When I first discovered the world of Turkish music, I felt completely overwhelmed. There were so many different kinds of instruments, at different lengths, styles, and sounds.
Later I discovered that Saz, in the Turkish language, means “instrument”. That makes sense as half of the instrument shops in Istanbul are called “Saz Evi”, which means the house of the instruments.
Which one to choose?
It is easy to get lost with the different kinds of Saz. To make it easy I will present to you the 3 basic sizes that make the majority of the instruments that you are likely to meet:
The long neck saz:
For the heavy, drone sound “Asik Veysel” style, this is what you are after. With 23 frets, you can play the entire range of tones. Don’t be afraid of the length of the instrument, It is quite easy to play it.
The short neck Saz – AKA Bağlama
The most common Saz out there. It is the easiest to play and has become famous and identified as the sound of Turkey. Folk music is comfortable to play, thanks to a special tuning called “Bağlama Duzen”. If you are unsure about Saz, then it is your best and safest bet. With its 19 frets, it’s more than enough to get you started with Turkish music.
Cura Saz, or Baby Saz
If you fancy the high notes, and like instruments that are rather tiny, this might be the best for you. The Cura saz (pronounced “Jura”) is the little sister of the Baglama. Although it is a Saz with strings, frets, and the whole shabang, some tunes will be difficult to play it. It is less recommended as a first instrument.