Santour
The Persian santour is the original form of the hammered dulcimer (traditional hammers are illustrated). The middle bridge divides the strings at a ratio of the octave 1:2. In the original construction there are adjustable bridges instead of the single middle bridge. This feature allows the player to change the tuning of the instrument within minutes to different modal scales even with quarter-note intervals. Because the bass strings are usually brass whereas the strings over the middle bridge are steel,
the sound character of the santour is distinguished through a mix of the warm ground tones of the bass and the sharp metallic sound of the upper strings.

The resonance board of the traditional instruments is usually made of hard wood, for instance walnut. The santour is particularly suitable for improvised music. There are 72 strings over two sets of 9 bridges on each side producing 27 diatonic tones, a little over 3 octaves or some
times 4.

Music
Designs, masonries and miniatures belonging to the pre-Islamic history of Iran all indicate Iranians’ interest and taste in music. In the post-islamic era, too, despite some opposition, which made music lose its former success, this art survived. The survival of music the Safavid era can be found in Chehel Sotun palac And the music chamber of Ali Qapu Monumen in Isfahan.

Iran’s music is an amalgamation of tunes and melodies, which have been created in the course of centuries Iran and have evolved along with other aspects of the Iranian life. They reflect the moral characteristics, as well as political, social events and geographical features of a country with an ancient history. The subtlety and profundity of Iranian music leads man to reflection and deep thought and takes him to a celestial world, Iranian music includes the following branches:

1-The pre-Islamic music (the music of ancient Iranian tribes such as, Bakhtyari, Kordi, Lori, etc.)

2-The post-Islamic music:

a) Maghami (mystic) music; This music includes epic music, lyric music for marriage, birthday and other happy occasions, and elegiac music for mournful occasions.

b) Radif music, which includes the Dastgahs (modes) of Traditional music.

In the contemporary era, Iranian music includes three branches; the two above-mentioned groups in addition to a third one, which is Iran’s national music. This branch covers the traditional melodies of the two above groups, but with a classic rendition.

According to the new classification of Iranian Awaz (songs) and modes, which has been set since a century ago, Iran’s traditional singing and music has been divided Into 12 groups. The seven groups, which are wider and more independent, are called Dastgah (mode) and the other five groups, which are not independent and have been derived from the Dastgahs or modes are called Awaz (a group of melodies with the same gamut.) So, Iran’s present traditional music is only a remainder of the former 12 Maghams (modes) and what we have today is a very small part of the Iranian traditional music. The seven main Dastgahs (modes) and the five Awaz ( sub modes ) groups have several pieces (gushe) which are now the models of the contemporary musicians and singers. The number of these pieces (gushes) is said to be 228. The varoius and well-known Radifi (Iranian classical music) of the masters of the 100-year Old Iranian traditional music such as Agha Hosein Gholi, Mirza Abdollali, Darvish Khan, and Saba follow the same order.

The seven main Dastgahs or modes are: Shoor, Mahoor, Homayoon, Segah, Chahargah, Nava, and Rast Panjgah. The five Awazes or melodies are: Isfahan, Abou Ate, Bayat-e-Tork, Afsharl and Dashti.


The Components of Dastgah and Awaz
In order to perform a Dastgah or Awaz, a special order must be followed and that is; prelude, Awaz, Tasnif (song) and Reng (dance tune). Maestro Darvish Khan Innovated and added Plshdaramad (what comes before the prelude) and Chahar Mezrab to this order.


Iran’s Folklore Melodies
Roohollah Khaleghi said in this regard," One of the valuable sources of music in every country is the music and melodies played and sung by the rural people who live in villages far from the cities. And since the urban people have less influenced their music and songs, they are more natural and original and are closer to the country’s ancient and authentic music. Collecting such music not only preserves It, but also gives us more lnformation about a country and the way Its people live." As Iran has different tribes with different cultures, its folklore musk enjoys a vast variety, both in the songs and the music. For Instance, the music of Gilan, Azarbaijan, Khorasan. Kordestan, Shiraz, and Baluchistan have different melodies and accents. Iran’s folklore music has two forms:

1) Local melodies, which are sung by one person or by a group.

2) Local dances which native musical instruments accompany.

Iran’s local melodies are one of the richest, most beautiful and most various among the folklore melodies in the world. These melodies reflect the thoughts, lives, and nature of the people who have created them. They are one of the rich cultural sources of Iran and can be the best inspiration for our musicians to compose scientific music.


Musical Instruments
Iran’s musical instruments have been of immense importance since ancient times.

Around a hundred years ago, Iran’s music was gradually separated from songs and followed its own way Iranian musicians and composers mastered the Iranian musk and made innovations in this regard but, on the whole, Iran’s Instrumental music, has two main parts:

1) solo which is based on traditional music and improvisation.

2) Group playing, either small or large groups with solo or chorus.

Solo
Solo is highly significant in oriental music and this can be related to the eastern philosophy and mysticism and making a connection with the spiritual world.

Group Playing
Group playing became more common in Iran since the time of Nasereddin Shah the Qajar king. It was both in the form of traditional music and
Instruments and martial music and western instruments which were introduced in Iran by Monsieur Loumer (the French music teacher who had been invited to Iran to teach at Darolphonoon school) later, group playing became more common and with western musical instruments joining the Iranian ones and the playing of Iranian pieces on western Instruments, It further prospered.
The oldest Iranian musical instruments are the ney (the Iranian flute) and the tambourine. The following are the different kinds of Iranian musical instruments generally classified:

Wind Instruments
The ney is the oldest instrument in this group. It is a tube made of cane with seven joints and six knots. The ney Is among Iran’s rural instrument and it usually played in all parts of lran.

Another Iranian wind instrument is Sorna (an oboe-like Iranian instrument) which is common all over lran and is of two types: Bakhtyari and Azarbaijani. In Iran, the Sorna is usually accompanied by the Dohol or the naghareh (a drum-like Iranian Instrument). This instrument is played at different occasions according to the particular region of the country. In the Kurdistan region of Iran, the dohol and the sorna are played at mourning ceremonies while in the north, the soma is played along with the performance of ropewalkers and West Azarbaijani, the villagers play the Sorna in their marriage ceremonies along with wood dancing.

The Korna is an ancient and historical instrument, which is made and played differently In various provinces Iran. The main types of the Korna (an Iranian instrument of the sorna family) are those in the north ciran, Gilan and Mashhad. The Korna is mostly played in Kordestan and Azarbaijan.
The Bagpipe: It is mostly used in the south of iran. In some parts of Iran, it is called "Khiknai". It is also played in some parts of Azarbaijan.

String Instruments
The unique Iranian musical instrument in this group is the santour. It consists of a trapezoid wooden box over which 72 white (high) and yellow (bass) strings have been stretched. It has two wooden sticks. The santour is an instrument which can be played both solo and in group and it is played in all parts of lran.

One of the oldest string Instruments is Kamancheh (an Iranian violin-like instrument resting on the ground during the performance). This instrument can be used well both in solo and in-group performance. Kamancheh is a national musical instrument, which is played in all the provinces of Iran, but is mostly common among Turkmen and Turk tribes.

The barbat (a harp-like Iranian instrument) is an instrument from the family of limited string instruments. It is also called Oud or Lout. Its body is like a pear divided lengthwise into two parts. It has a big body and a short neck which, in earlier times, used to have three strings. The rabab or robab has four parts: a melon-shaped body, middle, neck, and head. The strings of the rabab used to be made of the she-bowel, but now they are made of nylon threads. Its plectrum is made of chicken feather. This instrument is mainly rural and is mostly played in Khorasan and also in some parts of Baluchistan and Sistan.

The tar is one of the original Iranian string instruments, It has a multi-part body and six strings. Other musical instruments of the tar family are the Dotar and the Setar. The dotar is usually played in Turkmen Sahra and Khorasan.

Musical Percussion Instruments
The famous Iranian percussion instruments are the dohol, the dayereh, the drum and the Tonbak.

Dohol is a musical percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylindrical body with a diameter of around one meter and a height of 25 to 30 centimetres. Both ends of the cylinder are covered with a tightly stretched skin; the dohol is played with two sticks, one of which is like a walking stick and the other one is a thin twig. The dohol rural instrument which usually accompanies the sorna and is mostly played in Fars, Baluchistan and Kordestan province.

Dayereh (Tambourine) consists of a wooden circle on one side of which, there is a tightly stretched skin; it is struck with fingers of the two hands. The Dayereh is commonly used in urban areas rather than rural and usually accompanies another musical instrument presently; the Dayereh is mostly played in Azarbaijan.

Drum is another percussion instrument, which is smaller than the dohol and is played with two sticks. In most parts Iran, it is usually used in mourning ceremonies.

Tonbak is a percussion instrument made of wood (usually walnut wood). It consists of two parts: the upper part is a cylinder covered by skin and the lower part is the neck of the tonbak, which has a wide, open mouth. It is played by the fingers and the skilful player performs artistic subtleties on it.

Over all History
Achaemenian dynasty (550-331 BC). The writing of Herodotus and Xenophon suggests that music played an important role in court life and religious rituals during this period. However, little else is known about musical activity in the Persian Empire.

Sassanian Dynasty (AD 226-642). Exalted status was conferred to court musicians. Barbod, the most famous of these court musicians, reportedly conceived a musical system consisting of seven royal modes, thirty derivative modes, and three-hundred sixty melodies. (He is playing the ´ud in the painting at the bottom of the index page.) This was the oldest Middle Eastern musical system of which some traces still exist. Its enduring heritage is the names given to some dastgahs in the modern system of Persian music.

Arab Invasion (AD 643-750). Musical activity was suppressed during this period.

Abbasid dynasty (AD 750-1258). This increasingly secular dynasty reestablished music at the courts, and Iranian musicians were scattered throughout the Muslim world. Abu Nasr Farabi, whose Kitab al-musiqi al-kabir laid the foundations of the musical tradition of the core Muslim world, for example worked at the royal court in Baghdad. Abu Ali Sina, Safiaddin Ormavi, who codified the mode into twelve divisions with six melodies, also lived at this time.

Social power for the next few centuries was dominated by Shiite clerics who frowned on musical expression, and were responsible for its suppression. The imperial courts of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties did patronize the arts, however, maintaining a faint link to the traditions of the past. The modern dastgah system, a codification and reorganisation of the old modes, dates back to the late Qajar dynasty.

The Pahlavi Dynasty brought with it an intense push towards westernisation. In response to this pressure, and in a misdirected effort to "raise" Persian music to the level of Western music, two theories on the intervals and scales of Persian music were proposed in the twentieth century.

The 24 quarter tone scale
Ali Naqi Vaziri in his Musiqi-ye Nazari published this conception of Persian music. He proposed this reformulation to facilitate the composition of polyphonic pieces in a system that was traditionally monophonic. His efforts also brought about the notation of microtonal raising and lowering of pitches.


The 22 tone scale
Mehdi Barkesli proposed a 22-tone scale. This system is grounded in the original theories of the Abassid dynasty theoreticians, Farabi and Ormavi.


An Alternative
After extensive laboratory studies of the Persian musical repertoire, Hormoz Farhat has come to the conclusion that the notion of scale or octave is entirely foreign to Persian musical performance, being no more than an artificial construct imposed on the system to make it agree with certain Western notions of what is essential to the concept of music. Mr. Farhat insists that the more important concept in this music is that of the mayeh or melodic type. These are melodic formulas through which the music is articulated, and they transcend the notions of octaves or scales.



Characteristics
The following characteristics are shared between Iranian and other Central Asian music:

Compositional Structure

There are three instrumental forms and one vocal form in Persian music. The instrumental forms are pishdaramad, cheharmezrab, and reng. Pishdaramad was invented by a great master of the tar, Darvish Khan, and was inteded as a prelude to the daramad of a dastgah. It may be in duple, triple, or quadruple time, and it draws its melody from some of the important gushehs of the piece. Cheharmezrab is a solo piece, mostly with a fast tempo, and is usually based on the melody immediately preceding it. The third instrumental form is the reng, which is a simple dance piece that is usually played at the conclusion of the dastgah. The vocal form is called tasnif. It has a design similar to the pishdaramad, and is usually placed immediately before the reng.