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Music of Iran | ||||
General topics | ||||
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Genres | ||||
Specific forms | ||||
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Media and performance | ||||
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Nationalistic and patriotic songs | ||||
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/IranianMusicGroup.jpg/250px-IranianMusicGroup.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Chehel_Sotoun_006.jpg/250px-Chehel_Sotoun_006.jpg)
Persian musical instruments or Iranian musical instruments can be broadly classified into three categories: classical, Western and folk. Most of Persian musical instruments spread in the former Persian Empires states all over the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and through adaptation, relations, and trade, in Europe and far regions of Asia. In ancient era, the Silk Road had an effective role in this distribution.
String instruments
Orchestral
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Tar
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Setar, ca. 1610
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Kamancheh
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Woman playing a santur, 19th century
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Qanun, from Rålamb Costume Book, 1657
Folklore
- Dotar
- Tanbur
- Tar (Azerbaijani instrument)
- Divan (diwan or divan sazı, type of Bağlama)
- Sallaneh
- Sorahi
- Suroz
- Rubab (instrument)
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Dotar (2 courses of strings)
Wind instruments
Orchestral
Folklores
Historical
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19th century C.E. Qajar Iran scene with women playing ney (flute), tar (lute) and dancing.
Percussion instruments
While Arabic and Persian are separate languages, to a great extent the cultures intermixed during and after the Arab conquest of Persia. Arabic became the lingua franca from the Middle East to the edge of China and into India, much as Latin was in Europe. As a result, the list below may contain Arab words that don't belong, but may also include words shared by both languages. An example is daf (دایره), for which the Arab word is also daf or duff (plural dofuf'). Similarly, conquests and cultural intermixing have made Turkish words available, such as kudum.
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Persian woman playing the Daf, from a painting on the walls of Chehel-sotoon palace, Isfahan, 17th century
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Persian miniature of Woman with frame drum in Qajar Iran, 19th century. Possibly a daf; the red and white circles are links of chain attached to the inner edge of the drum.
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Woman playing Kastan (کاستانیـِت), or possibly ghashoghak or zills.
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Woman with Zarb drum, Qajar Iran,19th century
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Woman playing drums, Qajar Iran, 19th century
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Woman playing Dayereh-zangi (دایرهزنگی) or tambourine, ca 1820
Membranophones
Name in English | Name in Persian or other names | Description | Picture |
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Arkal | A kind of drum, possibly of the frame type. | ||
Arabaneh | A kind of frame drum, sometimes fitted with jingles. Possibly same as arbana, drum of Muslims in Kerala, India.[1] | ||
Batare | A kind of frame drum, maybe the same as Daf. It should be mentioned that Bateri is the same as the English word Battery (sound of drum and also a kind of percussion instrument). | ||
Bendir | Bendayer | A large frame drum with thumb-hole on side. Today the Bendir is a typical frame drum. Similar instruments are common in the whole Near East from Morocco to Iraq and also in Northern Africa. A distinctive feature of this instrument is the set of snare strings fitted to the interior of the drum skin. | ![]() |
Chumlak-dombolak | A kind of Turkish-Egyptian Dombak with clay body | ||
Dabdab[2][3] | kettledrum. | ||
Daf
Riq رق |
Dafif, Dap, Dareh, Dariye, Kichik Dap, Dizeh, Dofuf, Duff, Dup, Kafeh, Raq, Req, Rik, Riqq | The daf is one of the most ancient frame drums in Asia and North Africa. As a Persian instrument, in the 20th century, it is considered as a Sufi instrument to be played in Khaghan-s for Zikr music but now this percussion instrument has recently become very popular and it has been integrated into Persian art music successfully.
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Daf-e-chahar-gush | A kind of squared Daf. This percussion-skinned instrument is played in Egypt and Syria. | ||
Dammam | Damameh | May denote both a drum of bowl shape and a type of cylindrical drum. | ![]() |
Damz | A kind of frame drum. | ||
Davat | A kind of drum to be stroke by Ghazib (drumstick). | ||
Dā'ira[4] دایره (ساز)
Dayereh-zangi (دایرهزنگی) |
Dayera | Frame drum.
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Dohol |
Dobol, Gapdohol, Jure |
A big cylindrical two-faced drum to be played by two special drumsticks. One is wooden thick stick that is bowed at the end and its name is Changal (or Kajaki). The other is thin wooden twig and its name is Deyrak. (In Hormozgan province of Iran, Dohol is played by two hands.) Dohol is the main accompaniment of Sorna (Persian Oboe, Turkish Zurna, Indian Shehnay and Chinese Suona).
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Doholak | A Dohol from Baluchestan, played with both hands. Called Nal in Pakistan, Dholki in Mahashtra, India. The Dholak in India is a folk drum characterized by a cylindrical wooden shell covered with skin on both sides.
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Dulab | Sarcastic or ironical name of drum. | ||
Dulakvat | A kind of cylindrical drum, like the dohol, of Pakistan and Afghanistan. | ||
Ghaval | Azerbaijani frame drum with or without rings. Ghavalchi means Ghaval player. | ||
Ghodum | Kudum (in Turkey) | A kind of drum to be played in Turkish Sufi music. | ![]() |
Jam-Danbolak | A kind of drum similar to the Tonbak. Jam means "cup". | ||
Kaseh | means "bowl"; in music is considered a kettledrum. Kasehzan and Kasehgar both mean Kaseh player. | ||
Khom | Kettledrum.
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Koli | A Persian frame drum. | ||
Kube | In Arabic, Al-kube. An hourglass drum. Kube comes from the Persian verb Kubidan (to strike). | ||
Kus[5] | Kas | Persian/Arab/Turkish Kettledrum.
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Mohre | A war drum | ||
Naqara | Azerbaijani drum | ![]() | |
*Naqareh
Naqqāra[5] |
Desarkutan, Naghghareh, Naker |
A kind of drum to be stroke by Ghazib (drum stick).
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Samma | A frame drum used in Sufi (mystic) music of Sistan-Baluchestan and other parts of southern Iran . | ||
Shaghf | A frame drum. | ||
Shahin-Tabbal | shahin-tabl | Pipe and tabor.
Shahin means royal falcon, but refers here to a wind instrument. Tabbal means drummer. Shahin-Tabbal is a person who plays Shahin by one hand and Tabl (drum) by the other one. |
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Tabare | Tabire | Tabire means drum. In Arabic it means Tabl. In French encyclopedia of Littreé it has been mentioned that the French word Tabur (small drum used in medieval times to accompany folk-dancing) comes from the Persian word Tabire.
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Ṭabl | Kabar | Drum. | |
Tablak | Doplak, Gushdarideh | Small drum
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Tas | Tasht | Small copper bowl drum covered with sheep or cow skin and beaten with a drumstick, or leather or rubber straps. The instrument may be related to the Indian Tasa or Tasha drums. Alternatively is copper bowls without skin, called Jal-Tarang in India. Tasht means tub or basin. Tashtgar means Tasht player.
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Tempo | A goblet drum similar to Turkish-Arabic Dumbek or Darbuka. | ||
Tiryāl | Tirpal | a type of frame drum/tambourine[7] | |
Tombak
Tonbak (تنبک) Zarb (ضَرب) |
Dombak, Dombalak, Donbak, Zarb | Tonbak: Persian goblet drums. There are many names for this instrument. Some of them are: 1. Dombar 2. Dombarak 3. Tabang 4. Tabnak 5. Tobnak 6. Tobnok 7. Tobnog 8. Tonbik 9. Tonbook 10. Tontak 11. Khonbak 12. Khombak 13. Khommak 14. Damal 15. Dambal 16. Donbalak 17. Dombalak 18. Khoorazhak 19. Khomchak 20. Tonbak 21. Tombak 22. Donbak 23. Dombak 24. Zarb.
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Zirbaghali | Zerbaghali | A goblet drum with a body made of clay. It is similar to the tonbak and used in Afghanistan. The skin has a black spot called siyahi, made of tuning paste. Drum influenced by India with technique that draws on Persian Tonbak and Indian tabla and darbuka. | |
Zu-jalal | A kind of frame drum with bells. | ||
zorkhaneh beat | Clay-bodied drum with hide stretched across, used by a Murshid (mentor) in a zorkhaneh gym to guide the exercise. Used alongside the Zang-e-zourkhaneh bell (زنگ زورخانه ای). The name is actually the name of the rhythm or drum-beat, applied to the instrument. | ![]() |