Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç

Turkish Sufi master, shaman, musician, composer, music therapist, ethnomusicologist & poet

May all those who enter listen deeply

Life

Dr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç (1948–2017) was a Turkish Sufi master, shaman, musician, composer, ethnomusicologist, music therapist and poet. His prolific life’s work helped renew modern interest in the therapeutic, spiritual and historical dimensions of Turkish-Ottoman makam traditions and related Central Asian musical cultures. He is best known internationally through his founding of the organization TÜMATA --- Turkish Music Research and Promotion Group.

Born in Tavşanlı (Kütahya), Oruç Baba (as he is affectionately known to his students) began his musical path in adolescence—famously recounting a formative dream that led to early violin study—before expanding into multiple instruments including oud (ud), rebab, ney, and tanbur.He studied philosophy at Istanbul University, and later pursued doctoral work in clinical psychology at Cerrahpaşa, focusing on music as a mode of healing and the historical tradition of “music therapy” in the Islamic world.Güvenç went on to establish the Center for Research and Application of Turkish Music at Cerrahpaşa, and held academic posts including teaching and departmental leadership connected to music ethnology and music therapy in Istanbul.

In the mid-1970s, he founded TÜMATA (Türk Musikisini Araştırma ve Tanıtma Grubu / Turkish Music Research & Promotion Group), an organization dedicated to researching repertory, recovering and reproducing historical instruments, documenting performance culture (including costume and decorative traditions), and exploring therapeutic and pedagogical applications of music and movement.Through TÜMATA and related training initiatives, he led seminars and courses across Turkey and Europe, and is associated with the creation and stewardship of substantial collections of traditional instruments.His international teaching included workshops, congresses, and institutional collaborations, and he received recognition such as an honorary professorship from the University of Fergana and an award from Argentina’s Academia de las Naciones.

Güvenç’s work also moved within the context of Tasavvuf (Islamic Sufism). Some sources describe him as holding teaching authorizations across multiple Sufi paths and bringing traditional practices—such as forms of dhikr and sema—into educational contexts, particularly in Europe during the late 20th century.He is also noted by his students for lineage-holding in the Central Asian shamanic tradition, a rare honor that came to him through direct contact with a baksı (Central Asian shaman) who recognized his gifts.He passed away in Istanbul on 5 July 2017.

Work

Overview of Turkish Music TherapyDr. Rahmi Oruç Güvenç is widely credited with reviving and shaping the contemporary transmission of Turkish Music Therapy, a traditional discipline rooted in the classical music systems of Anatolia and the wider Islamic world.In these traditions, music, movement and listening were historically understood as modes of healing, regulation, and education of the human being. They were applied within medical, spiritual and pedagogical settings such as hospitals (darüşşifa), Sufi lodges (tekke) and courtly institutions.The foundations of Turkish Music Therapy, as transmitted by Güvenç, lie in the makam system—a modal framework in which melody, rhythm, and progression are understood to carry distinct qualitative and affective properties. Medieval medical and philosophical sources describe the use of specific makams in relation to temperament, time of day, emotional state, and physiological balance, emphasizing listening as a primary mode of engagement rather than performance alone.- - -Makam, Rhythm, and Human DispositionCentral to Turkish Music Therapy is the understanding that sound interacts directly with the human nervous system and psyche. Each makam is characterized not only by its scale, but by its melodic behavior, emotional color, and relational movement. These qualities were traditionally observed in relation to:emotional and psychological states,
circadian rhythms and seasonal cycles,
bodily constitution and temperament, and
states of agitation, grief, lethargy, or imbalance.Rhythm (usûl) and, in some applications, measured movement or simple walking patterns accompany melodic work, reinforcing regulation and embodied awareness.Listening, rather than performance, has historically been considered primary. The listener is not a passive recipient, but an active participant in a process of attunement.- - -Continuity and Modern RevivalWhile many of these practices diminished or fragmented with the modernization of medicine and music education, the 20th century saw renewed scholarly and practical interest in recovering historical sources, instruments, and methods related to therapeutic sound.Contemporary Turkish Music Therapy as taught today draws on:historical medical texts and music treatises
living makam performance traditions
ethnomusicological research
clinical observation and applied practiceIt is not a standardized or protocol-based therapy in the modern biomedical sense, but a relational, listening-centered discipline that emphasizes presence, continuity, and careful transmission.- - -Orientation and Ethics of PracticeTurkish Music Therapy is not designed for mass application or quick intervention. Traditionally, it requires:extended listening and apprenticeship,
sensitivity to cultural and spiritual context,
restraint in claims of efficacy, and
respect for lineage and limits.Its orientation is toward supporting balance, cultivating attention, and restoring relationship—between sound and body, inner and outer rhythm, individual and tradition.