| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baglama |  | The bağlama is a long-necked Turkish lute, with a pear shaped body, about 1 meter long. It is shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Turkish bağlama means 'to tie,' a reference to the tied-on frets of the instrument. Like most stringed instruments, it can either be played with a plectrum, or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe. The bağlama, sometimes referred to as saz or a member of saz family, is a fundamental instrument in Turkish folk music. The image shows a bronze statue at Istanbul, Turkey. | |
| Çeng |  | The çeng is a Turkish harp. Descended from ancient Near Eastern instruments, it was a popular Ottoman instrument until the last quarter of the 17th century. The word comes from the Persian word "chang," which means "harp" (and also "five fingers"). The çeng is an angled harp. Its strings are stretched between the peg box and the resonator. There is nothing in front of the longest (and deepest) string. | |
| Cümbüş |  | The cümbüş is a Turkish stringed instrument of relatively modern origin. Developed in the early 20th century by Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş as an oud-like instrument that could be heard as part of a larger ensemble. In construction it resembles both the American banjo and the Middle Eastern oud. A fretless instrument, it has six courses of doubled-strings, and is generally tuned like an oud. In shape, though, it closely resembles the banjo with a metal resonator bowl and skin body head. It has a loud, metallic, resonant tone and is widely heard in Middle Eastern popular music. | |
| Dankiyo |  | Dankiyo, also called Pontian Touloum, is a type of bagpipe which the ancient Greeks called an askavlo (aski – skin, avlo – flute). It consists of a lamb skin, a blow pipe, and the double reed chanter. The dankiyo is played in small villages near Trabzon and Rize. | |
| Davul |  | Davul is a large double-headed drum from Turkey. In Greece it is called a daouli. These drums are commonly used in the folk music of the Balkan countries like Macedonia and Bulgaria, portions of Greece, as well as Turkey and Iran. These drums have both a deep bass sound and a thin treble sound due to their construction and playing style, where different heads and sticks are used to produce different sounds on the same drum. The image shows a davul played by a member of an Ottoman military band. | |
| Kaba Zurna |  | The Kaba zurna is a conical woodwind instrument with a double reed. There are several types of zurnas used by different countries. The Kaba zurna is the longest (and lowest) one. It is used in northern Turkey and Bulgaria. | |
| Kanun |  | The kanun (or qanún) is a string instrument found in Near Eastern traditional music based on Maqamat. It is basically a zither with a narrow trapezoidal soundboard. Nylon or PVC strings are stretched over a single bridge poised on fish-skins on one end, attached to tuning pegs at the other end. Kanuns used in Turkey have 26 courses of strings, with three strings per course. It is played on the lap by plucking the strings with two tortoise-shell picks, one in each hand, or by the fingernails, and has a range of three and a half octaves, from A2 to E6. | |
| Kemenche |  | A kemenche is a kind of rebec or fiddle from the Black Sea region of Asia Minor also known as the "Kementche of Laz" in Turkey. In Greece and the Pontian Greek diaspora it is known as the "Pontian lyra". It is the main instrument used in Pontian music. It is a bottle-shaped, 3-stringed fiddle played in the upright position. It is sometimes played by resting it on the knee when sitting, and sometimes it is held out in front. A kemenche is a bowed instrument, the bow is called doksar. | |
| Kös |  | Kös is a large kettledrum used in a modern mehter marching band. It is a bass drum resembling the timpani. | |
| Kudüm |  | 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 mehter music, its slightly bigger cousin nakkare is played. The kudüm is played with two wooden sticks made of soft wood known as zahme. | |
| Nakkare |  | Nakkare is a pair of small kettledrums used in a modern mehter marching band. They are beaten with the hands or two sticks. | |
| Rebab |  | The rebab (also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, al-rababa) is a string instrument which originated in what is now known as Afghanistan, no later than the 8th century, and was spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East. The bowed variety often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground, and is thus called a spike fiddle in certain areas. The rebab is a key instrument of Arabo-Andalusian music. It is used in a wide variety of musical ensembles and genres. Its body is covered with stretched skin, usually stoutly glued to the body. The neck is very thick, and the fretboard is often intricately inlaid. The pegbox is often topped with intricate carving. The image shows two rebabs from Konya, Turkey. | |
| Tanbur |  | The term tanbur or tambūr (Arabic,طنبور) can refer to various long-necked, fretted lutes originating in the Middle East or Central Asia. In Turkey, the terms bağlama and saz both refer to a long-necked lute used in folk music. The Turkish tanbur is a larger variant used in art music. The yaylı tanbur variant is played with a bow instead of a plectrum. The image shows a Turkish tanbur. | |
| Tulum |  | The Tulum (Guda (გუდა) in Laz) is a musical instrument, a form of bagpipe from Turkey. It is droneless with two parallel chanters, usually played by the Pontic Greeks (particularly Chaldians), Laz and Hamsheni people. | |
| Turkish Crescent |  | A Turkish crescent, (also Turkish jingle, çevgan, Chinese pavilion, jingling johnny, Schellenbaum, chapeau chinois) is a percussion instrument consisting of a long pole with numerous bells connected to one end, using crescent shaped crosspieces and has been traditionally used for military bands and parades. It was used as a percussion instrument within the Janissary band as a way to keep time with music and marching. It was used on the first beat of every measure. | |
| Turkish Ney |  | The Turkish ney reed flute, together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of Classical Turkish music. A rim-blown, oblique flute made of reed, the Turkish ney has six finger-holes in front and a thumb-hole in back. Sizes range from the lowest, Davud (in E/mi, 95 cm long), to the highest, Bolahenk nısfiye (in d/re, 52.5 cm long). Nearly all Turkish neys have a mouthpiece. The classical Turkish ney's closest relatives in other countries, the Arab nay and the Persian ney, do not use a mouthpiece, but rather blow against the sharpened edge of the tube. Noted recent ney players include Niyazi Sayın (see image), Akagunduz Kutbay, and Süleyman Erguner (torun). | |
| Yaylı Tanbur |  | The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. Derived from the older plucked tanbur, it has a long, fretted neck and a round metal or wooden soundbox which is often covered on the playing end with a skin or acrylic head similar to that of a banjo. The instrument is held vertically, with the soundbox resting in the player's lap. | |
| Zil |  | Zils, also zills or finger cymbals, (from Turkish zil, "cymbals") are tiny cymbals used in belly dancing and similar performances. They are similar to Tibetan tingsha bells. Zils commonly have a diameter of about 5 cm (2 in). Accomplished dancers will often have a second - slightly larger - set for use in noisy situations. A set of zils consists of four cymbals, two for each hand. |
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