Evaluation of the applicability of violin etudes in classical kemenche education

In this study, in addition to the methods used in classical kemenche education, it is aimed to contribute to classical kemenche education by using Western music violin etudes adapted to the classical kemenche instrument so that the performers can increase their interest in their instruments and academic success, accelerate the learning process, and use their instruments effectively. One of the sub-objectives of the research is to contribute to the formation of a method that can be utilized in kemenche education by making use of the opinions and suggestions on the use of violin etudes adapted for classical kemenche training. The study group of the research consists of a total of five performers, two of whom were graduates of three-stringed classical kemenche in the conservatories that teach traditional Turkish music, and 3 students, who are still studying. The Mixed Method, in which qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used together, was applied in the study. In the experimental part, "one group pretest posttest experimental design" was utilized. The performance measurement tool to determine the musical, technical and general development of the students, the semi-structured interview form to get the opinions of the instructors and the performers, and the observation form to determine the progress of the performers in the experimental process were used as data collection tools. While analyzing the data, content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, statistical values such as frequency (f), percentage (%), arithmetic mean was used for expressing quantitative data and Mann Whitney U test was used to determine the effect on the experimental design. As a result of the research, it was revealed that violin etudes adapted for kemenche did not contribute to the musical development of the performers, but contributed to their technical development and were more effective in the development of the overall instrument performance of the performers. Accordingly, it is concluded that the use of the etudes in kemenche training have a partial effect on increasing and supporting the instrument performance of the performers. The instructors and performers had positive feedback on the use of violin etudes in classical kemenche training as per the findings obtained from both the observations and the interviews in the study. According to this study, in addition to the traditional 'meşk' system utilized in kemenche education until today, it is recommended to create new training methods for the classical kemenche instrument and to support studies in this field.