Tar

The tar is a long-necked string instrument played with a plectrum. Its figure-of-eight body is usually carved from mulberry wood and covered with a thin membrane from an ox's pericardium, which gives the tar its bright sound.

In the 19th century the Shusha tar master Mirza Sadig Asad oglu, known as Sadigjan, reworked the instrument: he added strings and lifted the tar from the knee to the chest. The "Azerbaijani tar" played today has this form.

The tar is the core instrument of the mugham trio, and since Uzeyir Hajibeyli's opera Leyli and Majnun it has also played with symphony orchestras. "Craftsmanship and performance art of the Tar" was inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2012.