Overview of Turkish Music Therapy
Core materials, methods, and instruments
A world of therapeutic sound
Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç is widely credited with reviving and shaping the contemporary transmission of Turkish Music Therapy, a traditional discipline rooted in the classical music systems of Anatolia and the wider Islamic world.
Within these traditions, music, movement, and listening were historically understood as modes of healing, regulation, and education of the human being. They were applied within medical, spiritual, and pedagogical settings such as hospitals (darüşşifa), Sufi lodges (tekke), and courtly institutions.
The foundations of Turkish Music Therapy, as transmitted by Güvenç, lie in the makam system—a modal framework in which melody, rhythm, and progression are understood to carry distinct qualitative and affective properties. Medieval medical and philosophical sources describe the use of specific makams in relation to temperament, time of day, emotional state, and physiological balance, emphasizing attentive listening as a primary mode of engagement rather than performance alone.
Makam, rhythm, and human disposition
Central to Turkish Music Therapy is the understanding that sound interacts directly with the human nervous system and psyche. Each makam is characterized not only by its scale, but by its melodic behavior, emotional color, and relational movement over time.
These qualities were traditionally observed in relation to:
emotional and psychological states,
circadian rhythms and seasonal cycles,
bodily constitution and temperament, and
states of agitation, grief, lethargy, or imbalance.
Rhythm (usûl) and, in some applications, measured movement or simple walking patterns accompany melodic work, reinforcing regulation, grounding, and embodied awareness.
Listening, rather than performance, has historically been considered primary. The listener is not a passive recipient, but an active participant in a process of attunement and regulation.
Continuity and modern revival
While many of these practices diminished or fragmented with the modernization of medicine and music education, the twentieth century saw renewed scholarly and practical interest in recovering historical sources, instruments, and therapeutic applications of sound.
Contemporary Turkish Music Therapy as transmitted by Güvenç draws upon:
historical medical texts and music treatises,
living makam performance traditions,
ethnomusicological research, and
clinical observation and applied practice.
It is not a standardized or protocol-based therapy in the modern biomedical sense, but a relational, listening-centered discipline that emphasizes presence, continuity, and careful transmission.
Orientation and ethics of practice
Turkish Music Therapy is not designed for mass application or rapid intervention. Traditionally, it requires:
extended listening and apprenticeship,
sensitivity to cultural and spiritual context,
restraint in claims of efficacy, and
respect for lineage, limits, and transmission.
Its orientation is toward supporting balance, cultivating attention, and restoring relationship—between sound and body, inner and outer rhythm, individual experience and inherited tradition.
Use of makams in healing
According to an article published by Oruç Baba in Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, his method associates specific makams with observed therapeutic effects, including the following:
NIHAVEND: Gives a general feeling of relaxation and peace. Beneficial for the abdominal area. Regulates blood tension and circulation. Relaxes the muscles. More effective around noon. The pentatonic quality induces feelings of confidence and determination.
RAST: Beneficial for the head and eyes; supports paralysis. Induces joy, enjoyment, and comfort. Sign: Aries. More effective at dawn and midnight.
REHAVI: Induces feelings of eternity, infinitude, and general relaxation. Beneficial for the head and eyes. Sign: Libra. More effective at dawn.
HÜSEYNİ: Beneficial for internal organs such as the liver, heart, and stomach. Increases resistance against malaria. Induces peace, calmness, and relaxation. Sign: Scorpio.
HİCAZ: Beneficial for the urogenital system and kidneys. Induces feelings of humility. Sign: Sagittarius.
ACEMASİRAN: Induces creativity and a sense of infinitude. Supports labor and alleviates pain.
USSAK: Beneficial for gout and the feet in general. Induces sleep and laughter. Sign: Pisces. More effective at dusk.
SEGAH: Strengthens the heart and benefits the brain. Induces bravery and relaxation.
SABA: Induces religious feeling, bravery, and strength; also supports relaxation. More effective at dawn.
BUSELİK: Induces general relaxation. Beneficial for the abdominal area and muscles. Regulates blood tension and circulation.
İSFAHAN: Removes negative thoughts; clears the mind and increases intelligence. Beneficial for gynecological conditions. Increases mobility and self-confidence. Sign: Gemini.
NEVA: Removes negative thoughts. Beneficial for waist and hip pain and gynecological conditions. Restores taste and induces relief and happiness. Sign: Aquarius.
IRAK: Particularly affects individuals with tan complexion. More effective in mid-morning. Supports learning, understanding, and concentration. Beneficial for stubborn or coarse dispositions. Relieves fear and agitation. Sign: Taurus.
BUZURK tonality: Alleviates apprehension and fear. Clears the mind and directs thought. Beneficial against fever. Sign: Leo / Group: Fire.
ZİREFKEND: Beneficial for back, muscle, and acute abdominal pain. More effective after midnight. Sign: Cancer / Group: Water.
ZENGULE: Beneficial for the brain and heart; supports stomach and liver function. Related to hip joints and inner legs. Sign: Virgo–Libra / Group: Earth.
Key therapeutic features of the method
Archetypical movements: Preparatory therapeutic movements involving arms, shoulders, and head.
Image music: Supports the healing process by inducing visualization and imaginal response.
Baksı dance: An ancient improvised therapeutic dance originating from the Altai mountain range.
Pentatonic melodies: Induce feelings of self-confidence and determination.
Sema / Semah: Examples drawn from Sema and Semah practices, including the whirling traditions of dervishes.
Instruments used in Turkish Music Therapy
According to writings by Oruç Baba, Turkish Music Therapy draws on a wide range of traditional instruments from Anatolia and Central Asia. These instruments were selected not for performance alone, but for their tonal, vibrational, and relational qualities within therapeutic listening contexts.
The prominent presence of Central Asian instruments in this tradition reflects the nomadic and shamanic roots of therapeutic sound practices that predate later courtly and institutional (largely Ottoman) forms, emphasizing listening, vibration and regulation over performance and display.
Stringed instruments (plucked and bowed)
Rebab: A bowed string instrument with a fish-skin–covered coconut body and horsehair strings; of Central Asian origin.
Ud / Kopuz: A short-necked, wide-bodied lute played with a pick; Central Asian in origin.
Tanbur: A long-necked, seven-stringed instrument played with a pick.
Saz / Bağlama / Cura: Long-necked Anatolian folk instruments, central to regional musical traditions.
Dombra / Dutar: A two-stringed plucked instrument associated with Kazakh and Kyrgyz Bakshi shamans.
Kılkopuz: A bowed instrument with horsehair strings, used by Central Asian shamans.
Rubab (Kockarca): A skin-covered wooden lute with a long neck, used in Uzbek and Tajik traditions.
Tartar: An Azerbaijani long-necked lute made of mulberry wood.
Abak Kemane / Gicek: A bowed instrument with a gourd body and mulberry neck.
Morin Khuur: A Mongolian bowed instrument with horsehair strings and a carved horse-head neck.
Harps and zithers
Ceng: A Central Asian harp with 14–24 strings, historically used in Mevlevi music.
Kanun: A plucked zither with approximately 75 strings, resting on the knees.
Cetigen / Yatugan: A lap zither with 17–20 strings from Yakutia and Kazakhstan.
Wind instruments
Ney: A reed flute made of cane, central to Sufi musical traditions.
Balaban / Mey: A double-reed wooden wind instrument found in Anatolia and Central Asia.
Miskal: A Central Asian pan flute made of bound cane pipes.
Sıbızgı: A Kazakh wooden flute played between the teeth.
Koray: A narrow-cane flute from the Idil-Ural region.
Uzbek Nay / Turkmen Kaval: Regional wooden wind instruments.
Nefir: A wind instrument made from mountain goat horns.
Percussion and rhythmic instruments
Mazhar (Bendir): A frame drum with skin stretched over a wooden hoop, played with the fingers.
Kudüm: A pair of small clay kettle drums played with sticks (zahme).
Halile: Small cymbals used for rhythmic accompaniment.
Vibrational instruments
Gubuz / Sangobiz: A mouth harp made of metal, producing sound through breath and vibration.
These instruments form a sonic vocabulary through which therapeutic listening, regulation, and attunement were historically explored, often in conjunction with specific makams, rhythms, and modes of attention.
Yolun açık olsun.
May your path be open.
.
This essay is accompanied by an example of the music, because these traditions cannot be understood apart from direct encounter with sound. Please take time to play the video.
.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lisa England is a nomadic writer, listener and practitioner devoted to embodied sacred medicine from the desert — devotional practices that soothe and orient the nervous system; increase inner resilience to change; and cultivate a deeper relationship with the Real. Her work draws from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mystical traditions, with a particular focus on Turkish Music Therapy and its Central Asian and Sufi roots. She honors the guidance of Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç. This Substack is offered independently and is not affiliated with any institution transmitting Turkish Music Therapy. Lisa lives and works between desert cultures, listening for what endures.