Makam defines the melody, usul defines the rhythm. Each usul below has its own beat pattern, family, and audio playback.
The smallest usul — a plain two-stroke pattern that forms the core of several larger usuller.
A flowing three-beat pattern, waltz-like — the usul that lends its name to the saz semaisi form.
A steady, even four-beat usul — very common in religious and Sufi music.
A five-beat, gently limping pattern — close to a Western 5/8 but with its own accent.
A rich eight-beat pattern with two Düm strokes — one of the şarkı form's most-used usuller.
A nine-beat limping pattern with two Düm strokes — close to a Western 9/8 but with its own accent shape.
A lively ten-beat usul — true to its name (meaning roughly 'uproar'), it carries a festive energy.
An usul is a recurring rhythmic cycle in Turkish classical and folk music, built from strong strokes (düm) and lighter ones (tek) with fixed lengths. It frames the melody the way a meter does in Western music, but it also fixes where every accent falls — two usuls of the same length can feel completely different.
In zaman, the unit beat. Each stroke lasts one or more zaman and the strokes add up to the usul's total: Sofyan is 4 zaman, Aksak 9, Curcuna 10. Each usul's page plays the pattern and shows how the strokes divide the cycle.
A time signature says how many beats are in a bar; an usul also says which beats are strong and how long each stroke lasts. Aksak and 9/8 are the same length, but Aksak always places its düm and tek strokes in the same spots, so the cycle has its own fixed shape.
Start with the short ones — Nim Sofyan (2 zaman), Semai (3) and Sofyan (4). Once they sit, Düyek (8) and Aksak (9) open up most of the şarkı and dance repertoire, and Türk Aksağı (5) and Curcuna (10) are the classic odd-length cycles.