Anıl Şimşek

Traditional music is an umbrella term used in the mid–20th century by folklorists and ethnomusicologists to denote community-rooted, orally transmitted repertoires tied to social ritual, work, celebration, and storytelling. Unlike commercial pop or art-music traditions, traditional music is typically learned by ear, varies regionally, and evolves slowly through communal participation. It often features modal melodies, cyclic rhythms, heterophony or unison singing, and indigenous instruments whose timbres are integral to local identity. Lyrics tend to preserve language, history, and collective memory. While the musical practices themselves can be ancient, the phrase “traditional music” emerged to replace earlier, narrower or colonial framings like “folk” or “ethnic” music, foregrounding continuity, locality, and living practice rather than exoticism.

Qawwali is a Sufi devotional vocal music from the Indian subcontinent that aims to evoke spiritual ecstasy and communal devotion. It is typically performed by a lead singer (qawwal) with a small ensemble of accompanying vocalists, harmoniums, handclaps, and percussion such as dholak and tabla. Musically, Qawwali blends raga-based melodic frameworks and flexible, improvisatory singing with driving rhythms and responsorial choruses. Texts are drawn from Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, and other North Indian languages, and include ghazals, kafis, hamds (praise of God), naats (praise of the Prophet), and manqabats (praise of Sufi saints). Performances traditionally take place at Sufi shrines (dargahs), where repetition, call-and-response, and gradual intensification lead listeners toward wajd (states of spiritual ecstasy). In the modern era, Qawwali is also heard on concert stages, recordings, and film.

Sufi is a devotional musical tradition rooted in Islamic mysticism that seeks to induce remembrance of the Divine (dhikr) and transport performers and listeners toward spiritual ecstasy (wajd). It is not a single uniform style, but a family of practices that vary across regions—most notably Persian/Iranian, Anatolian/Turkish (Mevlevi), Arab, and South Asian (qawwali, kafi). Musically, Sufi repertoire tends to revolve around repetitive, mantra-like refrains, call-and-response between lead and chorus, and gradual intensification over cyclical rhythms. Melodic language draws from regional modal systems such as the Persian dastgāh, Ottoman/Turkish makam, and South Asian raga, and is often supported by drones. Texts are central: poetry by mystic masters like Rumi, Hafez, Bullhe Shah, and Amir Khusrau is sung in Persian, Urdu, Punjabi, Arabic, Turkish, and other languages. Instrumentation varies by locale—harmonium, tabla/dholak, tanpura, and clapping in South Asia; ney, kudüm, bendir, and tanbur in Turkey; oud and frame drums across the Arab world—yet the unifying aim is spiritual uplift and inner transformation.

Mevlevi Sufi music is the sacred repertoire of the Mevlevi (Whirling Dervish) order in Anatolia, closely bound to the Sema ceremony founded on the teachings of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī in Konya. It belongs to the Ottoman–Turkish art music tradition and is built on the makam system (modal scales and pathways) and usûl (long, cyclical rhythmic patterns such as devr-i kebir). The core form is the Ayin-i Şerif, a multi-movement suite that accompanies the ritual stages of Sema—from the opening Naat-ı Şerif in praise of the Prophet to a ney (end-blown reed flute) taksim (improvisation) and four “selam” sections representing spiritual ascent. Its quintessential timbre comes from the ney, supported by tanbur and kemence, with small kettledrums (kudüm), frame drums (bendir/def), and often choral or solo chant. The music is contemplative, microtonally inflected, melismatic, and designed to guide breath, movement, and remembrance (dhikr) rather than to dazzle with virtuosic display.

Ney is a genre centered on the expressive end-blown reed flute of Anatolia and the broader Middle East, featuring solo improvisations (taksim) and composed pieces within modal systems (makam/dastgāh/maqām). In Turkish practice the ney has a mouthpiece (başpare) and metal rings (parazvane); in Persian practice the ney is blown between the teeth, yielding a distinctly breathy, vocal timbre. Across traditions the instrument’s microtonal inflections, dynamic breath control, and melismatic phrasing evoke a contemplative, often spiritual character closely linked with Sufi ceremony and Ottoman/Persian classical repertoires. Performances range from intimate solo improvisations to chamber-sized classical ensembles (ney with tanbur, kanun, kemençe, kudüm, bendir, etc.), and can include ritual forms (e.g., Mevlevi ayin) or instrumental suites (peşrev, saz semai).