The Melodic and Rhythmic Characteristics of Zeybek Music in Milas, Turkey Ali Fuat AYDIN 1337. Sokak No:16 K:8 Çankaya-İZMİR-TURKEY +90 532 522 56 83 alifuataydin@gmail.com The Zeybeks are a group of people with an interesting and mysterious identity, such that academics have offered many different opinions concerning their origins, the etymology of their name, and the bases of their culture. We know that the Zeybeks appeared in history in western Anatolia at a time when the Ottoman Empire was beginning to falter in administrative, political, economic and social terms in the 16th century, and they became more noticeable in the 18th and 19th centuries as the fabric of the Ottoman Empire crumbled yet further. The Zeybeks had a considerable effect on the society of west Anatolia especially in the 19th century by which time specialised music, dance and costumes were associated with them. After the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the Zeybeks as a warrior clan became obsolete, but aspects of zeybek culture still prevail and the songs and dances are performed all the time throughout the Aegean region, often in full costume. Zeybek melodies, which come from the western part of Turkey, are significant elements in the Turkish folk music repertoire of that region. These melodies are mainly played on a combination of davul (drum) and kaba zurna (shawm) instruments, especially by musicians in Germencik and Milas areas in that region. In an urban environment, performers of zeybek music recreate an idealisation of a regional repertoire which was, and still may be, transmitted orally from master to student or from father to son. But today the medium for transmission can vary. In this paper, the melodic characteristics of zeybek music in Milas, a city in the western part of Turkey; i.e. tonal systems, pitch deviations and also the rhythmic characteristics will be