Turkey’s territory spans Europe and Asia. Its ancestors came from Central Asia. It was constantly fighting from the east to the west and was influenced by Persian, Greek, and Arab cultures. With the rise of Islam in the 9th century, Turkish music culture and Arabic music culture became inseparable, and Turkish music culture became an important branch of Pan-Arab culture. In the 13th century, with the rise of the Ottomans Empire (1290-1924), the influence of Turkish music culture not only became the mainstream of Arabia, but also affected the development of European music. Western classical masters from Beethoven, Mozart, etc. Inspired by Turkish music.

In 1543, a French orchestra was allowed to perform at the court. It was not until 1797 that Western European operas were invited to perform in Turkey. Western European music and musical concepts began to be exchanged and developed in Turkey until the end of the 19th century. After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century, people with lofty ideals in Turkey paid great attention to Turkish traditional music culture, so they introduced the Western music education system so that Turkish music can be better maintained and passed on.

Turkish traditional music can be roughly divided into the following three types

A Classical music

Classical music is based on Arabic and Persian music, with melody and rhythm. The structure is also directly taken from Persia and Arabia, collectively known as Maqam, Greek Nomos and Indian Raga, which means the form of melody, scale and rhythm. This kind of Maqam is popular in Arabia. There are more than about 600 species, and 200 species are still alive. In fact, there are only a few species of the commonly used basic woodcutter.

Musicians sometimes choose only one type of muka in a song, sometimes combine several types, and sometimes change the key on their own.

Turkey’s rhythm concept is also derived from the Arabic Iqa, which is similar to what is called the Rhythm Cycle in the West. But unlike the West, Turkey’s Iqa is not just an accompaniment; Like a Western conductor, he can lead the development of music and drive changes in melody. The difference between Yika'er and the West is that the rhythm of Yika'er is not static. It can also be long, short, long or long, short, long and other different combinations. Yika'er can be composed into more than 100 kinds. Yika'er and Mu Kamu is independent, therefore, Turkish music and Western music habits are completely different. This relationship between melody and rhythm is very similar to Indian Raga and Tala.

Style of music

Early music was mainly about singing. The singing style of classical songs was called Sarki, and the singing style of folk songs was called Sarki. (Tuyku), the lyrics of both are most common in literary poetry. As for later musical instruments, they can be divided into many forms; one of the more special ones, Taksim, is an improvised performance based on the melody form of Muqam; like the Alap of Indian classical music, it is The performer often improvises the concept of the prelude before the main melody appears.

Other styles are also divided into Kar, Murabba, Beste, Agir semai, Pesrev, Saz Semai, Sarki, Gazel, Ilahi, Kaside and so on.

B Religious Music

The mainstream sects of Islam have always not recognized the existence of Islamic music. Even the Qawwali chanting method of Sufism is still not recognized in the eyes of the mainstream sects. It's music, just chanting the Koran.

In fact, in the Sufi sect, through the whirling dance of Sufi music, one can reach a state of trance and be with Allah. Through this whirling dance and other rituals, Sufis can see Allah before they are alive. This is inconsistent with the mainstream sects who can only be together in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, Sufism is also called the secret sect of Islam. Today, Sufism is protected and welcomed in Turkey. Sufi music is the most important religious music in Turkish music.

Other religious music includes Azan Koran, Sunnites music for mosque prayers, Qawwali hymns (also popular in Pakistan) and ceremonial bands for daily prayers. It is performed by the military band, so it is also called military music, Nauba in Turkish. Nauba is still the representative of the military power of the Ottoman Empire.

C Turkey’s local music

Because today’s Turkey was called Anatolia in ancient times, the Turks have been in Anatolia for 600 years, and this place originally belongs to Central Asia As the center of nomadic peoples, Turkish folk music and other ethnic minorities are very rich and diverse. The music includes singing and dancing, each with its own characteristics and distributed over a wide area. This article will only briefly describe its characteristics:

1. Folk customs The difference between poetry and classical poetry is that the folk song style is passed down orally

2. Singers who are professional poets travel and sing with plucked string instruments

3. Wedding and funeral songs are Turkish folk songs Perform for specific objects according to the situation

4. Belly dance (Bally Dance) is a folk dance that exposes the belly and twists the waist, which is popular in Istanbul and Near East Egypt

5. Dance music Halay (the folk dance of Anatolia/Zaybek (the folk dance of Anatolia and the Aegean Sea) and Karsilama (Karsilama) of the Balkan Peninsula and Karsilama (Karsilama) of South Anatolia ( Kasik Oyunu) dancers dance while playing musical instruments - Casuc

6. Istanbul Turkusu is a song that is representative of Turkey and is widely popular in classical, folk, pop and other styles. Popular

Turkish musical instruments

There are many types of musical instruments in Turkey, which can be divided into nearly a hundred types. A brief description is as follows

Stringed musical instruments

1. The oud UT is similar to the Western lute and the Chinese pipa; ***11 strings/6 pegs/no frets

2. Tanbur (and. The same as the Indian Tanbur, 43 frets/6 strings/3 pegs and 10 strings

3. Lavta (4 pegs/8 strings) is similar to the Tanbur. >

4. Yayli Tanbur is played with a bow.

5. Kemenche is shaped like a pipa and is played with a bow. It is 50 meters long. Centimeter.

6. The appearance of the Turkish violin (Sine Keman) is the same as that of the Western one, but it is tuned to Turkish tune.

7. The fret of the Saz is movable, 7/ It has 9 strings and comes in different sizes, such as large, medium and small. It is a very popular stringed instrument in Turkey.

8. Baglama 3-string instrument.

9. . The Divan is similar to the Baguma.

Qiwu musical instrument

1. Zurna is a bamboo flute with reeds. This type of flute is commonly used in celebrations. Musical Instruments.

2. Bagpipe Tulum with windbag reeded woodwind instrument

3. Flute Kaval shepherd's straight flute.

4. Piccolo Duduk is a kind of piccolo.

5. Ney, a recorder with reeds, is the representative of Türkiye.

Membrane musical instrument

1. Deblek is a representative of the Arabic tambourine, shaped like a goblet, made of ceramic or metal, with fish skin or chemical skin.

2. Deff drum: Deff round tambourine, 25 cm in diameter, sometimes with an iron plate, also known as tambourine, and the drum skin has animal skin or chemical skin.

3. Davul magic single double-sided drum Davul double-sided large stick drum, military band drum.

4. Body instrument

5. Kasik is a spoon-shaped percussion board. Male and female dancers each hold one and strike each other.

6. Others include copper cymbals, iron sheets, bamboo boards, bells, etc.

Turkish music has also been influenced by the spread of the West to the East. The Turks, who love music, have also caught up with the world's popular trends since 1960 and launched pop songs with Turkish flavor, which are very popular in the West.

Turkish music is everlasting and has been passed down from generation to generation!