SANTOUR INSIGHTS

The book presents an approach relevant to the Iranian santour but extendable to all percussion-string instruments (such as the cimbalom, hammered dulcimer, and similar Indian, Greek, and Asian variants), transforming them from simple diatonic instruments to fully chromatic ones. It then introduces techniques for multi-voice playing and harmonization.

The frameWork presented transforms the instrument—by doubling the number of bridges—into a fully chromatic (semi-tonal and microtonal) and harmonic instrument. Detailed explanations are provided on how to adapt one’s playing to fully exploit the new possibilities offered by the transformed instrument.

• Chapters 1 to 4 present the transformation to double bridging
• Chapter 5 covers the use of the high register of the santour
• Chapter 6 introduces different tablature notations for the santour
• Chapter 7 discusses techniques for playing in octaves
• Chapters 8 to 11 present various techniques for multi-voice playing
• Chapters 12 to 15 present harmonic structures, triads, and extended chords on the santour
• Chapter 16 discusses pentatonic scale constructions