TURKISH MUSIC DICTIONARY
Tabaka
The word for "note" in old Arab music, a transposition.
Taban (=Topuk)
The frog of a bow.
Tabl
Davul. There are hundreds of varieties in terms of shape and size. In the Turkish states, the davul was the symbol of the sultan.
Tabl-Hâne
A military ensemble in Islamic and Turkish states. During the Ottoman period it was known as Mehterhâne.
Tabl-i Bâz
A largish davul with camel skins.
Tâ-Hek
In Turkish Classical Music, the term for striking both hands on the knees while beating out an usûl.
Tâhir (=Baba Tâhir)
A simple makam used in Turkish Classical Music. It is the same as the makam Nevâ, but in its descending form (See Nevâ). Its tonic is dügâh (La/A), and its dominant is nevâ (Re/D). Its suspended cadences are the flavors Bûselik and Râst on nevâ (Re/D), Çargâh on çargâh (Do/C) and Eksik Segâh on evç (Fa/F four komas sharp).
Tâhir-Bûselik
A variant of the makam Tâhir once used in Turkish Classical Music. It is descending in character.
Tâhir-i Kebîr
A variant of the makam Tâhir once used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tâhir-i Sagıyr
A variant of the makam Tâhir once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Tâhir-Kürdî
A variant of the makam Tâhir once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Tahmîd
To praise. In music, to use the phrase elhamdülillah ("Praise be to God").
Tahmîş
See Muhammes.
Takım
A suite of Turkish Classical Music, generally composed by a single composer. It is the name given to the full fasıl, which consists of a peşrev, a saz semâîsi, two bestes, two semâîs and a few songs in various usûls.
Taklid
Lit. "Imitation." Playing the same musical phrase antiphonally or sequentially.
Taksîm
A free-meter instrumental improvisation section in Turkish Classical Music. It may be exchanged between two instruments but generally is a solo performance. Taksim is an improvisational style in which the instrumentalist uses the notes specific to the makam to create a new piece. There are various types of taksims in Turkish Classical Music, the best known of which are the Giriş Taksimi (Introductory Taksim), the Ara Taksimi (Interlude Taksim) and the Geçiş Taksim (Transition Taksim).
Taktî
Prosody
Taktiğ İle
A way of singing in which the singer counts the lines and the syllables of each line. It also is used in the sense of dividing up the sections of a musical phrase according to meter.
Tâlimî Müzik
Etudes, musical pieces composed for use in musical education.
Tamaşa
A word used in the Bodrum region for festivities accompanied by music and dance.
Tambura
One of the most widespread names for a medium sized instrument in the bağlama family. Throughout the Turkic musical world the word for such long-necked instruments appears in various forms such as dombra, dımbıra, tımbırdak, etc.
Tanâbîr
The old plural of the word tanbûr.
Tanbûr
A stringed instrument used in Turkish Classical Music, played either with a plectrum or a bow. It is made of wood and has a long neck. Because the frets along its neck are considered to cover the entire tonal system of Turkish music, it has been adopted as a fundamental musical instrument of Turkish Classical Music.
Tanbûrî
A player of the tanbûr.
Tan Havası
A melody played on the morning of a wedding by a davul-zurna duo to waken the guests and hosts.
Tanbûr-i Horâsân
One of the old names for the Turkish tanbûr.
Tanbûr-i Kebîr-i Türkî
The word used for the uniquely Turkish form of tanbûr in order to distinguish it from the Arab tanbûr.
Tanbûra-i Moğol
An old Turkish instrument. It is encountered among the Turkic peoples of Central Asia.
Tanbûr-i Rûd
A type of tanbûr.
Tanbûr-i Şirvînân
A type of tanbûr played mostly by the Azerbaijanis.
Tanbûr-i Türkî
The short form of the term Tanbûr-i Kebîr-i Türkî.
Tanbûra-i Türkî
An old type of small Tanbûr.
Tanbûre-i ûd
An old Turkish instrument; a small tanbûr which resembled an ut.
Tanık
A compound makam created by Hüseyin Fahrî Tanık, and used only by him.
Tanînî
In Turkish Classical Music, the name for a nine-koma interval (a whole note).
Tanînî Bemolü
In Turkish Classical Music, the symbol that indicates a nine-koma flat.
Tanînî Diyezi
In Turkish Classical Music, the symbol that indicates a nine-koma sharp.
Tar (=Târ)
1. A folk instrument played with a plectrum, consisting of a body with two compartments but carved out of a single piece of mulberry wood with a skin stretched over the top, played mainly in the Caucasus region.
2. A string.
Tarab-Engîz
An old usûl once used in Turkish Classical Music, no longer in use today.
Tarab-ı Rûd
A type of the Rûd, an instrument once used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tarabü'l-Feth
An instrument once used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tarak Mizmârı
A type of mizmâr (double reed pipe) once used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tarama
A quick tremolo on a plucked instrument.
Tarhânî
A genre within Turkic-Chagatay classical music.
Tarîka
The old name for the peşrev form.
Tarîkat Müziği
See Tasavvuf Müziği.
Tartım
Rhythm. The length/count of notes.
Tarz-ı Bihîn
A compound makam created by Hüseyin Fahri Tanık.
Tarz-ı Cedîd
A compound makam used in Turkish Classical Music, formed by adding the makams Nivâvend and Acem-aşîrân to the makam Sultânî Yegâh. It is descending-ascending in character. Its tonic is acem aşîran (Fa/F), and its dominants are nevâ (Re/D), dügâh (La/A) and çargâh (Do/C). Its suspended cadences are the flavors Hicâz and Kürdî on nevâ (Re/D), Bûselik and Nikrîz on çargâh (Do/C), Kürdî and Hicâz on dügâh (La/A), Bûselik and Nikrîz on râst (Sol/G), and Çargâh on kürdî (Si/B five komas flat).
Tarz-ı Cihân
A compound makam used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tarz-ı Nevîn
A compound makam used in Turkish Classical Music, formed by combining the second type of the makam Şevk-Efzâ which does not use the Nikrîz pentachord (Zengûle + Acem-aşîrân) with the Kürdî tetrachord on râst. It is descending in character. Its tonic is râst (Sol/g), and its dominants are çargâh (Do/C) and acem-aşîrân (Fa/F). Its suspended cadences are the flavors Nikrîz on acem (Fa/F), Hüzzâm on dik hisâr (Si/B one koma flat), Zirgûli Hicâz or Hicâz on çargâh (Do/C), Nikrîz on kürdî (Si/B five komas flat), Çargâh on çargâh (Do/C), Kürdî on dügâh (La/A), Bûselik on râst (Sol/G), and Çargâh on acem-aşîrân.
Tas
Lit. "Bowl." An old Turkish instrument. See Kâse.
Tasannû
An exaggerated, showy style in music.
Tasavvuf Müziği
Mystic music, an important branch of Turkish religious music. Although strictly speaking it is "lodge music," or "religious order music," (tekke müziği, tarikat müziği), since the first years of the republic the term has increasingly replaced those terms. In general it signifies the music of religious societies which transform the esoteric (batınî) aspects of religion into a way of life, using sound in order to communicate with God or as one vehicle by which to reach ecstasy.
Tas-Bâz
A player of the Tas.
Tasvîr
See Şed.
Taşlama
Part of the âşık tradition, poetry which minstrels use to joke or tease each other and compete.
Taştîr
See Muhammes, Murabbâ.
Tatvan
See Tatyan
Tatyan
A folk makam used in the Erzurum, Kars and Elazığ regions. Generally appearing in variants of Hüzzâm and Segâh, this melody is used in a variety of uzun havas, türküs and ilâhîs.
Tavır
Style. In folk music, it is used in the sense of local performance style. More recently, it has come to be used mostly for playing style, with ağız (See Ağız) used for singing styles
Tavşan (=Tavuşan)
"Rabbit," the name for a person who dances the Tavşanca.
Tavşanca
Lit. "Like a rabbit." A Turkish dance style, performed by expert troupes wearing special costumes.
Tavşan Takımı
A group of Tavşanca dancers.
Tavşanca Takımı
A suit of various pieces one after another to which the Tavşanca dance is performed.
Tâziyâne
A plectrum. See Tezene.
Tebrîz
A compound makam used in Turkish Classical Music, formed by adding a portion of the Acem-Aşîrân scale to the makam Uşşâk. Its tonic is râst (Sol/G), and its dominants are nevâ (Re/D) and dügâh (La/A).
Tebrîz-Hâverân
A variant of the makam Tebrîz once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Tebrîzî
A compound once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Tecnis
The general name for poetry featuring puns/word play. In recent years it has also come to be used for a type of uzun hava sung without word play.
Tef
A frame drum made in various sizes, and with or without cymbals. Also Def.
Tegannî
Derived from the Arabic word "gınâ," meaning to make music, to sing.
Te'hîr: Tebrîz-Hâverân
A variant of the makam Tebrîz once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Tehlîl
A prayer containing the phrase "Lâ İlâhe İll'Allah" (There is no God but Allah"), and the music performed with such a prayer.
Tek
1. Solo, alone
2. In Turkish Classical Music, the name for a weak or medium-strength stroke, struck with the left hand.
Tekbîr
A genre of Mosque music, containing the phrase "Allâhu Ekber." The Tekbîr composed by Itrî in the makam Segâh is sung together on many occasions, including feast sermons and the making of a sacrifice.
Te ke (=Te Kâ)
The method of reciting the beats of the usûls of Turkish Classical Music aloud.
Teke Havası
The general name for songs and melodies reflecting the musical characteristics of the Teke region.
Teke Zortlatması
A folk dance of the Teke region which imitates the movements of a billy goat, and the melody that accompanies this dance. They are generally in 2+3+2+3 or 2+2+2+3 rhythms.
Tekellüm
Verbal/musical sparring between âşıks. Also Atışma.
Tekke Müziği
The music performed within the traditions of the lodges (tekke) of the various Islamic religious orders. In some lodges, music is not emphasized as a means of worships, while at others, it is of paramount importance; in such tekkes musical education is also provided. See Tasavvuf Müziği.
Tek Vuruş
An 11-beat minor usûl used in Turkish Classical Music. It is composed of one measure of Türk Aksağı and one of Yürük Semâî in sequence.
Tel
A string of a stringed instrument.
Telbiye
The repetition, during the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hac - Hajj) of the phrase lebbeyk Allahümme lebbeyk to a melody.
Telhîn
To recite to a melody; in a makam.
Tel Tanbura
A three-stringed type of tanbura once used in Turkish music.
Temcîd
A form of religious music.
Tenzile
A type of ilâhî of the Iraqi Turkmen.
Terâne
1. The first section of a group of four melodies in Turkish Classical Music.
2. The old name for a quatrain.
Terbî
See Murabbâ.
Terennüm
1. To sing.
2. The term for the mülâzime and nakarat in the high forms of Turkish music.
Terennüm-i Îkaa'î
1. The old name for the terenüm.
2. In Turkish Classical Music, the name for a type of terennüm section in some pieces composed of meaningless syllables such as "Tenneneni, detderedil, tennâ dirnâ, etc.
Terentây
An old musical instrument once used in Turkish music.
Tereşşüd
A compound makam of Turkish Classical Music.
Terkîb
1. Another name for a compound makam.
2. The sum of all the flavors or tones of makams when they are connected through modulations or bound together.
Terkîb-i İntikal
In Turkish Classical Music, a repeating instrumental section that ties together the hânes or mülâzimes of peşrevs or saz semâîsis.
Terkîb-i Sabâ
A compound makam of Turkish Classical Music.
Tertîl
The term for free-meter vocal works in old Arab music.
Tervîh
A type of instrument no longer used today, invented by Abdülkâdir Merâgi's son Abdülazîz.
Tesâvüt
Harmony, accord
Tesbîb
The section that preceeds the girizgâh in a Kasîde (See Kasîde).
Tesbîh
1. A way of reciting the phrase Sübhân Allah (Glorious is God) musically
2. A religious form of Turkish Classical Music.
Teslîm
In Turkish Classical Music, the melodies that tie the true hâne and mülâzime of instrumental pieces.
Tetrachord (Dörtlük)
The four-note scale patterns in Turkish Classical Music that make up the scales or flavors of the makams. The whole tetrachords of the basic makams are Çârgâh, Bûselik, Kürdî, Rast, Uşşâk and Hicâz; the Sabâ, Müstesâr and Nişâbur tetrachords fall into a separate category in terms of their intrvalic relations, and occur in the formation of compound makams.
Tevhîd
A form of Turkish Classical Music and poetry, containing a section with the phrase la ilâhe ill' Allah. It is used in mosques and lodges.
Tevşîh
A religious form of Turkish Classical Music, which is recited between the Mevlîd and Mirâciyye.
Tezene
A plectrum used to play instruments in the formerlay made of cherry bark, it is now manufactured out of plastic.
Tırnak Kemane
A type of fiddle, played in the Kastamonu region to the north, the İçel and Antalya region to the sourth, and in Istanbul, where it is known as the Klâsik Kemençe. In the Aegean Islands it is known as the lira. It has a pear-shaped body and three strings stopped with the fingernails instead of the pads of the fingers
Tırtıllama
A type of ornament, a mordant, executed by playing the note above or below the main note and returning to it.
Tilâvet
A special free-rhythm chanting style especially for reciting the Koran.
Tiz
1. High in pitch.
2. In Turkish Classical Music, a word preceding the name of a note generally indicating its high form.
Tîz Acem
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Fa/F in its highest register.
Tîz Bayâtî
In Turkish Classical Music, the note tîz nîm hisâr in some old sources.
Tîz Bûselik
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Si/B in its highest register.
Tîz Çargâh
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Do/C in its highest register.
Tîz Evc
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Fa/F four komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Gerdâniye
In Turkish Classical Music, the note G/Sol in its highest register.
Tîz Hicâz
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Do/C five komas sharp or Re/D four komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Hisâr
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Re/D five komas sharp or Mi/D four komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Hüseynî
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Mi/E in its highest register.
Tîz Mâhûr
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Fa/F five komas sharp or Sol/G four komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Muhayyer
In Turkish Classical Music, the note La/A in its highest register.
Tîz Nevâ
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Re/D in its highest register.
Tîz Sabâ
Turkish Classical Music, the name given for the note tîz nîm hicâz in some old sources.
Tîz Segâh
In Turkish Classical Music, the note La/A eight komas sharp or Si/B one koma flat in its highest register.
Tîz Sekizli
The name for the third of the four octaves used in Turkish Classical Music.
Tîz Sünbüle
In Turkish Classical Music, the note La/A four komas sharp or Si/B five komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Şehnâz
In Turkish Classical Music, the note Sol/G five komas sharp or La/A four komas flat in its highest register.
Tîz Şûrî
In Turkish Classical Music, the name given for the note tîz nîm hisâr in some old sources.
Tîz Tîz
In Turkish Classical Music, the word Tîz is used to differentiate a note in the higher register from its counterpart in a lower register. The term Tîz Tîz is used to signify an even higher octave.
Tîz Uzzâl
In Turkish Classical Music, the name given for the note tîz nîm hisâr in some old sources.
Tîz Yegâh
The name given in some Arab sources for the note gerdâniye.
Tokmak
A heavy carved drumstick used to play percussion instruments such as the davul or nakkare.
Topluluk
A musical ensemble.
Tuhfetü'l-'ud
A stringed instrument once used in Turkish Classical Music. No details of the instrument have survived to the present.
Tulum
A bagpipe played chiefly in the Eastern Black Sea region. The player blows through a mouthpiece with a valve into a skin bag, and two reeds bound together with five holes produce the sound, sometimes playing in unison and sometimes separately. It is very similar to the bagpipes played in the Aegean Islands and less so to the gaida played in Thrace and the Balkans.
Tura Havası
A special music played to excite the players of a folk game called Tura.
Turkish Classical Music (Klâsik Türk Müziği)
The genre of music, mostly urban, with rules set forth in previous periods, and with a traditional character in terms of its technical and stylistic features. This music should not be considered the equivalent of "Classical Period" European music. Used in the sens of "bound to the old," "traditional," this term has been accepted as reflecting the attributes of Ottoman-Turkish music. The term "Sanat Müziği" ("Art Music"), which was recommended for a time, is used colloquially in the same sense. Although Turkish Classical Music is tied to the past, there are attempts to ensure its survival, and contemporary composers and performers have worked to recreate it in certain traditional forma.
Turkish Music Theory
The principles of Turkish music, one of the subjects of musicologists who attempt to express all maner of rules and principles of music in a scientific manner. Lost in the mists of time until the last century, the theory of Turkish music has been the subject of intense research by both Turkish and foreign scholars. More of such work, which has concentrated chiefly on the tonal and rhythmic systems as well as various musical forms, should receive support.
Turkish Romantic Music (Romantik Türk Müziği)
The period of Turkish Classical Music which began with Hacı Ârif Bey and the musical school of this period. The principal feature of this school was that the great classical form was replaced by the şarkı form. This trend spread quickly and came to dominate Turkish music. The last representatives of the romantic school of Turkish music were Lem'i Atlı, Rahmi Bey and Suphi Ziyâ özbekkan.
Turquerie
The Turkish fashion in art, Alla Turca.
Türk Aksağı
A five-beat minor usûl of Turkish Classical Music. It is composed of a measure each of Nîm Sofyân and Semâî.
Türk Aksağı-Yürük Semâî
See Tek Vuruş.
Türkî-Asl (Sagıyr)
A major usûl once used in Turkish Classical Music
Türkî-Asl-ı Kadîm
A major usûl once used in Turkish Classical Music
Türkî-Hicâz
Another name for the usûl Hicâz-I Türkî.
Türkî-i Hafîf
A minor usûl once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Türkî-i Serî
A minor usûl once used in Turkish Classical Music. No examples have survived to the present.
Türkmânî
A type of Chagatay and Azerbaijani music. The use of this term to signify the style is important as it makes a reference to another Turkic group. Such terms are common in Turkish musical terminology.
Türkmenî
A type of uzun hava sung by Turkmen tribes.
Türk Müziği Nazariyatı
See Turkish Music Theory.
Türkü
The term for all types of sung folk melodies. The literary and musical structures of türkü are extremely varied. Although in the terminology of Turkish folk literature, türküs are defined as sung poems consisting of verses containing three lines with a refrain, we know that the genre includes all types of poetry set to music. In this sense, the term must be accepted as a general term rather than a specific form.
Türkü Atmak
Lit. "To throw türkü." To sing türkü antiphonally, to improvise türkü. Also Türkü Çığırmak, Türkü Koşmak.
Türkücü
A singer/player of türkü.
Türkü Yakmak
To create a new folk song by setting new words to a certain old melodic pattern. In folk culture, rather than a folk artist consciously creating a new piece, he/she reconstructs previously existing patterns. This process is also called yakım or yakım yakmak.
Tüvânger
A compound makam once used in Turkish Classical Music.