Welcome to my corner of YouTube!

Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm Patuk Uzunkol[1], a humble hobbyist folk musician ;-)

I play the tambûra, a beautiful musical instrument with a several thousand year old history. The tambûra was born in the lands stretching from Anatolia to the Western Zagros Mountains, respectively encompassed by the modern-day states of Turkey and Iran.

Having attracted attention from lands beyond it's birthplace by migrating peoples taking the tambûra with them, it forms the foundation of other "localized" musical instruments clearly developed in it's image.

A couple of wonderful examples are the "greek" bouzouki and the so-called "arabic" bizoq —more appropriately called the "greek-imported and modified" and the "arab-imported and modified" tambûra respectively.

It is very easy to track the development of these derivative instruments back to the time of the later years of the Ottoman Empire, again still thousands of years after the birth of the tambûra.

The "dotar" and "sêtar" of Iran also share a much more ancient ancestry with the tambûra giving us a view into history and how it once looked.

The tambûra unquestionably owes it's current shape, form and dimensions to the peoples of Turkey where it has become the national musical instrument. Countless individuals are responsible for it's development and well-earned fame. Much credit goes to Orhan Subay, an accomplished musician with many innovative ideas that have become standard on the modern tambûra.

The tambûra, plays an important religious role and is seen as sacred by the "Alevî" of Turkey and the "Kakei" {Yarsanî} of Western Iran and Northeastern Iraq.

Technically speaking the tambûra may be described as: a long-neck{ed} anatolian lute with tied microtone frets and a deep and narrow bowl-shaped body. Other common names for the tambûra {in order of historical and linguistic correctness} are: tambûr{a}, tembûr{a}, tanb{o}ur{a}, domb{u}r, danb{u}r, domb{u}ra, danb{u}ra, and saz.

Although the term "bağlama" is all too frequently used to identify this very same instrument it is a recently fabricated word with no real historical foundation, basis or value[2]. What is typically meant by those incorrectly using the term "bağlama" is the most common variant of the short-neck{ed} tambûra, the "Do-Kesik {C-Cutoff} Tambûra". Variants of the tambûra that have had their neck{s} shortened are apply called "Cutoffs" with a leading note name to show the {fret} point from where they were shortened.

The tambûra has (2) two main variants distinguished by neck-length. Each variant has it's own unique playing style{s} and techniques.

However, it is without doubt that the long-neck{ed} version —the original variant of the instrument— is the richer of the (2) two. While the short-neck{ed} version essentially has (1) one true tuning style, the long-neck{ed} version effectively has dozens and is infinitely more flexible and transposable. Only with the long-neck{ed} tambûra are you really able to play all regional styles.

Regional styles are primarily distinguished by their elaborate and complex picking, strumming, and trilling techniques that require years to master and great skill to perform. Only those with a true mastery of the tambûra can perform the difficult "Konya", "Yozgat", "Kayseri", "Silifke", "Zeybek" and "Âşıklama" styles.

I play both variants with their different tunings and styles, although not "şelpe", yet another playing method using the fingers instead of a plectrum[3].

Not long ago şelpe was nearly lost in Turkey. In recent times it has been revived, refined and developed by the Arif Sağ, Erdal Erzincan and Erol Parlak trio and the lesser known, albeit the far superior instrumentalist, Hasret Gültekin who had an entirely unique style of his own —plectrum or no plectrum.

"Revival" was not necessary in the Western Zagros region where it has remained the main playing technique since ancient times. See Ali Akbar Moradi for more on truly authentic şelpe.

+++++++++++FOOTNOTES+++++++++++

1. Patuk is an adaption of an alternate name for "Palo Rojo", a special hardwood with beautiful red tones. Uzunkol means "long-arm", in reference to the neck of the instrument. The (2) two words combined give the meaning: long-neck{ed} palo rojo anatolian lute, my favorite.

2. Adding to this list, some unprincipled academicians inclined to re-write history in a fashion of their own choosing are actively trying to replace the name tambûra with the the names çöğür, and kopuz in order to deviously prove that the tambûra belongs to them. Contrary to belief, suggestion and usage these are actually generic instrument names from a completely different geographic location and linguistic origin that have never, ever been used to refer to the tambûra.

3. It is important to note that in addition to having limited the scope of şelpe to only the short-neck{ed} tambûra —and its single tuning— most of the developments are in fact direct "borrowings" from the Electric Guitar finger-tapping technique{s} and the Flamenco Guitar {strumming} techniques. Ironically the primary points of appeal used to solicit this style are shown as authenticity and tradition.
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