Ney performing style; in particular of Neyzen Yavuz Akalın

The ney, which has a long history, is one of the most important instruments of Turkish music and especially music of the dervish lodges. In the 13th century, from Kutbü'n-nâyî Hamza Dede, there were chains of meşk (master-apprentice teaching style) that were divided into ranges and passed down to the present day via different branches. Yavuz Akalın has been the representative of three different branches of the meşk chains that have been able to reach today. Although there are studies on the performances of ney instrument and neyzens, in the literature review, no study has been found about Yavuz Akalın who is the subject of our research. In this study, which was carried out with the aim of examining the ney performance style and attitude of Akalın, who is seen as one of the most important representatives of the classical ney style; the life of Yavuz Akalın, his musical identity, the chain of mesk he was involved in, and the 10 taksims (an improvisational genre in Turkish music) that clearly show his ney style were transcribed and examined in terms of form, maqam and technique. This work is a descriptive research due to the literature review on Yavuz Akalın and the present situation. The model of our research is the general survey model. Akalın's life, works, meşk series and literature studies were obtained by the method of literature review. Due to the limited number of resources our research consisted of the visual and audio recordings in Yavuz Akalın's personal library, the visual and audio recordings of Akalın on digital platforms, and the interviews made with Akalın's students together with the performers who shared the same stage with him. Interviews about Yavuz Akalın were conducted using semi-structured interview technique. As a result of the research it was determined that Yavuz Akalın, who was a student of Şemsettin Güvey and Aka Gündüz Kutbay, the important representatives of the lodge style, became one of the most important representatives of this school by working with Niyazi Sayın during his years at the conservatory, and he created a unique ney performance style by combining the style and attitudes of his teachers. As a result of the examination of Akalın's taksims in terms of form, maqam and technique, the ornamentation techniques and expression elements used by Yavuz Akalın in ney performance were examined in detail, these taksims were divided into periods and sentences, and the unique seyir (melodic route) and geçki (modulation) features that he created in the relevant maqams were revealed. As a result of the interviews, it has been determined that the tone he extracted from the ney, the functioning of the maqams in his taksims, the original sentences and compositions he created, the ornaments he used, his solo performance, as well as his accompaniment in instrumental and vocal performances, his tuned performances on the ney, and his dominance of transposition are the main elements that constitute Akalın's ney performance style and attitude. Keywords: Turkish Music, Ney, Neyzen, Yavuz Akalın, Improvisation, Performance, Style, Attitude