Ways to benefit from folk songs in classical kemenche training; example of Hisarli Ahmet’s folk songs

Abstract

Choosing a repertory coherent with the register, technical properties and the timber of the instrument, along with applying a systematic methodology, is quite important in professional music education.

Today, the Turkish Music instrument education, as well as the European Music instrument education, still lacks systematical methods and repertories designed specifically for different instruments.

In classical kemenche education, not only there are not enough systematic methodology studies, but also the number of repertories systematized according to classical kemenche with special notation is insufficient.

The traditional tunes are being used in many phases of music education. Concerning how classical music makes use of traditional music, we may argue that we can also make use of folk music in classical kemenche education.

The general aim of this search is to provide academic level research of systematic and scientific methods of performing and playing of Hisarlı Ahmet’s folk songs with a classical kemenche which is a traditional instrument. Both for this purpose the data collecting used in the research, as well as accessing the resources that make up Hisarlı Ahmet’s folk songs a literature review conducted, Hisarlı Ahmet’s folk songs from the repertoire of the Turkish Radio and Television(TRT) institution were scrutinized and from these studied folk songs five of them considered suitable for classical kemenche training as handled as sample groups.

In this context, this study will choose five works of Hisarlı Ahmet through a study of their modal and rhythmical structures and will provide a special notation for classical kemenche via identifying the bow and performance techniques of these works. These studies were shared with some experts in their field by making necessary corrections following their views. This study aims to bring these five works in classical kemenche education and concert repertory by providing a notation peculiar to kemenche. Folk songs have been uploaded to the youtube social media platform and made accessible to everyone.‘Mus 2’ was used to note and edit folk songs.