Turkey

Official Name: Republic of

Turkey
Capital: Ankara
Turkey is a nation straddling
Eastern Europe and western Asia
with cultural connections to
ancient Greek, Persian, Roman,
Byzantine and Ottoman empires. 
Currency: Turkish lira
Music of Turkey
Ottoman music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, and
other rules of composition. There are more than 600 makams that have been used so far. Out of
these, at least 119 makams are formally defined, but today only around 20 makams are widely
used. In the Sufi teaching, each makam represents and conveys a particular psychological and
spiritual state. Sometimes, in certain makams, Ottomans would use different instrumental and
vocal musical pieces in order to cure certain medical and psychological conditions.
Musical instruments

Traditional instruments in Ottoman classical music today include tanbur long-necked plucked

lute, ney end-blown flute, kemençebowed fiddle, oud plucked short-necked unfretted
lute, kanun plucked zither, violin, and in Mevlevi music, kudüm drum. Older instruments still in
use include lavta.

1.Tanbur. The Iranian tanbur has a narrow pear-shaped body that normally is made with 7
to 10 glued together separate ribs. Its soundboard is usually made of mulberry wood and some
patterened holes are burned in it. The long neck is separate, and has three metal strings that the
first course is double. The melody is played on the double strings with a unique playing
technique with three fingers of the right hand.
2. Ney. The Persian ney consists of a hollow cylinder with finger-holes. Sometimes a
brass, horn, or plastic mouthpiece is placed at the top to protect the wood from damage, and to
provide a sharper and more durable edge to blow at.

3. Kemenche. Kemenche or kemençe is a name used for various types of stringed bowed
musical instruments having their origin in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Greece,
Iran, Turkey, Armenia, and regions adjacent to the Black Sea.
 4. Oud, In the first centuries of Arabian civilisation, the oud had 4 courses (one string per
course – double-strings came later) only, tuned in successive fourths. These were called (for the
lowest in pitch) the Bamm, then came (higher to highest in pitch) the Mathnā, the Mathlath and
the Zīr. A fifth string (highest in pitch, lowest in its positioning in relation to other strings),
called ḥād ("sharp"), was sometimes added for theoretical purposes, generally to complement the
double octave.

5.Kanun, a string instrument played either solo, or more often as part of an ensemble, in

much of the Middle East, Maghreb, West Africa, Central Asia, and southeastern regions of
Europe.

6.Kudüm is one of the most fundamental rhythm instruments in classical Turkish music.
The person playing it is called kudümzen. It is among ney, rebap, and halile as one of the four
main instruments in Mevlevi music. It consists of a pair of small, hemispherical drums.
Traditionally kudüm was played in religious ceremonies; in a secular context, like
in mehtermusic, its slightly bigger cousin nakkare is played.

7. Lavta, The lavta is a plucked string instrument from Istanbul. It has a small body made
of many ribs using carvel bending technique, looking like a small (Turkish) oud, gut strings like
an oud but only 7 strings in 4 courses and tunable.