Parham Nassehpoor

Setar is a string or stringed instrument. In these musical instruments a stretched vibrating string produces the sound. These instruments are also classified as chordophones. The term 'Setâr' is derived from two Persian words: 'Se,' meaning three, and 'Târ,' meaning string. Thus, 'Setâr' refers to a stringed instrument with three strings. The Setar is a plucked string instrument, and the right index fingernail serves as a plectrum for plucking or strumming. The Setar is a fretted string instrument with movable frets tied onto its neck. The Setar is a key instrument in Persian art music, known for its delicate and expressive sound. Its rich tonal qualities make it a favorite for solo performances.

Setar has four strings - two single strings and a course made up of two strings. The first string from down to up is named 'the White String' and made of steel. The second string from down to up is named 'the Yellow String' and made of Bronze or Phosphor-Bronze. The two strings in the course (the third and fourth string from down to up) have different names and are tuned in an octave or to different tones. The thiner string of the course is named the "Drone String" and made of steel and the thicker string of the course is named the "Bass String" and made of Bronze or Phosphor-Bronze. Setar strings are used in different thicknesse or gauges. These gauges are chosen in thousandths of a meter. Here I am going to suggest you some gauges for Setar strings. You can use 0.16 mm or 0.18 mm for the white and drone strings, 0.18 mm or 0.20 mm for the yellow string and 0.30 or 0.35 for the bass string. The earlier generation of Setar had three strings and as mentioned the contemporary Setar has four strings, but we will consider the Setar, as an instrument with three strings, because we consider the drone and bass strings as a course.

Pressing a string against a fret determines the strings' vibrating length and therefore its resultant pitch. Setar frets are mostly made of gut, embedded around the neck and located at the points that are determined according to the ears of the musicians. Every fret consists of 3 or 4 threads according to the tradition. The frets are moveable, because we need sometimes to move the frets to get a new arrange of frets. Frets worn down from heavy use can be replaced. The number of Setar frets can be between 22 and 28. I show you in the following picture the frets of my Persian Tar in an Octave. It can be useful for Setar as well, because the system of fretting in Setar and Persian Tar is the same. The frets between whole tone and half tone frets representing the micro tones. Some Setar players and makers use frets made of nylon or metal.

The tonal center or the base tone of the starting piece of each "Dastgâh" has a great role in tuning the Setar. We are going to assume that the white string is tuned in "c". Most of the times the yellow string is tuned in "g". I am going to call the drone and bass strings as tuning strings, because the tuning of these strings change with choosing a new Dastgah or with playing the same Dastgah from a different base tone. I am going to present here the traditional tunings of Setar. Please pay attention to the order of strings: from left to right white string - 1st, yellow string - 2nd, drone string - 3th and bass stirng - 4th. Please consider that the yellow string is tuned lower than the white string.

Base Tone : C . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : C

Base Tone : F . White String : C . Yellow String : F . Drone String : C . Bass String : C

Base Tone : G . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : F

Base Tone : G . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : D . Bass String : D

Base Tone : G . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : D . Bass String : D

Base Tone : C . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : C

Base Tone : A _{1/4 Flat} . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : A _{1/4 Flat}

Base Tone : G . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : D . Bass String : D

Base Tone : B ^{Flat . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : B Flat . Bass String : F}

Base Tone : C . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : F

Base Tone : C . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : F

Base Tone : D . White String : C . Yellow String : G . Drone String : C . Bass String : F

You can find some more tunings here

Introduction

Here I am going to introduce only some Persian Setar virtuosi. It includes some important lines about their musical life, a picture and an audio sample. I hope that these informations are going to be helpful, for the Persian Setar lovers, who want to develop their skillfulness in playing the Persian Setar.

Abolhassan Saba (1902-1957), the Persian Setar virtuoso, multi instrumentalist, composer, instructor and researcher, learned Setar from Mirza Abdollah and Darvish Xan. His Setar playing is the typical old and authentic style of Setar playing. His way of playing the Setar, specially Chahar Mezrabs on Setar is astonishing and unique.

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Persian Setar Solo
Dastgah (Persian Modal System): Mahur

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Impressions from Iran
Video clips with Persian Tar Music
in Avaz (Persian Modal System) Abuata