Reading Turkish Makam Notation: A Practical Guide

This guide covers the practical skill of reading Turkish makam scores. For the history of how these notation systems developed, see the companion article on notation systems. Here, the focus is entirely on what you will encounter when you open a Turkish score and how to interpret it.

The staff

Established Turkish makam notation uses the same five-line staff and treble clef found in Western music. Note heads, stems, beams, ties, and rests all follow standard Western conventions. If you can read Western notation at a basic level, the staff itself will be familiar.

Practice The critical difference is in the accidentals. When you see a sharp sign in a Turkish score, it does not mean the same thing as a sharp sign in a Beethoven sonata. Turkish accidentals are measured in Holdrian commas (the 53 equal divisions of the octave used in Turkish theory), not in semitones. This single fact is the key to reading Turkish notation correctly.

The AEU accidentals

Established The Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek (AEU) system uses ten accidentals arranged in five pairs (sharp and flat). Four of these repurpose familiar Western symbols with different meanings; six are symbols unique to the AEU system.

The five accidental pairs

The most important thing to internalize: the Western sharp sign means 4 commas (bakiye), and the Western flat sign means 5 commas (kucuk mucennep). Neither equals a semitone. A bakiye at ~91 cents is narrower than a Western semitone (100 cents), and a kucuk mucennep at ~113 cents is wider.

Reading accidentals in practice

Practice When you encounter an accidental in a Turkish score:

1. Identify which of the five pairs it belongs to. The koma symbols are the smallest inflection (1 comma); the tanini symbols (double sharp or double flat) are the largest (a full 9-comma whole tone).

2. Remember that accidentals carry through the measure, just as in Western notation. An accidental applies to all subsequent notes on the same line or space until the next barline or a canceling natural sign.

3. Context matters more than the grid. As Signell documents, practiced Turkish intonation does not always match the AEU comma values exactly. Performers treat the notation as an approximation, adjusting pitch by ear based on the makam's seyir and the melodic context.

Don't confuse Turkish and Arabic symbols

Established Arabic maqam notation also uses half-sharp and half-flat symbols, but with a different meaning. In Arabic notation, the half-sharp raises a pitch by roughly a quarter tone (~50 cents). In Turkish notation, the koma raises a pitch by only 1 Holdrian comma (~23 cents) — less than half of what the visually similar Arabic symbol represents. If you read both traditions, always check which system a score uses.

Key signatures

Practice Modern Turkish scores place a makam-specific key signature at the beginning of the staff, showing which accidentals apply throughout the piece. Unlike Western key signatures, which use only sharps or only flats, Turkish key signatures routinely mix sharp-type and flat-type AEU accidentals. A score in Huseyni makam, for example, will show a different combination of accidentals from one in Rast or Hicaz.

Practice The makam name and usul are typically printed above the first staff, often in the format "Makam: Huseyni, Usul: Aksak" or simply as a title. This heading tells you immediately which pitch hierarchy and melodic path to expect.

Usul markings

Established Usul (rhythmic cycle) is notated using standard rhythmic notation within the time signature. Common usul patterns range from the 4-beat Sofyan to cycles of 28 beats (Devr-i kebir) or longer. The time signature tells you the cycle length, and the makam/usul designation at the top of the score tells you which rhythmic pattern applies.

Practice In pedagogical materials and percussion parts, usul patterns are often written out using vocable syllables: dum for strong, low strokes and tek (or te-ek, teke) for lighter, higher strokes. In most instrumental scores, the usul is implied rather than spelled out — you are expected to know the rhythmic framework from the designation.

Score layout and conventions

Practice Turkish art music scores follow conventions that differ from Western orchestral parts:

• Fasil ordering. A classical suite (fasil) follows a set sequence: pesrev, kar or beste, agir semai, yuruk semai, sarki, saz semaisi. Scores within a fasil collection are typically arranged in this order.

• Taksim. Improvised taksim sections are either omitted from the score entirely (since they are not composed) or indicated by a brief header. A taksim is not sight-read — it is improvised within the makam.

• Aranagme. Instrumental interludes connecting vocal pieces within a fasil are written out and labeled.

• Composer attribution. Scores list the composer using Ottoman/Turkish naming conventions, often with birth and death dates.

Interval abbreviations in theory texts

Attested Turkish theory texts frequently use single-letter abbreviations for interval sizes. You will encounter these in analytical annotations, scale diagrams, and pedagogical materials:

These abbreviations describe the intervals between successive scale degrees, not the accidentals applied to individual notes.

Where to find scores

Practice Several resources provide access to Turkish makam scores:

• Mus2 (mus2.com.tr) — A notation software designed specifically for Turkish music, with an archive of over two thousand freely available pieces. Supports AEU accidentals natively and exports MusicXML.

• TRT Repertoire — The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation maintains a large curated collection of Turkish art and folk music scores, used as a reference standard by conservatories.

• LilyPond — The open-source notation software includes full Turkish makam support via its turkish-makam.ly include file, with predefined key signatures for over two hundred makams.

• Published collections — Printed anthologies from Turkish conservatories and publishers remain an important source, particularly for historical repertoire.

Practical tips for sight-reading

Practice If you are coming from a Western notation background, the following adjustments will help:

1. Retrain your sharp and flat reflexes. The hardest habit to break is interpreting a sharp sign as "up one semitone." In Turkish notation, a sharp means 4 commas (~91 cents) — noticeably narrower. Practice by playing through simple makam scales slowly, checking each accidental against its comma value.

2. Learn the key signatures of the makams you play. Rather than memorizing all possible key signatures, start with the makams in your current repertoire. Know which perdeler carry accidentals and what those accidentals are.

3. Listen before you read. Find a recording of any piece before attempting to sight-read it. Turkish notation is a guide, not a complete prescription — hearing the seyir, the ornaments, and the intonation choices that notation cannot capture is essential context.

4. Mark the seyir landmarks. Identify the karar (tonic), guclu (dominant), and yeden (leading tone) in your score. These structural pitches orient you within the makam and help you anticipate the melodic direction.

5. Start with composed forms, not taksim. Sarki (songs) and saz semaisi (instrumental compositions) have fixed notation. Practice reading these before attempting to follow a transcribed taksim, which is inherently an approximation of an improvisation.

6. Use software to check your reading. Enter passages in Mus2 or LilyPond and listen to the microtonal playback. This is especially useful for verifying that you are interpreting the AEU accidentals correctly while your ear adjusts.