Inclusion of Minstrel Tradition in Traditional Turkish Folk Music Lessons Given in Vocational Music Education Institutions

In this research, the aim is to examine the inclusion of the minstrel tradition in the traditional Turkish folk music lessons given in vocational music education institutions in accordance with the views of the faculty members. This study is of qualitative type and is a case study. The data of this study, which was conducted in accordance with the Interpretive Social Science (ISS) approach, was obtained by applying semi-structured interview technique with the lecturers who took Turkish folk music lessons in institutions (Conservatories, Fine Arts Faculties and Education Faculty Music Education Departments) where vocational music education is given. In the interpretation of the data, descriptive analysis technique was used. The participants of the research consist of 10 faculty members who are teaching at vocational music education institutions in the 2019-2020 academic fall semester. As a data collection tool, a semi-structured interview form consisting of nine open-ended questions prepared by the researchers was used. According to the data obtained in the research, all of the faculty members included the tradition of minstrelsy in their lessons. While it was understood that the majority of the faculty members included the tradition of minstrelsy in their courses, and that a small number of the faculty members included the topic less due to the fact that Turkish folk music theoretically takes up too much space and other circumstances; it has been stated that whether the tradition of minstrelsy is adequately included in the lessons depends largely on the approach of the lecturer who teaches the lesson. In addition, it is seen that the faculty members stated that this tradition/culture should be included more in Turkish folk music education, and if any of the courses such as Turkish Folk Music Theory, Repertory, Solfeggio-Theory, Turkish Folk Instruments Performance Classes are being taught, it would not be without mentioning the tradition of minstrelsy.

Cite this article: Önalan, U., Şen, Ü.S. (2022). Inclusion of minstrel tradition in traditional Turkish folk music lessons given in vocational music education institutions. Current Perspectives in Social Sciences, 26(1), 31-46.