DOĞAÇLAMALARDA TEKRAR EDEN TARTIM KALIPLARI: TANBURİ CEMİL BEY'İN ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

This study aims to identify recurring rhythmic patterns in Tanburi Cemil Bey’s tanbur improvisations and to examine what kinds of data these patterns may provide regarding improvisational music production, personal style, and performance practice. The scope of the study consists of five tanbur improvisations by Tanburi Cemil Bey in the makams Gülizar, Hicaz, Müstear, Neva, and Şedaraban. The selected improvisations were transcribed and then reduced to purely rhythmic notation. Recurring rhythmic patterns were identified through a method combining visual detection and aural verification. The identified patterns were classified into six main groups according to their similarities, and their frequency of use in each improvisation was evaluated. The analysis showed that the identified rhythmic patterns were used a total of 876 times across the five improvisations. The recurrence of these patterns in different makams and pitch arrangements indicates that these structures are not dependent solely on makam progression or pitch organization, but are also related to Tanburi Cemil Bey’s improvisational system and personal style. It was also observed that some patterns are associated with functions such as initiating phrases, sustaining musical flow, and preparing cadential points. In this respect, the study demonstrates that improvisational performances in traditional Turkish music can be examined at rhythmic and patternbased levels, and that rhythmic patterns may provide significant data for style analysis.