logotype
logotype

Receptive Music Therapy

Receptive Music Therapy

Positions and Their Effects
RECEPTIVE MUSIC THERAPY

Music and dance, which hold an important place in Turkish history and culture, as well as the therapeutic practices associated with them—including the pentatonic musical form, the Baksı-Kam healing tradition, and the mature and established system of maqam music—have been revitalized in modern medicine. Regarding makam music, which developed and spread in Central Asia, Khorasan, and the Uyghur regions more than a thousand years ago, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Abu Bakr Razi, Hasan Shuri, Chief Physician Gevrekzade Hafiz Hasan Efendi, and Hashim Bey wrote works on modal music, which developed and spread in Central Asia, Khorasan, and the Uyghur regions more than a thousand years ago, and they classified the relationships between the modes, emotions, and organs. While pentatonic music continued to develop in the Turkish regions, the makam system—based on a seven-note scale where a whole tone consists of nine komas—has made a significant contribution to our culture and arts with its richness of over four hundred makams.

Abu Bakr al-Razi, one of the Muslim Turkish scholars who lived from 834 to 932 C.E., states the following in a work he wrote on the treatment of melancholic individuals:

“… a melancholic patient must definitely be treated with activities. … a melancholic patient should engage in one of the enjoyable activities, such as fishing or hunting. If possible, they should be encouraged to participate in various games; they should meet and spend time with someone whose character, morals, and behavior they admire and love, and they should especially listen to songs sung in a beautiful voice.”

The great Turkish scholar al-Farabi (870–950) classifies the effects of musical modes on the soul as follows:

  • Rast mode: It brings joy and peace to people.
  • Rehavi mode: It instills in people a sense of eternity (the concept of infinity).
  • Küçek mode: It instills sensitivity (emotional awareness) in a person.
  • Büzürk mode: It instills a sense of fear (a feeling of hesitation or caution) in people.
  • Isfahan mode: It gives a person the ability to move and a sense of confidence.
  • Neva mode: It brings pleasure and a sense of refreshment to people.
  • Uşşak mode: Laughing at someone brings on a “dilhek.”
  • Zirgüle mode: It induces sleep (“nevm”) in a person.
  • Saba mode: It instills courage (bravery, strength) in a person.
  • Buselik mode: It gives a person strength.
  • Hüseyni mode: It brings peace (calm, comfort) to people.
  • Hicaz mode: It instills humility in a person.

Ibn Sina (980–1037), one of the great Islamic scholars and philosophers, describes the role of music in medicine as follows:

“…one of the best and most effective methods of treatment is to strengthen the patient’s mental and spiritual resilience, to encourage them to better cope with their illness, to have them listen to the finest music, and to bring them together with the people they love…”

Ibn Sina states that he benefited greatly from al-Farabi’s works and even learned music from him, applying it to the practice of medicine. Since the twelve chapters in his Arabic works *Kitab al-Najat* and *Kitab al-Shifa* are entirely devoted to music, this section was published in French by Baron Rodolph Dearlangar under the title *La musique arabe*.

The work *Tadil-i Emzice* by Şuuri, one of the early Turkish physicians, contains extensive information on music therapy. In *Tadil-i Emzice*, Şuuri states that certain musical modes are effective at specific times of the day. According to him:

  • Rast and Rehavi modes: They are effective at dawn.
  • Hüseyni mode: It is effective in the morning.
  • Iraqi official: It is effective in Kuşluk.
  • Nihavend mode: It is effective at noon.
  • Hicaz mode: It is effective between the two calls to prayer.
  • Buselik mode: It is most effective in the afternoon.
  • Uşşak mode: It is most effective at sunset.
  • Zengüle mode: It is effective after the sunset.
  • Opposing authorities: It is effective after the Isha prayer.
  • Rast mode: It is most effective at midnight.
  • Zirefkend mode: It is effective after midnight.

According to Şuuri, the effects of music on members of parliament also differ from one another.

  • To the Council of Ulema (Scholars): The Offices of Rast and Tevabii
  • To the Council of Emirs: The authorities of Isfahan and its dependencies
  • To the Council of Dervishes: The Hijaz and Tevabii Modes
  • To the Assembly of Sufis: The Rehavi and Tevabii modes are influential.

06.06.2026

History

At the Nureddin Hospital in Damascus, built 900 years ago by the Seljuk Sultan Nureddin Zengi, musical modes were used for therapeutic purposes. In subsequent periods, for 700 years—up until 100 years ago—music therapy was practiced in the hospitals of Amasya, Sivas, Kayseri, Manisa, Bursa, Istanbul (the Fatih Complex), and Edirne. Evliya Çelebi writes the following in his travelogue:

“The late and blessed Bayezid Veli … in his endowment deed, allocated ten male singers and instrumentalists to provide relief to the sick, healing to the afflicted, solace to the souls of the mentally ill, and to dispel sorrow; three of whom are singers, one a ney player, one a violinist, one a musician, one a santur player, and one an oud player; they come three times a week to perform musical sessions for the sick and the mentally ill…”

It is understood that, during the practice of the passive-receptive music therapy tradition—which developed through the maturity of Turkish classical music originating in Khorasan and our Khorasan-Anatolian musical modes—patients were in a relaxed state, either sitting comfortably or lying down. The aim of this form of therapy was to soothe patients by altering their emotional states and to help them regain their self-confidence.

The technique we use today remains faithful to these principles. The patient assumes a resting position, and throughout the session, accompanied by a broad, soothing rhythm and the sound of water, improvisation (rhythmic taksim) is performed using the ney, rebab, çeng, ud, dombra, and rubab, while working within appropriate musical modes. During such performances, positive changes and improvements have been observed in various psychological and physical conditions, ranging from autism and childhood psychological disorders to geriatric conditions. EEG measurements were conducted on this subject by Dr. L. Gutjahr and Prof. V. Mechleid, and this tradition, dating back at least 1,000 years, has been validated in today’s laboratories. After conducting applications on 15 of the most significant modes—out of the more than 400 known—we have produced cassettes and CDs for use in treatment.

At the Meidling Rehabilitation Center in Vienna, patients in a coma are undergoing therapy involving the listening to Turkish musical modes; changes in alpha and theta brain waves have been observed, and it has been noted that many patients have emerged from their comas as a result of these music therapy sessions.

06.06.2026