from-tuning-to-strumming

A Practice Video on Saz Baglama (1 week in)