Microtonal instrument study

Meshk

Turkish makam and Persian dastgah, on microtonal instruments.

Interactive fretboard maps for Turkish makam and Persian dastgah practice. Pick an instrument below to start exploring.

Choose an instrument

Turkish

Cümbüş

Fretless long-necked lute with a spun-aluminium resonating bowl, invented by Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş in Istanbul around 1930. Six courses of doubled nylon strings.

Fretless6 doubled courses
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Turkish & Persian

Oud

Ud

Short-necked, fretless, pear-shaped lute. The Turkish oud (ud) typically has 11 strings: 5 doubled courses plus a single bass (bam) string.

Fretless6 courses
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Persian

Setar

سه‌تار

Long-necked Persian lute with a small mulberry-wood body and 4 metal strings arranged as 3 courses: a single bam, a single tel, and a paired tel course (strings 3 and 4 sit close together and are played as one). The name se-tar means "three strings" — the 4th string was a later historical addition.

Moveable frets3 courses
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Learning resources

Explore theory, tuning systems, and modal traditions in the resource library, or practice melodic patterns on the patterns page.

For more in-depth resources and study material, visit betweenfrets.com — the companion learning site for Meshk.