Mehmet Evren Hacıoğlu

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.

Zeybek is a traditional musical-dance style from Western Anatolia (the Aegean region of Turkey) characterized by asymmetric aksak meters—most commonly 9/8 divided as 2+2+2+3—and a proud, heroic bearing. It exists in two main tempo families: ağır zeybek (slow, weighty, processional) and kıvrak zeybek (lively, agile). The music typically features modal (makam-based) melodies ornamented with slides and grace notes, performed on instruments such as bağlama (saz), cura, zurna and davul in rural settings, and clarinet, oud, kanun, and violin in urban arrangements. The dance is often a solo male performance (but also danced in groups), with outstretched arms and measured steps that evoke dignity and defiance, reflecting the ethos of the Aegean efe (local militia/outlaw) culture.