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Zurna

Frequently asked questions about the open air wind instrument for the folk music and archaic military music of Türkiye (TR).

1. What is Zurna?
2. What is it like?
3. How is it played?
4. The challenges of learning to play zurna
5. How can I learn circular breathing
6. How can I make my own reeds?
7. How do I select a good zurna?
8. How do I renew a reed?
9. How do I maintain a zurna?

1. What is Zurna?

Zurna is a musical instrument of the wind family, with a reed for generating the voice, and a tubular body with fingerholes like in a flute. The body is of a progressively opening type.

It is the same instrument more or less as sunay in china, shenay in India, tzurnay in Iran, zorna in Greece, zurla in Yugoslavia, bombarde in France, zokra in Tunis, Ghaytah or raita in Morocco mizmar in egypt. zamr in Lebanon and Iraq. It is found all along the bamboo belt of the old world as a folk instrument for the open air. It has been used in the military music during middle ages. You can still hear it played by the "Mehter" bands in historic "Yeni Ceri" soldier clothes performing for tourists in Istanbul. The ceremonial brass bands often in military-like uniforms you see all over the world are internationalized versions of the yeni ceri - mehter bands (Janissar-orkester), probably spread thru France, central europe and Germany

2. What is it like?

It looks like a wooden trumpet or "carry as you play" version of an alp-horn except for the fingerholes and the reed.

Bagpipes are related to zurna, except that zurna has no bag. The zurna players use their cheeks instead of the bag.

Clarinet and saxaphone are related to zurna, except that these use flat reeds.

Obo/Hautbois is also related but has a slightly different reed. Obo has two reeds leaned agains each other.

The reed of zurna is a cylindrical bamboo pipe thinner than the little finger, where the stiff and shiny glaze is peeled off, the zurna side is attached to a conical metal body, and the mouth side is flattened to a very narrow ellipse. This design requires considerable air pressure on the reed to get any voice, and gives a high volume.

3. How is it played?

You should play it cheeks blown up, with the reed free in the center of your mouth cavity.

The high pressure needed to get the sound makes it hard to keep lips tight together over longer stretches. The lips need support from a device like a pacifier diaphragm. as the one here to the right.

You can control the exact frequency you get from any key by controlling the air pressure applied.

The finger holes are wide. That gives you the possibility to get any note by opening your finger just as much as needed

This double control of the frequency both by air pressure and by finger aperture makes zurna a highly controllable by the expert but also highly inaccurate for the newbeginner type of instrument. The scale is therefore any scale you can recollect and regenerate.

Transposition is done just like with the flute, not like the clarinet as one might easily think it shoud be.

Tweaking of the reed: make it wet. make sure there are no cracks/leaks along the reed fiber. Make sure it is almost closed at the tip and has a resistance to complete closure.

Tuning: The length of the reed conus must be adjusted. Some degree of tuning may be found there. Adjusting the reed distance to the first hole is usually done by adding/removing wrapping thread at the base of the metal pipe where the reed is attached. The small holes at the bell might have to be closed or opened to change the timbre/last tone.

The holes should be placed to give the scale that YOU need. If the holes are not correctly placed you will still be able to get your scale by using semi open holes and air pressure variations. In the long run you might notice that they do affect your playing comfort.

Specially if a hole is misplaced, getting that note right will be difficult, as it will require sudden changes in air pressure and fine control of finger aperture, several places under a melody that can otherwise be played relatively care-free.

In my case the scale has the pause tone at re(D) and has the aproximate interval structure of the white keys in a piano when the pause tone is placed at re(D).

The in between tones(commas,fractions etc..) must be adjusted by the ear while playing. Zurna can not trust the zurna to give a precise tone each time; you must trust your ears, fingers and breath. It is therefore that one plays a rithmless prelude before a song/session in a given scale just to get the ear ready for that scale.

If you want to train your ear, you may want to hear the tones from a precise instrument. A good approximation (some say the true frequencies) for the tones used in middle eastern music are calculated by dividing an octave in 53 equal intervals (12 i piano/72 in south indian music) whose frequency ratios are given by the following formula
(2**(1/53))**i ( (2**(1/12))**i in piano ) and chosing the following 7 (from low re to high re):
0,9,13,22,31,40,44,53 (0,2,3,5,7,9,10,12 in piano)

Another scale would be a different set of 7 numbers.

This scale is called "hüseynî" or "divan" in turkish. There are some 200 such scales picked from the set of 53, A dozen of them are the usual ones. Hüseynî makami(/divan ayagi) is the most usual and probably accounts for more than half of all turkish folk songs. That is the reason for tuning the turkish zurna to it.

Common fingering: lower thumb and upper little finger are free. The other 8 fingers cover the 8 holes of the zurna. Pause tone (La/A or Re/D) is obtained by opening the lowest two fingers.

Sound effects:
vibrato: by fluctuating pressure in the mouth
ritm: by flashing/tapping the uppermost open hole.
tone shifts: either sliding by gradual opening or closure of the finger, or accompanied by tapping of the hole below or accompanied by flashing of the hole a few fingers above.

These may not apply to zurna types and zurna music that I am not familiar with.

The shape of the instruments internal cavity is like a parabole and therefore optimized to send the voice straigh ahead. You will notice it very well if a zurna player turns your way.

4. The challenges of learning to play zurna

The biggest hinder to learning to play zurna is this need to exert intense air pressure all the time. In order to manage that you MUST learn to breath circularly: you have to breath in thru your nose while you use the walls of your mouth to supply the air flow, with the required pressure, and the vibrato on it. Many people can do that. The hardest part is to let air from the new breath into your mouth cavity without and unwelcome surge or drop in the air pressure there.

It is worth noting that zurna and obo players are those among musicians at most risk for occupational hasard (trouble with saliva secretion) because of the need to exert high pressure over long stretches of time. Circular breathing makes it worse because then the pressure lasts as long as the song, instead of as long as each breath.

The next biggest hinder is availability of reeds. You must learn to make them yourself. Humidity and molds are the keywords there.

Another thing to be aware of is that zurna either gives a lot of voice or nothing at all. That is why it is mostly shephards that play it in Turkey. City folks with neighbours have a handicap.

Because of the loud voice it is invariably played along with a huge double sided drum. If you have an enthousiastic drummer companion then beware of the neighbours during practice.

5. How can I learn circular breathing

You can practice this with a straw and a glass of water. Blow with the straw to the surface of the water. Keep your cheeks blown up in order to store some extra air in the mouth cavity. Breath in thru your nose while you continue playing with this extra air pushed out -not with your lungs this time, because they are busy inhaling- but with your cheeks,chin and tongue. Watch the depth of the depression on the water surface. Try to keep it constant. It is likely to jump up from the depression at the moments the lungs hand over the blowing job to the cheeks (sudden drop of air pressure), and will usually jump even more when the lungs are to get back to work. Use the mouth walls as shock absorbers when you let each fresh breath into your mouth.

6. How can I make my own reeds?

Find reeds that are naturally soft. They grow in rich soil inside the shadowy parts of a protecting bush. Hard reeds require more air pressure.
Peel the thin outer glaze with a very sharp small knife.
Soften the reed with humidity; keeping it gently in your mouth for 5-10 minutes will usually do. You might have to repeat after a while.
Remove the inner membrane by rubbing with a small butt stick.
Cut into 1-2 cm long tubes.
Tie a self tightening knot (clove-hitch) in the middle with pure cotton thread. You can fashion such a knot by making two consecutive loops and moving the loop in front behind the other; the reed pipe is to go thru both loops.

two consecutive loops move the loop in front behind stick thru both loops
Put the mold stick inside the tube with the thick part under the knot. The mold stick is usually a 5 cm stick, thick on one end, thinner on the other.
Tighten the knot a little
Move repetitively the tube to a slightly narrower part of the mold and thighten again
Place it finally on the final mold, wrap with the rest of the cotton thread and let it rest. The final mold has a sharply conical shape ending in a thin cylindrical part.
Finished reeds are taken out of the mold, and are kept in a dry container with the thread wrapped lightly over.

7. How do I select a good zurna?

material: slow growing fruit trees from cold climate mountaneous areas. Plum tree is the standard choice but others may do as well. The part where the metallic pipe with the reed is attached should be of boxwood.
Shape: trumpet style, depends on the zurna type. Some have a thin body that opens up suddenly, some have a thicker body that opens up gradually.
Size: There are many sizes, usually dictated by the custom of the particular tradition. The longer the body, the deeper the basic tone.
Workmanship: Thickness of the walls must be even. The fit of the boxwood part should be perfect; slightly loose when very dry, tightly fitting when humid. The boxwood wings inside should not bend inwards. Cracks in the wood might not be visible when the instrument is dry.
The reed pipe must be brass (rust free).
The length of the reed pipe and how deep it sinks into the instrument must be adapted to the acoustics of the instrument by adding or removing wrapped thread onto the base part of the brass pipe/tube.
The body of the instrument should be well oiled and clean. Some will not clean it in order not to alter the acoustics. Some will insist on making the instrument wet(with water) before playing in order to avoid leaks small cracks. The issue is debatable.

8. How do I renew a reed?

Remove the old reed from the metallic tube.
Soften the new reed with humidity.
Put the metal tube in through the narrow side of the reed until it just barely is past the knot.
Make the cotton thread wet and wrap tightly around the reed, and the short side of the thread over the metal tube. Secure with a knot.
Alternatively you can do the following for a secure wrap without a visible knot :
- Make a loop with the short side of the thread, pick a method from one of the first 3 pictures below.
- Lay the loop over the narrow side of the reed and the wide side of the metal tube
- Make the cotton thread wet and wrap tightly around the metal pipe, the reed, and the short side loop of the thread over both.
- Make the long side go thru the still visible end part of the short sides loop
- Pull gently on the short side end by the reed until the long sides end is pulled well under the wrapping
- At this point there should be a tightly wrapped area with a thread end sticking out from either side. Cut both away so the ends of the thread become hidden.
Make both the thread and the wide part of the reed wet.
Flatten the reed with the fingers so it can present a narrow elliptical hole at the blow side.
Some will also condition it with heat from a cigarette or a lighter or a hot piece of metal.

reeds placed on their respective sockets

9. How do I maintain a zurna?

Just like any other wooden wind instrument.

Do not subject it to extremes of heat, cold, sunshine, dry air and mechanical shock. Keep it saturated with an oil. Sweet almond oil is usual.

If it cracks you may close the cracks with bee wax. Metallic rings on the outside may be used to control or protect against cracks. In southeastern Turkey it is usual to decorate the zurna with silver. That also fortifies it against cracks.

Thanks Satilmis Yayla for the detailed information on this instrument,
Aural Team