Turkish Folk Music

Home

I won't begin to describe Turkish folk music right now in any accurate/scholarly way (because I can't). Instead, I will talk about what I think about it, and some of my favorite songs/albums. I do want to say this, before I go further, that even though I got into folk music before Ottoman Classical, I have actually listened more to the classical music overall.


Tolgahan Cogulu

I found his YouTube channel a few years ago, and when I watched the video on his channel about the Baglama for some society about wood and wood arts (I don't want to try and load the YouTube page now; single-core cpu life issues), I was immediately interested. It was not him playing the Baglama, but I watched other videos on his channel and found some more folk music. There is an album he released with Sinan Ayyildiz on iTunes called "Amorphous - EP". I think "Blacksea Rhapsody" and "Aman Avci" are my favorites (though there are only 4 songs total). I also have two other songs, "Fidayda" and "Kara Toprak" from his "Atlas" album.

Overall, I really enjoy Tolgahan Cogulu, Sinan Ayyildiz, and all of the other people he plays with's work.


Muhlis Berberoglu

I found his YouTube channel shortly after, and I have to say that he is an amazing Baglama player! Though, I noticed that he does not do the selpe (I hope I am using the right word) technique often, if at all. Either way, most of what I heard from him is on YouTube; on iTunes, he appears to not have as much, though he does have a bit. Of the three songs I have on my iPod from him, I think my favorite is "Gide Gide Bir Sogude Dayandim", though on YouTube, I really enjoy his version of "Alli Turnam".


Neset Ertas

From what I gather, he was a famous Baglama player in Turkey. I only have one album, "Yolcu", which I enjoy.


Umut Sulunoglu (and Ugur Onur)

I found these guys watching "Zamane" on TRT Muzik, and I somehow found an album on iTunes from them, which I bought, called "Usta Mali". This has become one of my favorites so far, especially "Igdenin Dallari". I recommend finding some recordings of Zamane on YouTube to listen to them.


Ali Kirca - Habersiz Turkuler

Unlike everything else I talked about so far, I actually have the CD of this album, instead of some digital soydevery. I found this CD used not too long ago (Summer 2024 for you future readers). I have to admit, it's not one of my absolute favorites, but I do enjoy it enough to have listened to it several times. Though, I am not sure if, historically, the Asiks had synthesizers to use alongside their Baglamas.


Mehmet Erenler

I unfortunately don't have any of his albums, but he has a YouTube channel, and there are old clips of him playing on TRT Muzik. Just go listen to "Guvercin Ucuverdi" (aka "Misket" ?) and "Hudayda"/"Fidayda"; you'll see he is an amazing Baglama player as well.


Artists who I have not listened much of yet