"Musical practices" of the İzmir Limontepe Alevi immigrants in the context of the Alevi musical revival

This study explores the ritual and non-ritual music practices of Limontepe Alevi immigrants, who migrated from the Central and Eastern Anatolia to Limontepe District, in the context of Alevi music revival. Alevi community, who migrated to İzmir Limontepe District because of economic and politic problems, established the Ehl-i Beyt İnanç Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı (a religious foundation) which includes also a ritual house (cem evi) in 1994. This study is based on the observations, interviews and field survey which lasted four years.Alevis are heterodoks Muslims whose worship is comparatively different from Ortodoks Muslims and they consist of different ethnic communities. They are the supporters of the prophet Ali in caliphate system and they have lineal religious leaders (dede). They worship (cem) by means of `poem?, `music? and `dance?.This study consists of three parts: In the first part, the emphasis has been put on the historal development and culture of Alevism and cultural identitiy of Alevis. In the second part, it is dwelled upon Alevi music and Alevi music revival. The purpose of informing in the first two sections is to present the data more clearly concerning rituel and non-rituel music practices in the third section, which are obtained by a `case study? in Limontepe.`Music revival? means appearing suddenly and becoming popular of a kind of music or music style, which seems as though it had disappeared. Both industrialization and changing political conditions had caused to the Alevi music revival. In conclusion, Alevi culture and music revival, which has been going on increasingly since the end of the 1980 in Alevi diaspora and Turkey, has reflected well on the ritual and non-ritual musical practices of the İzmir Limontepe Alevi communities. Popular repertoire, new bağlama (Turkish folk string instrument) techniques (şelpe, çekme, tarama etc.) and new music technologies (amplifier, guitar pickup and guitar gimlet for bağlama etc.) have being performed in their ritual and non-ritual musical practices.