The tar (from Persian: تار, lit. ’string’) is a long-necked, waisted lute family instrument, used by many cultures and countries including Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan (Iranian Plateau), Turkey, and others near the Caucasus and Central Asia regions.
This is in accordance with a practice common in Persian-speaking areas of distinguishing lutes on the basis of the number of strings originally employed.
It was revised into its current sound range in the 18th century[4] and has since remained one of the most important musical instruments in Iran and the Caucasus, particularly in Persian and Azerbaijani traditional music, and the favoured instrument for Radif and Mughams.
The most easily identifiable feature is the double-bowl shaped body carved from mulberry wood, with a thin membrane covering the top. The membrane is of stretched lamb-skin in the Persian tar, or the pericardium of an ox in the Azerbaijani (or Caucasian) tar.
The fingerboard has twenty-five to twenty-eight adjustable gut frets. The Persian tar has three double courses of strings and a range of about two and one-half octaves. The Caucasian tar has 11 strings in five paired courses plus a bass drone.
The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate pegbox with six/11 wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect.