Setar, the Persian four-stringed long necked lute

By Peyman Nasehpour

Setar is one of the most favorite musical instruments of Persia (Iran). As its names shows, it had three strings. "Se" and "Tar" in Persian language respectively means three and string. But in the beginning of Ghajar Period (19th century) a famous dervish setar player, Moshtagh Ali Shah, added the fourth string to have more melodic colors and tunes.

In historical texts for Persian music, many authors and poets have mentioned to its name and describe it as a three-stringed tanbour. Tanbour is a very ancient long necked lute of Persia and it seems its ancient name has been tambour in pre-Islamic ages.

Setar's sound is not as loud as the other instruments such as kamancheh, santoor and tar and therefore some love to listen to the sound of setar in the silence of nights.

Setar's sound box is wooden with some holes on its surface. It is played with the nail of the index finger.

The similarities between Persian setar and Indian sitar, shows that their root should be the same and many Indians believe that sitar's ancestor is the setar and Amir Khosro Dehlavi, the very famous Indian musician-poet who was originally from Persia, made some changes to make it more appropriate for Indian music.

Famous setar makers of the past: Ostad Haj Taher and Ostad Eshghi

Famous setar players of the past: Mirza Abdollah and his son Ostad Ebadi, Ostad Abolhasan Saba, Ostad Saeed Hormozi, Ostad Yousef Foroutan and so on...

There is a very good setar player that his name is Moshir Moazzam Afshar that he was from Shiraz city and it is a pity that he is not famous at all.