'string') (lit: "String") is a long-necked, waisted lute family instrument, used by many cultures and countries including Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan (Iranian Plateau), Turkey, and others near the Caucasus and Central Asia regions.

This is in accordance with a practice common in Persian-speaking areas of distinguishing lutes on the basis of the number of strings originally employed.

The most easily identifiable feature is the double-bowl shaped body carved from mulberry wood, with a thin membrane covering the top.

The long and narrow neck has a flat fingerboard running level to the membrane and ends in an elaborate pegbox with six/11 wooden tuning pegs of different dimensions, adding to the decorative effect.

[10] According to the Encyclopædia Iranica, Azeri art music is also performed in other regions of the Caucasus, mainly among Armenians who have adopted the mugham repertoire and its associated instruments (such as the kamancheh and tar).

[13] In 2012, the craftsmanship, tradition and performance of the tar in Azerbaijan was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

[14] The melodies performed on tar were considered useful for headache, insomnia and melancholy, as well as for eliminating nervous and muscle spasms.

[15] The tar features prominently in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, in the section "Horsell Common and the Heat Ray".

It remained essential to the Azerbaijani genre known as muğam, which is performed by a trio consisting of Azerbaijani tar (distinct from the Persian variety), kəmənçe (spike fiddle), and a singer who also plays the frame drum (dəf) during instrumental interludes.In 1870–1875, the famous tar-player Mirza Sadiq Asad Oglu (1846–1902, the city Shusha) improved the main mugham musical instrument tar.