Persian musical instruments or Iranian musical instrumentscan be broadly classified into three categories: classical, Western and folk. Most of Persian musical instruments spread in the former Persian Empires states all over the Middle East, Caucasus, Central Asia and through adaptation, relations, and trade, in Europe and far regions of Asia. In ancient era, the Silk Road had an effective role in this distribution.
Orchestral
Folklore
Orchestral
Folklores
Historical
While Arabic and Persian are separate languages, to a great extent the cultures intermixed during and after the Arab conquest of Persia. Arabic became the lingua franca from the Middle East to the edge of China and into India, much as Latin was in Europe. As a result, the list below may contain Arab words that don't belong, but may also include words shared by both languages. An example is daf (دایره), for which the Arab word is also daf or duff (plural dofuf'). Similarly, conquests and cultural intermixing have made Turkish words available, such as kudum.
| Name in English | Name in Persian or other names | Description | Picture | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkal | A kind of drum, possibly of the frame type. | |||
| Arabaneh | A kind of frame drum, sometimes fitted with jingles. Possibly same as arbana, drum of Muslims in Kerala, India.[1] | |||
| Batare | A kind of frame drum, maybe the same as Daf. It should be mentioned that Bateri is the same as the English word Battery (sound of drum and also a kind of percussion instrument). | |||
| Bendayer | A large frame drum with thumb-hole on side. Today the Bendir is a typical frame drum. Similar instruments are common in the whole Near East from Morocco to Iraq and also in Northern Africa. A distinctive feature of this instrument is the set of snare strings fitted to the interior of the drum skin. | |||
| Chumlak-dombolak | A kind of Turkish-Egyptian Dombak with clay body | |||
| Dabdab[2] [3] | kettledrum. | |||
| Dafدف Dayereh دایره_(ساز) Riq رق | Dafif, Dap, Dareh, Dariye, Kichik Dap, Dizeh, Dofuf, Duff, Dup, Kafeh, Raq, Req, Rik, Riqq | The daf is one of the most ancient frame drums in Asia and North Africa. As a Persian instrument, in the 20th century, it is considered as a Sufi instrument to be played in Khaghan-s for Zikr music but now this percussion instrument has recently become very popular and it has been integrated into Persian art music successfully.
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| Daf-e-chahar-gush | A kind of squared Daf. This percussion-skinned instrument is played in Egypt and Syria. | |||
| Dammamدمام (ساز) | Damameh | May denote both a drum of bowl shape and a type of cylindrical drum. | ||
| Damz | A kind of frame drum. | |||
| Davat | A kind of drum to be stroke by Ghazib (drumstick). | |||
| Dā'ira[4] دایره (ساز) Dayereh-zangi (دایرهزنگی) | Dayera | Frame drum.
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| Doholدهل | Dobol, Gapdohol, Jure | A big cylindrical two-faced drum to be played by two special drumsticks. One is wooden thick stick that is bowed at the end and its name is Changal (or Kajaki). The other is thin wooden twig and its name is Deyrak. (In Hormozgan province of Iran, Dohol is played by two hands.) Dohol is the main accompaniment of Sorna (Persian Oboe, Turkish Zurna, Indian Shehnay and Chinese Suona).
A kind of Dohol to be played in Hormozgan province of Iran.
A kind of cylindrical drums same as Dohol. | ||
| Doholak | A Dohol from Baluchestan, played with both hands. Called Nal in Pakistan, Dholki in Mahashtra, India. The Dholak in India is a folk drum characterized by a cylindrical wooden shell covered with skin on both sides.
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| Dulab | Sarcastic or ironical name of drum. | |||
| Dulakvat | A kind of cylindrical drum, like the dohol, of Pakistan and Afghanistan. | |||
| Ghaval | Azerbaijani frame drum with or without rings. Ghavalchi means Ghaval player. | |||
| Ghodum | Kudum (in Turkey) | A kind of drum to be played in Turkish Sufi music. | ||
| Jam-Danbolak | A kind of drum similar to the Tonbak. Jam means "cup". | |||
| Kaseh | means "bowl"; in music is considered a kettledrum. Kasehzan and Kasehgar both mean Kaseh player. | |||
| Khom | Kettledrum.
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| Koli | A Persian frame drum. | |||
| Kube | In Arabic, Al-kube. An hourglass drum. Kube comes from the Persian verb Kubidan (to strike). | |||
| Kus[5] کوس (ساز) | Kas | Persian/Arab/Turkish Kettledrum.
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| Mohre | A war drum | |||
| Naqaraناقارا | Azerbaijani drum | |||
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نقاره Naqqāra | Desarkutan, Naghghareh, Naker | A kind of drum to be stroke by Ghazib (drum stick).
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| Samma | A frame drum used in Sufi (mystic) music of Sistan-Baluchestan and other parts of southern Iran . | |||
| Shaghf | A frame drum. | |||
| Shahin-Tabbal | shahin-tabl | Pipe and tabor.
Shahin means royal falcon, but refers here to a wind instrument. Tabbal means drummer. Shahin-Tabbal is a person who plays Shahin by one hand and Tabl (drum) by the other one. | ||
| Tabare | Tabire | Tabire means drum. In Arabic it means Tabl. In French encyclopedia of Littreé it has been mentioned that the French word Tabur (small drum used in medieval times to accompany folk-dancing) comes from the Persian word Tabire.
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| Ṭablطبل | Kabar | Drum.
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| Tablak | Doplak, Gushdarideh | Small drum
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| Tasطاس (ساز) | Tasht | Small copper bowl drum covered with sheep or cow skin and beaten with a drumstick, or leather or rubber straps. The instrument may be related to the Indian Tasa or Tasha drums. Alternatively is copper bowls without skin, called Jal-Tarang in India. Tasht means tub or basin. Tashtgar means Tasht player. | ||
| Tempo | A goblet drum similar to Turkish-Arabic Dumbek or Darbuka. | |||
| Tiryāl | Tirpal | a type of frame drum/tambourine[7] | ||
| Tombakتمبک Tonbak(تنبک) Zarb (ضَرب) | Dombak, Dombalak, Donbak, Zarb | Tonbak: Persian goblet drums. There are many names for this instrument. Some of them are: 1. Dombar 2. Dombarak 3. Tabang 4. Tabnak 5. Tobnak 6. Tobnok 7. Tobnog 8. Tonbik 9. Tonbook 10. Tontak 11. Khonbak 12. Khombak 13. Khommak 14. Damal 15. Dambal 16. Donbalak 17. Dombalak 18. Khoorazhak 19. Khomchak 20. Tonbak 21. Tombak 22. Donbak 23. Dombak 24. Zarb.
Another name for Tonbak. Khomak: Khom-e-ruyin. It literally means small barrel. There is a kind of cylindrical drum in Bengal and its name is Khomok. The khomok of the Baul people of Bengal is also known as a khamak, anandalahari, and gubgubi. It looks like a small drum with a wooden body and a skinhead. The head is pierced with a string attached to a small piece of wood or metal to prevent it from passing all the way through the skin. The other end of the string travels through the instrument to come out the bottom opening and is attached to a small brass handle. The khomok is played by placing the drum body under the arm and pulling on the handle thus pulling the string and placing tension on the drum skin. The string is plucked while the tension on the string is varied, producing a surprising vocal-like sound. Some khomok have two strings that are played at the same time increasing both the volume and complexity of the sound.
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| Zirbaghali | Zerbaghali | A goblet drum with a body made of clay. It is similar to the tonbak and used in Afghanistan. The skin has a black spot called siyahi, made of tuning paste. Drum influenced by India with technique that draws on Persian Tonbak and Indian tabla and darbuka. | ||
| Zu-jalal | A kind of frame drum with bells. | |||
| zorkhaneh beatضرب زورخانه | Clay-bodied drum with hide stretched across, used by a Murshid (mentor) in a zorkhaneh gym to guide the exercise. Used alongside the Zang-e-zourkhaneh bell (زنگ زورخانه ای). The name is actually the name of the rhythm or drum-beat, applied to the instrument. |
| Name in English | Name in Persian or other names | Description | Picture | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvah | It is a set of wooden or metallic plates that is played by being struck with sticks. | ||||
| Ayine-pil | Kaseh-pil | A metal gong, beaten with sticks – so large that it had to be carried by elephant and played by a mounted musician.
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| Boshghabak | Small cymbal to be used by dancers. | ||||
| Chini | A shaken percussion instrument used in military bands. It consists of an earthenware body hung with small bells. | ||||
| Ghashoghak | Castanets. | ||||
| Gong | Khar-mohre | Metal disk with a turned rim giving a resonant note when struck with a stick. Gong apparently is of Chinese origin.
Gong. | |||
| Jalājil[8] (Arabic, جلجل) | Ghalāghil, Juljul | Jalājil is plural of Juljul. Arabic word for bells. The word may have spread as far as Nepal where a type of cymbal is called Jhyali. Juljul can also be used of the bells hung on herd animals.[9] | Ancient bell, Western Iran, circa 150 B.C. - 224 A.D.File:Bell LACMA M.76.97.526.jpg | Ancient bell, Western Iran, circa 1000-650 B.C. | |
| kozeh (saz)کوزه (ساز) | Used in the music of Bandar Abbas, Iran and some other cities in southern Iran | ||||
| Kastan قاشقک (ساز) | two bowl or shell-shaped finger-clappers that dancers wear on their fingers, clapped together rhythmically while dancing. | ||||
| Naqusناقوس | Historically, a wooden plank hit with a hammer or tapped on cobblestone to make clanking noise. In modern Persian, naqus (ناقوس) means bell. As a wooden plank, it was considered by Muhammed to signal a call to prayer. Known mainly as Christian instrument, allowed to be used in Muslim areas instead of a bell. | ||||
| Senj sinj سِنج(Plural ṣunūj[10]) Sanjسنج | Boshqābak, Chalab, Chalap, Zang, Tal | Large cymbal played in mourning ceremonies. A smaller version, by contrast, is used in festive ceremonies. His elephant-attendants' crowns of gold, Their golden girdles and their golden torques, Their golden Sanj (cymbals) and their golden Zang (bells)... --Shahname
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| Saz-e-fulad | A percussion instrument made 35 metallic plates of different sizes. Fulad (Arabicized of Pulad) means "steel". Saz means "musical instrument".
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| Zangزنگ | Persuan word for bells.
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sanj angshati سنج انگشتی | Finger cymbals made of copper, played per pairs fixed on the inch and the major one of each hand. Mainly employed to stress the dance, one finds them in particular present in the miniatures Persians on figurines dancers of the beginning of the century, and in the past on low-relieves. Their existence seems to go back to immemorial times. Names in Persian relate to the Sanj (sanj angshati) and the zang (Zang-e-sarangoshti) | ||||
| Zanjirزنجی | Zanchir in Pahlavi | Zanjir means chain. It is a string or loop of hawk bells, able to be hung. It sounds by shaking. |
| Name in English | Name in Persian or other names | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akhlakandu | Ajlakandu | A very ancient percussion instrument. It was a type of rattle made from a skull part-filled with small stones. Its modern name is Jeghjeghe meaning simply 'rattle'. It was played by being shaken. | |
| Chaghaneh | Chaghabeh | A type of gourd rattle, filled with small stones. Used by dancers. | |
| Jeghjegheجغجغه | Persian rattle. Today in Iran it is considered as an instrument for entertaining children. | ||
| Qairaq | kairak | Musical instruments of the Tajiks, also used by Uzbeks and in Afghanistan. Flat river stones, held in pairs and shaken; makes clicking and rattling noise; some sounds are similar to castanets. | |
These images are from the Russian Turkestan, circa 1865-1872, an area in which Persian, Turkish, Arab/Islamic and Mongol peoples conquered and settled over the ages. When the Russians conquered, both Turkish and Persian languages were being spoken. The images of musical instruments show the mixing of cultures; some such as the tanbur appear normal for Persian culture. But there are variations, such as a kamanche that appears to be a bowed tanbur, and the kauz or kobyz, which is a Turkish word for an instrument that is closely related to the Ghaychak, a Persian instrument.
The electronic keyboard is a popular western instrument.
There are numerous native musical instruments used in folk music.