[1] It is a member of the tanbur family of long-necked lutes with a range of more than two and a half octaves.

"[1] Although related to the tanbur, in recent centuries, the setar has evolved so that, musically, it more closely resembles the tar, both in tuning and playing style.

[3] The modern Iranian instrument's name سه‌تار setâr is a combination of سه se—meaning "three"—and تار târ—meaning "string", therefore the word gives the meaning of "three-stringed" or "tri-stringed".

In Xinjiang, China, Satar (Uyghur: ساتار; Chinese: 萨塔尔, Sàtǎ'ěr)[a] is an important instrument in 12 muqam.

Strings run from the pegs at the top of the neck, across a bone or plastic nut that has grooves to separate them, down the neck, across the bowl, over the bridge and are secured to a string holder at the end of the bowl.

The pegs are inserted directly into the end of the instrument's neck, similar to a headstock.

The strings, after passing over the bridge from the neck, are secured on the wire holder.

The setar belongs to the tanbur family, but today it is very close to the tar, having the same neck (and same number of frets and tuning system).

[1] The setar has a pear-shaped body, made (like those of the lute or oud) from strips of thin mulberrywood lathes, glued together into a bowl.

The top-two strings, referred to together by the one-string's name —bam (بم)— function together as a pair and are played together.

The need for the additional fourth string was recognized centuries ago, by intellectual thinkers such as Abu Nasr al-Farabi (ca.

The instrument is played using the index finger of the right hand, using an "oscillating motion"[1][7] This differentiates it from the tanburs, which are plucked with multiple fingers or with a homemade plectrum, made from plastic, quills or razor blades.

[1] The strings are tuned in multiple ways, to match a music's tonality or a singer's voice.

A basic example showing one of the tuning patterns, listed in scientific pitch notation, top to bottom: C3 C4 • G3 • C4.

Since these frets are moveable, players can move them to set notes closer or farther apart.

A Koron lowers and a Sori raises the pitches by quarter steps (flats and sharps are half-steps).

Tones are not absolutes (unless playing with instruments that are set, such as a western-instruments with standardized and unchangeable pitches).

The instrument used to create the measurements had a scale length of 66 centimeters, from nut at the top to bridge at the bottom.

Open string The setar was first recorded for His Master's Voice in the winter of 1888-1889 (1306 AH) by Arthur James Twain.

He recorded singer Batool Rezaei (stage name: Banoo Machol Parvaneh, mother of Khatereh Parvaneh) playing setar, accompanied by Habibollah Samaei on santur, Ghavam Al-Sultan on tar and Agha Mehdi Navai on ney.

[10][11] Joey Walker of Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard played Setar in various songs, primarily on the album Nonagon Infinity.