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he dotar ( meaning ``two strings'' in Persian), is an excellent instrument coming from a family of long-necked lutes and can be found throughout Central Asia, the Middle East and North East of China. Its ancestor is probably the "tanbur of Khorasan" as depicted by Al Farabi (10th century) in his essay Kitab~Al-Musiqi Al-Kabir.
In Iran, the dotar is played mainly in the northern and eastern parts of Khorasan as well as among the Turkmen of Gorgan and Gonabad. The instrument is the same but its dimensions and the number of its ligatures differ slightly from region to region. Two types of wood are used in the production of the dotar. The pear-shaped body is carved out of a single block of mulberry wood. Apricot or walnut wood is used to make its neck. It has two steel strings, which in the past were made of silk or animal .
The dotar is tuned in fourth or fifth intervals. The frets, made from animal intestines in the past, are nowadays fabricated from nylon or steel which have the advantage of being more resilient and less expensive. They are placed in chromatic progression.
The technique for playing the dotar consists of plucking the strings without a plectrum, following a descending and an ascending movement which involves the index and often several other fingers. The music is ornamented by the rapid repetition of notes (tremolo). Often, in order to fortify the fingers, they are soaked in henna.
