Neighborhood of musicians

If you are invited to a village wedding somewhere around Izmir or Bergama, and the ceremony is about to start, there is a slight chance that you still have to wait. So you wait, until the most important person arrives. It’s not the bride. Not the groom. Not even one of the happy parents. It’s the clarinet player. The entertainer, who can play his instrument for 6, 7 or even more hours non-stop. These musicians are so well respected, that it can occur that they wake up in the early morning to the noise of the visitors outside, waiting for them to say yes to go for their wedding. These clarinet players are famous abroad too, playing regularly in international festivals, or collaborating with world famous musicians. Interestingly, a lot of them come from a neighborhood in Bergama, called Atmaca.

No wonder, every kid in Atmaca a wants to be a musician. And a majority of them do become musicians. Just take a walk in the neighborhood and you can stumble upon kids playing in the streets. They are fond of everything from jazz to rock, from Turkish to Latin music. Since playing instruments is a real family tradition, from the time they are born, then grow up, they are forming bonds with the culture of music. Teaching starts at a very young age, around 4-5 years. Parents start with the most important thing: rhythm. If the children feel and learn it they build a very good base and they can go to the next level. So they play on drums, side drums or on oil bins if there is nothing else around. When they are a little bit older, they start to learn how to play the trumpet and the clarinet. The chosen method is the easiest and fastest - “ear education”, since children’s ability to learn by listening is higher.

However the masters feel that getting a proper education would be more beneficial for the kids. From a week long ‘Clarinet Camp’, which is held in Bergama every summer, to certificate programmes in the Lifelong Education Centre, or studying at the conservatory there are different options to guide and help these young geniuses to aim higher.

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parents start with the most important thing: rhythm

Master İsmail is making the parchment (Photo by Hayati Durmuş).