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The setar

What it is

Established A long-necked fretted lute of Persian classical music, with four metal strings in three courses: two paired melody strings and two single lower strings. The name means literally "three strings" (seh + tar) — reflecting its original three-string form before a fourth string was added, traditionally attributed to Moshtaq Ali Shah in the late 18th century.

The setar is central to Persian classical (dastgah) music. Where the oud and cumbus are plucked with a risha or mizrap, the setar is plucked with the fingernail of the right index finger — a fundamentally different technique that produces a quiet, intimate sound.

Physical construction

Established The body is small, pear-shaped, and carved from a single block of mulberry wood (tut). The long neck — roughly 45-50 cm of playing length — carries tied gut or silk frets that are moveable: the player repositions them to match the intervals required by the dastgah being performed.

The instrument is much quieter than an oud or cumbus. It was historically played in private gatherings (majles) and for personal meditation, not in ensemble settings or outdoors. That intimacy is part of its identity.

The four standard tunings

Established Persian setar has four primary tunings, named by the pitch relationship between the strings. The notation below uses Persian note names (Do = C, Re = D, Mi = E, Fa = F, Sol = G, La = A, Si = B).

Strings are numbered 1-4 from the highest (nearest the floor when playing) to the lowest:

Do-Sol (C-G) — the standard tuning

Practice This is the default tuning and the one most instruction assumes. The paired first course creates a natural chorus effect. The lower C provides an octave drone, and the G string serves both as a drone and a melodic resource in certain dastgahs.

Re-Sol (D-G)

Practice Used for dastgahs rooted on D, particularly Segah and some treatments of Chahargah. The open strings provide D and G drones.

Do-Fa (C-F)

Practice The fourth string drops from G to F, changing the available drone relationships. Suited to certain modal contexts in Homayoun and Nava.

Re-La (D-A)

Practice The fourth string provides a fifth relationship rather than a fourth. Used in dastgahs where that drone relationship is musically important — notably some approaches to Mahur and Rast-Panjgah.

Playing technique

Established The right hand sits against or near the body, and the index fingernail strikes the strings. There is no plectrum. The basic strokes are:

Practice Riz (tremolo) is central to setar expression — sustained tremolo creates the illusion of a continuous tone on an instrument that would otherwise die away quickly. Good riz is relaxed and even; it takes significant practice to sustain without tension.

The left hand uses all four fingers. Unlike the oud's open-neck technique, the setar player works within a fret framework — but the tied frets are deliberately imprecise, encouraging the player to bend pitch by pressing harder or rolling the finger, particularly on the mutable pitches that shift between dastgahs.

Fret adjustment basics

Established The moveable gut frets are the setar's mechanism for tuning to different dastgahs. Unlike Western guitar frets (fixed metal strips), setar frets are loops of gut, silk, or nylon tied around the neck that can be slid up or down.

Practice Not every fret moves for every dastgah change — typically only 2-4 frets shift. The fixed reference points (octave, fifth, fourth) stay put. What changes are the frets that carry the mutable pitches — the koron and sori inflections that distinguish one dastgah from another.

For a detailed guide to adjusting frets for each dastgah, see Setar fret adjustment.

The setar in context

Attested The setar occupies a distinctive place in Persian musical culture. It has historically been associated with Sufism and private devotional practice — a personal instrument, not a concert one. The 20th century brought it onto the concert stage through players like Ahmad Ebadi, Jalal Zolfonoun, and Hossein Alizadeh, but the instrument's identity still carries its intimate, contemplative character.

Its quietness is not a limitation — it shaped a repertoire and performance style that foregrounds subtlety, ornamentation, and the interior unfolding of a dastgah. A setar performance is structured around tahrir (vocal-style ornamental passages) and gradual modal exploration, not volume or virtuosity for its own sake.

Relation to other instruments

Sources

• Hormoz Farhat, The Dastgah Concept in Persian Music (Cambridge University Press, 1990) — the standard English-language account of Persian modal structure and setar tunings
• Dariush Talai, A New Approach to the Theory of Persian Art Music (Mahoor Institute of Culture and Art, Tehran, 1993) — intervallic analysis of setar fret positions, tuning relationships, and dastgah structure
• Jean During, The Art of Persian Music (Mage Publishers, Washington, D.C., 1991) — historical and cultural context of the setar in Persian music, including its Sufi associations
• Bruno Nettl, The Radif of Persian Music: Studies of Structure and Cultural Context (Elephant & Cat, 1987; rev. ed. 1992) — on the structure of the Persian radif as performed on the setar
• Wikipedia: Setar — general reference for construction and string count