The tanbur maqams
Tanbur music is built on maqams. In the tanbur tradition a maqam is a melody with its own name, shape and tuning, passed down orally. The word does not mean the same as maqam in Arabic or Turkish music, or dastgah in Persian classical music.
Haqqani and majlesi
Haqqani (or yari) maqams: ritual melodies sung with sacred verses in the Yarsan jam. They are held in reverence and played with their own etiquette.
Majlesi maqams: melodies played and sung at non-ritual gatherings; freer, and sometimes combined with regional songs.
The 72 maqams
Yarsan tradition speaks of “72 maqams” of the tanbur. The number is above all symbolic and sacred. Sources disagree on the exact count and on the names of all the maqams, and different researchers give different lists. The site gathers them in the playlist “72 Maqams of the Tanbur”.
Some well-known maqams
Sahari · Sartarz · Sarukhani · Bariya · Gharibi · Majnuni · Davala · Tarz-e Rostam · Gol-o Darreh · Alvan-hati · Jelowshahi · Allah-Veysi · Hejrani · Qatar · Pavehmuri · Sheikh Amiri · Shah Khoshini · Baya Baya · Savar Savar · Khan Miri
Some maqams carry old legends: Bariya is attributed to the age of Khosrow Parviz and Barbad, and Sartarz is linked in tradition to Benyamin and Rostam. These are traditional beliefs of cultural value, not documented history.
Kalam
Maqams are often sung with kalam: the sacred verses of the Yarsan in Gurani, collected in the daftars. This is why a player who knows the maqams well is usually also a kalam singer.
Listen
The albums Maghamate Majlesie Tanboor and Tarzhaye Bastani Tanbur by Ali Akbar Moradi
Read
Sources: the books listed above in the Tanburban library; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians; artist pages on Tanburban.
About the tanbur: What is the tanbur? · History · Construction · Tuning and technique · Maqams · Makers and Fash village · Buying and care · Where to start