Turkey's Musical Tradition

Turkey has a rich musical tradition of varied and often contrasting styles. Turkish music forms great examples of such a mix of cultural influences. From Turkish folk, classical and pop music to military and mystical sounds.

Musical Tradition

Turkey has a rich musical tradition of varied and often contrasting styles. Turkey lies at the axis of the cultures of East, West, Mediterranean, Middle East and Islam. Anatolia's cultural variety is so rich that you can see great cultural differences even in areas geographically quite close to each other. This colorful portrait holds just as true for Turkey's music.

Music Festivals

There are a number of prominent music festivals in Turkey including the Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival which is held in June and July and the Istanbul Music and Jazz Festivals. Also, popular music industry in Turkey boosted by the MTV style TV channels playing non-stop music videos.

Turkish Folk Music

Turkish folk music combines the distinct cultural values of all civilisations that have lived in Anatolia and the Ottoman territories.

Turkish Musical Instruments

There are a number of musical instruments in Turkey such as;

•Stringed Instruments: Saz, Baglama, Ud, Tar
•Bow Instruments: Kabak Kemane, Kemence, Kanun,
Santur
•Wind Instruments: Ney, Klarnet, Zurna, Kaval,
Cigirtma, Tulum, Sipsi, Cifte
•Percussion: Davul, Nagara, Tef, Kasik, Kudum,
Nevbe, Zil

Classical Turkish Music

Classical Turkish music is monophonic, meaning all instruments essentially play the same tune. With the formation of the Turkish Republic, a form of modern polyphonic Turkish music began to develop and there are now numerous successful classical composers. In this music the Turks own a multitude of patterns composed of a series of committees were created.

•culled from www.goturkeytourism.com