The bağlama or saz/ساز is a family of plucked string instruments and long-necked lutes used in Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey.According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "the terms 'bağlama' and 'saz' are used somewhat interchangeably in Turkey.'Saz' is generally used interchangeably with 'enstrüman' (instrument) and it is used to refer single or group of musical instruments like 'üflemeli sazlar' (wind instruments).[2] The musical scale of the bağlama differs from that of many western instruments – such as the guitar – in that it features ratios that are close to quarter tones.The traditional ratios for bağlama frets are listed by Yalçın Tura:[3] However, as confirmed by Okan Öztürk,[4] instrument makers now often set frets on the bağlama with the aid of fret calculators[5] and tuners based on the 24-tone equal temperament.
Asik Veysel
was a bağlama virtuoso, and the prominent representative of the Anatolian
ashik
tradition in the 20th century.