Abstract
The article analyzes the place of the dutar in Uzbek traditional musical culture, its construction and tuning, system of performance techniques, methods of sound production, and regional performance schools from a scholarly and practical perspective. Although the dutar has a seemingly simple two-string construction, performing melody and usul simultaneously, subordinating right-hand strokes to artistic aims, and preserving subtle intonational nuances with the left hand require highly developed aural skills, coordination, and stylistic thinking. Yakka, qo‘sh, teskari, terma, bilak, and ufor strokes, as well as rez and pirrang, are examined as techniques with distinct performative functions. The article also discusses the importance of the ustoz–shogird system and the experience of major musicians in the formation of the Khorezm, Tashkent, and Andijan dutar traditions. The scholarly novelty of the study lies in treating stroke, timbre, articulation, and phrasing not as isolated technical phenomena but as an integrated system of artistic interpretation.