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PitchTimbreTanburRawapPipa

Its name is its spec sheet: dutar — "'du' means two, 'tar' means string: the instrument with two strings."

⚠️ And the authoritative dictionary adds one sentence: "The name comes from Persian, meaning 'two strings' — but some kinds of dutar have more than two." — the name recorded what it was; the instrument grew beyond it.

⭐⭐ Rule ㊼: strings and their jobs (part three): three Xinjiang lutes, three divisions.

Three plucked instruments in one land, three ways of dividing "several strings."

One string leads, one holds the floor

⭐ Three points:

1. Two strings, two jobs. "Only the first string is stopped; the second serves as a drone" — the second string is its "floor" (on some types it is stopped too, usually with the thumb). ⭐ With this the trio completes: rawap "one versus many," tanbur "grouping," dutar "melody plus floor." 2. No sound holes. "No sound holes in the face; the cavity is the key part" — the sound leaves the box, not a hole. 3. It is also a craft object. Inlaid ox bone and horn, with pyrographed patterns — as with the rawap: "both an instrument and a craft object."

The name is the spec sheet — and spec sheets go stale

"du (two) ＋ tar (string) = the two-stringed instrument" — the most honest name in this batch: it states its own specification.

⚠️ But it also warns of something:

• the dictionary: "meaning 'two strings' — but some kinds have more than two";
• and on the tanbur page, the Qing statutes record "four iron strings," while today's instrument has five.

⭐ Hence names-history item ㉒: names and documents stop at the "most typical" form — while the instrument walks on. (Compare ㊶, "classification lags behind sound": one is *recognition* arriving late; this is the *name* stopping early.)

Range

都塔尔属拨弦弦鸣乐器。形制：两根纵弦，按四度 · 五度和同度关系定弦；琴颈上缠丝弦品位十六至十八个（大者 17 · 小者 14）。⚠️ 未见公开的实测音域记载，本图按两弦与品位数量取约两个八度示意，不代表实测值。记谱即实音。

"No dutar, no feast"

⭐ This proverb is its job description:

"Without a dutar there is no feast."

• it is "the most widespread and most used plucked instrument in Uyghur society," called the "mother of Uyghur instruments";
• used for family amusement, weddings, festivals, and as an accompanist in the Twelve Muqam;
• ⭐ and its most characteristic use is self-accompanied singing: "the right hand uses all five fingers, none dispensable… small in sound but soft in tone, so the player can pour out feeling through it — which is why Uyghur women especially love to sing with the dutar in their own hands." A quiet instrument, and the one most often picked up at home.

⭐ The artist who carried this art furthest is Sanubar Tursun: from a musical family in Ili, trained in yangqin and composition, more than ten albums and 90-plus compositions — and she set Tagore, Yesenin and Abai to Uyghur song: dutar singing grew from the parlour into a transcultural dialogue of poetry and music.

⚠️ And its lineage: it is held to descend from the ancient tanbūr of Khorasan; on the murals of the Kizil and Kumtura caves "you can see its slender silhouette" — its history is painted on walls and played in hands.

Common misconceptions

• "Two strings is too few." ⚠️ One stops for melody, one drones; with 16–18 frets and fourths/fifths tuning it carries a whole song alone — and it is the most widespread plucked instrument among the Uyghur.
• "It must be loud." ⚠️ The opposite: "small in sound but soft in tone" — its setting is the household feast, not a concert hall; which is exactly why it became the instrument of self-accompanied singing.
• "The dutar is the tanbur." ⚠️ Similar build (both ladle-like), different strings: two versus five in three groups; and the dutar's face has no sound holes.
• "The name says two strings, so it has two." ⚠️ The sources state plainly: "some kinds have more than two." The name is its origin, not its boundary.
• "It is only an instrument." ⚠️ It is also a craft object — bone and horn inlay, pyrogravure, "simple, ancient, elegant."

Timbre, and how to hear it

Three cues:

1. Hear the floor. The drone string never stops: the melody walks on top, the drone holds below. 2. Hear "five fingers." "All five fingers, none dispensable" — a busy technique, a small sound: busy in the hand, quiet in the ear. 3. Hear the room. It is not a concert-hall instrument but a feast-and-household one — when you hear it, picture the room after dinner.

The family

Next

The plucked section leaves the oasis for the steppe — next is the Kazakh two-string lute.

Its name carries an old root too, and its charm is that one instrument can be heard in several "dialects" from west to east.

Dombra. :::

Sources

• ⭐⭐ 名称（名字即说明书）：「都塔尔名称来源于波斯语『dutar』，『du』意为『二』，『tar』为『琴弦』之意，即拥有两条弦的乐器」；「汉语译音也写为『都他尔 · 都塔尔 · 独塔尔 · 独他尔』等」；⚠️「其名称源于波斯语，意为『两根弦』，但某些种类的杜塔尔拥有超过两根弦」；「亦称独塔尔 · 都它尔 · 独他尔等」依辞书与百科资料
• ⭐⭐ 弦的分工：「在某些类型的杜塔尔上，只有第一根弦用手指按弦，第二根弦作为持续音；在另一些类型上，第二根弦也会被按弦，通常用拇指」；「有钢丝弦五根，内 · 外两弦同度合并为一组」——（同族弹布尔的记法可作对照）；「张两根纵弦，按四度 · 五度和同度关系定弦」；「在某些类型的杜塔尔上，只有第一根弦用手指按弦，第二根弦作为持续音」依新格罗夫音乐与音乐家辞典与辞书资料
• ⭐⭐ 形制：「琴身通常呈梨形，以桑木或杏木制成，面板无出音孔，共鸣箱为关键部件，全长 120 厘米。琴杆较长，其上用丝弦缠有十六至十八个品位」；「传统制作包含选材 · 弯制弧度 · 雕刻装饰等多道手工工序。装饰采用白色牛骨 · 黑色牛角贴片及烙花镶嵌」；「构造与弹布尔相似，外形像个长柄的大水瓢」；「大的柄上用丝弦缠 17 个品位，小的有 14 个品位」；规格「分为大 · 中 · 小三种」，按男士 · 女士 · 儿童分类依百科与辞书资料
• ⭐⭐ 演奏与音色：「演奏时右手五指并用，缺一不可，或拨或挑，或挑或扫，弹奏出来的琴音声音虽小但音色却很柔美，弹奏者尽可通过琴声淋漓尽致地抒发感情，所以维吾尔族的妇女尤其喜欢用都塔尔自弹自唱」；「都塔尔音色深沉浑厚，除独奏 · 合奏外，常用于伴奏」依百科资料
• ⭐⭐ 它在社会里的位置：「都塔尔是维吾尔社会流布最广 · 最常使用的弹拨乐器，是维吾尔族同胞情感与文化的载体」；「民间有『没有都塔尔就没有宴席』的俗语」；「作为『维吾尔族乐器之母』」；用于「家庭自娱 · 婚礼庆典 · 节日聚会及《十二木卡姆》的伴奏」；曲目：《木夏乌热克木卡姆间奏曲》《艾介姆》《幸福的时代》依百科资料
• ⭐ 来源（权威辞书）：「各种类型的杜塔尔被认为源自霍拉桑（Khorāssān）的古代弹拨尔（tanbūr）」；「以其各种形式，杜塔尔因其所属的民族群体（乌兹别克 · 塔吉克 · 土库曼或维吾尔）或其发现的地域（霍拉桑或赫拉特）而为人所知」；共同特征：「细长且略微锥形的琴颈；由桑木制成的面板；弦品的使用；以及（最初）两根过去由丝或肠衣制成的琴弦」；「丝弦仍用于乌兹别克和维吾尔杜塔尔，但从 20 世纪中期开始采用钢弦」依新格罗夫音乐与音乐家辞典
• ⭐ 民间传说（起源）：「相传在远古时期，以游牧为生的维吾尔族牧人……把黄羊的肠子随意丢弃在大草地上，经太阳晒干的黄羊肠子被风一吹，会发出一种优美的声音……人们就有意识地把风干了的羊肠子挂在挖空的木头上，用来制作乐器，最原始最古老也最简陋的都塔尔出现了」依百科资料
• ⭐ 图像与改良：「在克孜尔石窟 · 库木吐拉石窟的古代伎乐壁画上，就能看到它那修长的身影」；「大约自十世纪到十四世纪……在刀郎热瓦普和库布孜的基础上创制了细长柄 · 瓢形共鸣箱形制的弦乐器系列，即萨塔尔 · 热瓦甫 · 弹布尔 · 都塔尔」；「20 世纪 60 年代改良出新型都它尔与低音都它尔，琴杆缩短，采用骨制品位及尼龙缠钢丝弦」依百科资料
• ⭐ 当代传承：都塔尔弹唱的代表性音乐家赛努拜尔 · 吐尔逊（新疆伊犁音乐世家 · 曾学扬琴与作曲 · 出版十余张专辑 · 创作逾 90 首 · 把泰戈尔 · 叶赛宁 · 阿拜 · 库南巴耶夫的诗作谱成维吾尔语歌谣）；传承人胡迪云 · 马西木；新疆新和县加依村以手工乐器制作闻名依百科与报刊资料
• 「都塔尔属于八音中的丝」依通行资料

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.