The ney is one of the most significant and ancient instruments used in both religious and non-religious genres of Turkish music. Its teaching has traditionally been carried out through the meşk method. During these meşk sessions, ornaments such as acciaccatura, glissando, vibrato, and trill, performed by the student, play a critical role in ensuring that the memorization passed down from the teacher is retained. Listening to ney performances devoid of balanced and appropriately applied ornaments is inconceivable. However, qualitative studies focusing on the performance techniques and ornaments of the ney are scarce. It is crucial to integrate these studies into “performance methods” to ensure the conscious transmission of this knowledge to future generations. This study examines the ornaments in the recordings of Yavuz Akalın and Murat Salim Tokaç’s instrumental works. The types, functions, and execution points of glissando and acciaccatura were identified. The artists' video recordings created in studio environments provided a valuable visual resource for analyzing both glissando and acciaccatura. Additionally, audio recordings were analyzed using the Cubase Pro 10 software. The variaudio feature of the program allowed for precise determination of the beats associated with acciaccaturas. Based on this analysis, glissando types were categorized, and the forms of acciacatura used by the performers were modeled. The functions of glissandi and acciaccaturas were interpreted by correlating the positions of the ornaments with the melodic intervals in the pieces. A descriptive method was employed in this study. Based on the evaluation of selected performances, it was determined that glissando on the ney, as noted in the literature, is used in two forms: ascending and descending. To differentiate ascending glissando from the sliding technique, it was termed “sweeping” while descending glissando was termed “sliding.” It was identified that glissandi occur in two main categories and a total of seven different types. Acciaccaturas were used between notes separated by 2nd, 3rd, and 4th intervals in descending movements, and between notes separated by 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th intervals in ascending movements. Additionally, variations were identified where acciaccaturas were tied to notes following a rest, used like short appoggiatura, between unison notes, and to conclude the notes at the end of motifs.

Turkish Music, Ney performance, Glissando, Acciaccatura, Appoggiatura