Kurdish tanbur tuning: tarz and Sheikh Amiri
The Kurdish tanbur, often sold as the Persian tanbur, is the sacred long-necked lute of the Yarsan (Ahl-e Haqq) of Guran, Sahneh and the wider Kermanshah region of Iran, played with the fingers. It has three metal strings in two courses: a steel pair tuned in unison for the melody and the vakhan (واخوان), a single brass or bronze bass string. Its tied gut frets give semitone steps.
Kurdish tanbur tunings: notes and frequencies
Example at A4 = 440 Hz with the steel pair on A3; the tanbur has no fixed pitch. Transpose: G3 = −2 (Mifado), A♭3 to B3 = −1 to +2 (Kalhor), C4 = +3. The intervals stay fixed: the vakhan is a fifth below the pair in tarz and a fourth below in barz.
| Tuning | Steel pair | Hz | Vakhan (bass) | Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarz (five tuning) | A3 | 220.00 | D3 | 146.83 |
| Barz / Sheikh Amiri (seven tuning) | A3 | 220.00 | E3 | 164.81 |
| Tarz · Transpose −2 | G3 | 196.00 | C3 | 130.81 |
| Barz · Transpose −2 | G3 | 196.00 | D3 | 146.83 |
| Tarz · Transpose +3 | C4 | 261.63 | F3 | 174.61 |
| Barz · Transpose +3 | C4 | 261.63 | G3 | 196.00 |
How to use it
- Tap Turn on microphone and pick tarz or barz. If you know your pair’s note, set Transpose (semitones) in Settings using the guide below.
- Tune the pair one string at a time, muting the other with a finger, and bring both to the same target from below.
- Tuned the pair by ear or to a singer? Play it steadily and press Capture reference: the vakhan target is recalculated from it.
- Check by ear: the pair should not beat, and fret 5 of the pair (tarz) or fret 7 (barz) should sound one octave above the open vakhan.
Help and explanations
This tuner covers the two traditional tunings, tarz and barz (Sheikh Amiri), with an example pair on A3 (220 Hz). The tradition has no fixed pitch, so you can transpose the set or capture your own pair. This is not the Turkish classical tanbur: for that instrument, use the Turkish tanbur tuner.
Tarz and barz: two traditional tunings
The interval defines the tuning: the pair stays in unison and only the vakhan moves. In tarz it sits a perfect fifth below the pair (D3 under A3); in barz, also called Sheikh Amiri or Saranjam, a perfect fourth below (E3), a whole tone higher than in tarz. Players also speak of the “five” and “seven” tunings (panj dastan, haft dastan), after the fret of the pair that gives the octave of the open vakhan.
Iranian encyclopedias, citing Mohammad Reza Darvishi, link tarz to the chamber and older maqams and most of the Ahl-e Haqq ritual repertoire to barz. Partow Hooshmandrad reports the same for the sacred repertoire, and in Heydar Kaki’s analysis, 63 of 72 tanbur maqams are in barz. Courses often teach tarz first, but neither is “the standard tuning”.
No fixed pitch: transposition and capture
Tanbur notation writes the open pair as “do” (tarz do–do–fa, barz do–do–sol), but that do is relative. Hooshmandrad, who studied the tanbur among the Ahl-e Haqq of Guran, writes that “there is no concept of a fixed pitch in AH music”, and Kayhan Kalhor says the steel pair is normally tuned somewhere between A♭ and B.
So A3 is only a starting point. Set Transpose from your pair’s note: G3 = −2 (Mifado tanbur course); A♭3 to B3 = −1 to +2 (Kalhor’s range); a real C4, the “do” some schools use literally, = +3. Unsure? Leave 0 and capture your own pair: it keeps the name A3, like a movable do, but the hertz values are real.
Thin strings and what the tuner does not do
The pair strings are only about 0.16–0.18 mm thick (the vakhan about 0.20 mm). If the tuner reads an octave low, never crank the string up an octave: a steel pair at A4 would snap.
The tuner checks open strings only; it does not place the gut frets or target microtones. String numbering varies between schools, so the targets are named by role. And in Yarsan ritual, Hooshmandrad notes, fine tuning is not the point: this tool is for practice, recording and playing with others.
Tips
- Mute the pair with your palm while tuning the vakhan, so the tuner does not catch it.
- Hold the phone near the body and play only one string at a time.
- After switching tunings, check all three strings again.
Frequently asked questions
How is the Kurdish tanbur tuned?
The steel pair in unison, with the vakhan a fifth below (tarz) or a fourth below (barz, also called Sheikh Amiri): A3 A3 D3 or A3 A3 E3 with the pair on A3.
Should I use tarz or Sheikh Amiri tuning?
Follow the maqam: most of the sacred haqqani repertoire is played in Sheikh Amiri (barz). A piece notated do–do–fa is in tarz; do–do–sol is barz.
What frequency should tanbur strings be tuned to?
None is fixed. In this page’s example at A4 = 440 Hz, the pair is A3 (220.00 Hz) and the vakhan D3 (146.83 Hz) in tarz or E3 (164.81 Hz) in barz. Other notes are in the note frequency chart.
How many strings does a Kurdish tanbur have?
Three: two steel strings in unison and a brass or bronze vakhan. Older tanburs had two; the high string was doubled in the 20th century. Frets: 13 in the older Guran tradition, 14 on newer instruments.
Is this the same as the Turkish tanbur?
No. The Turkish classical tanbur is another instrument with its own Bolahenk tuning: use the Turkish tanbur tuner. Charts for the bağlama, Balkan tambura or Indian tanpura don’t apply either.
What is the difference between the tanbur and the setar?
The Persian setar has four strings played with the index fingernail; the Kurdish tanbur has three, played with the fingers and tuned in tarz or barz. For the setar, use the Persian setar tuner.