Ney Reed Flute Classes - March 4 - April 8

Turkish Cultural Center Ebru Classes are held regularly at TCC Queens every Sunday at 6:00pm and course fee is $250  for 6 classes. Classes are given by Ney Player Selcuk Akdas and Ney/Reed Flutes are provided by TCC Queens.($15)

The Turkish ney reed flute, together with the Turkish tanbur lute and Turkish kemençe fiddle are considered the most typical instruments of

Classical Turkish music.  The ney also plays a primary role in the music of the Mevlevi Sufi rites (semâ).

A rim-blown, oblique flute made of reed, the Turkish ney has six finger-holes in front and a thumb-hole in back. Using cross-fingering, finger-hole shading, and embouchure adjustment, the journeyman player can produce any pitch over a two-and-a-half octave range or more. Nearly all Turkish neys have a mouthpiece made of water buffalo horn, or sometimes ivory, ebony, plastic, or similar durable material.

One refers to a Turkish ney player using the verb üflemek (blow) although for all other instrumentalists one uses the verb çalmak (play). One might speculate that the ney's close identification with the Mevlevi Sufis might be the origin of this usage.