Today on music area, creativity bends on the reflections of historical progress in cultural life in Turkey. Because of the active history, Turkish people had lived very closed to many different cultures in past. Results of that cultural relations had reflected on music naturaly. With a general looking to Turkish music, first of all, we have to estimate the geographical, historical and political circumstances of Turkey. Turkey is in a situation like  a bridge between two continentals, Europe and Asia. İn the history of Anatolia, there was the comman life between eastern and western cultures but also there were disputes too. In the historical process, Turkish people had joined to the struggle of sovereignty besides Hittites, Persians, Greeks and Romans in Anatolia. As an mosaic of different cultures, Anatolia had gain a cultural identity by Selchuklu Turkish states dating from 1134 and by Otoman Empire from 1299. By establishing of Ottoman empire in1299, Turkish people had got the leadership of Islamic world. İstanbul had been a center in many areas from culture to politics for many centuries. Naturally Turkish people had taken an important and active part in music. At that time everything were created and developed in İstanbul had been carried out and practiced in Arabian countries and in Iran, sin the same way in İstanbul without any change. In 1923 Ataturk has established the new Turkish Republic according to European model, so a brandnew period of time had been begun.
    Turkish people from Middle Asia was in shaman religion before they had accepted Islam and in shaman rituals they used to play different drums. Another traditional music event in that time was the shows of military music groups named “Tug” in opened squares. The history of that show can be seen even at the ancient times as military music groups that had accompanied to soldiers in the wars. These military music groups had been named as “Tug” and later “Mehter” had taken a special and important part in this area. European countries met this music as “Yenicheri music”; it had been affected so many European countries and famous, important composers of time with its characteristic musical form and style and also Mevlevi Music and traditional TurkishClassical Music was affective in Europe. Because of the traditional cultural legacy transfered from generation, Turkish people had kept and developed their own music style in spite of Arabian and Iran effects and kept their efficiency during the long centuries. In 1826 Yeniceri army and Mehter (military music band) had been abolished, reforms had been practiced patterned Europe, so modern army and modern military bands had been established.
    TURKISH FOLKLORIC MUSIC STUDIES AND INSTRUMENT LESSONS IN OUR SOCIETY
    Turkish folkloric music chorus lessons are on Monday at 19.00-21.00 and on Saturday at 15.00-17.00.
    Coductor:Birsen Cakmut
    Conductor of instruments:Gurkan Ortakale
    TURKISH FOLKLORIC MUSIC
    Folkloric music is anonymous. It has come through the history from past to today transfering generation to generation. Our folk songs and our folk poems are interior eachother with their lyric charecter. And folkloric music accompanies to folk dances. During the centuries folkloric music has kept its roots and vitality, in this prolonging vitality, tradition of folk poets have taken an importance role. That tradition has begun in 13rd century with monumental personality of Yunus Emre; it borns from the events lived, narrates the feelings and thoughts with a strong lyrical style, takes love, love of human and nature, happiness, sadness and also problems of public as theme. Folk poets travelled the whole Anatolia and also Syria, Bulgaria,Iraq,Macedonia,RomaniaAzerbaijan,Egypt for many centuries. In these long travels poet had only one friend:his enstrument.
    We can tell the basic structure and content of our folk music in this way:
    Folkloric music includes different styles, music with-or-without lyrics which are reflects daily life of public. Creators of music is usualy unknown . In the begining these music Works had been created by a person, but since there was no name written and no musical work written it is forgotton who had composed that. Transferring of that work from generation to generation is up to memory and musical hearing, so the authentic work had been changed by time. This is why Turkish Folkloric music is anonymous.
    During the centuries, while societies were changing, their music was changing too. But on the contrary of Turkish Classical music, since the forms and limits were not been definitely determined in folkloric music, the progress of evolution cannot be allowed clearly. We try to understand this progress with different ways, for example by changing of enstruments. However we can understand from the materials that it is a sort of music had kept its own tradition.
    Turkish folkloric music is not created for just make a musical work. Some naturel disasters (avalanche, earthquake, fire, torrent, hunger, scarcity…)death, accident, illness, war, amusements, going to army, wedding, harvest..and events like these, “sema”,”zikir” or different rituals may be the cause of creating folkloric music Works.
    Structure of folkloric music is simple, clear and in accordance with events and time was lived. And it reflects the situation of its time and place. There is no entirety, it changes region to region and usualy it is created spontaneously.
    Since folkloric music is up to traditions it includes many mystic and fatalist elements inside, namely it does not refuse the system. Generally it reflects the complaints as a reaction, more than aiming to change something.
    As a result, folkloric music carries the knowledge of our culture in past because it transfers generation to generation by hearing and singing during the centuries. Today, people can find important, critical points about their own personalities in a work had been created centuries before; this is a wiew of the continuity of cultural identity. Generaly art, especially music and poetry are important elements of this continuity of cultural identity.
    TURKISH FOLKLORIC MUSIC IN MIDDLE ASIA.
    The oldest notations in Asia are in Chinese notation, from this resource the oldest songs reached today are from 16th century, it is a close time, so we can use the folkloric materials in the name of history for finding knowledge about ancient times.
    In the ages of Han and Hun palaces of Turkish kings, even important cities like Kashgar and Buhara were the cradles of today’s classical Ozbek and Turkman musics. By the musical documents before Islam, we can understande the role of Turkish people in forming of musical culture in Asia.
    From the reserchies of Chinese historians we learn Turkish orchestas in Turkish and Chinese palaces, Turkish military orchestras and the names and forms of the enstruments in ancient times.
    Only pictures and literary texts could be found about ancient Hittite, Sumeria and Elam musics, we get only general knowledge from these. We can only say about that age clearly that:
    Anatolian Turkish peoplehad brought the instruments for striking with long handles like “tanbura” from Asia to Mediterranian regions. And Hittites had brought the instruments are played by bow and ith long handles from Asia. “Tanbura” was carried by Asian wars of Egypt armies in 1600-1100 B.C. But “Kemane” was not carried from the limits of Hittite country.