The objective is to examine the historical development of Turkish music within the framework of sources, theory, repertoire, performance traditions, and institutions; to enable students to evaluate musical life across different eras in its social, religious, and cultural contexts; and to develop their skills in conducting source-based research in music history by critically questioning the periodizations, origin narratives, and claims of continuity employed in historical writing.

The scope, fundamental concepts, sources, and methodological issues in the history of Turkish music are examined, alongside evidence of musical life among early Turkic communities, cultural interactions during the process of Islamization, and musical thought and theory in the medieval Islamic world. The study covers musical circles, institutions, and repertoires during the Seljuk, Beylik, and Ottoman periods, including traditions associated with the court, the mosque, the *tekke* (dervish lodge), the military, and urban life. Through an analysis of *edvar* (treatises on music theory), collections of lyrics and musical notation, biographical works, archival documents, and sound recordings, the processes of *meşk* (traditional oral transmission/instruction), composition, patronage, notation, publishing, and musical transmission are explored. Furthermore, the institutional transformations and music policies of the late Ottoman and Republican eras, the impact of recording and broadcasting technologies, and the primary approaches to the historiography of Turkish music are evaluated.