I normally play the mandolin, but I recently bought a cura saz to learn more about Turkish music and its quarter tones. I bought the cura rather than the better known baglama because its size is similar to that of a mandolin.
However, I'm having difficulty getting started as I have not been able to find any instruction materials for it. As far as I know there are no books for it in English, Turkish or any other language that I am aware of it. There are also few videos featuring a cura on YouTube.
One of the things that has got me stumped in the tuning: g4g4 d4d4 a4a4. This means the middle course is the lowest (d), followed by the top course (towards me) in g and the bottom course one note higher than the top course in a. This leave very little range for playing melodies compared to a mandolin. I'm guessing the d and a courses are for melodies and the g coures for chords and drones.
Does anyone have any suggestions for learning how to play it?
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