Mehmet Polat

Mehmet Polat was born in Sanliurfa city in Turkey in 1981. He started to study Turkish folk, Alevi music and traditional Urfa music with the Turkish instrument baglama when he was 5 years old, and he continued that music practise untill the age of 18.Later he moved to the largest city in Turkey: Istanbul, and studied the ud there. He had received the first ud practical education in a traditional way, mostly from ud players accompanying amateur choirs. A few months later, he changed his way of playing to Sharif Muhittin Haydar Targan's method and adopted his style. After he finished studying Targan's method, Mehmet started researching advanced techniques on the ud.After a long process of research and practise, he developed his first version of a new left hand technique on the ud, that was influenced by violin and cello techniques. Besides of the benefits of the high technical possibilities, he was able to try different styles on the ud. Actually his musical style is still being improved by his ever ongoing research. It's possible to hear some influences of Turkish folk, Arabic, Azerbaijan, Persian, Flamanco, Indian in his solo ud playing.Because Targan was known as the "Paganini of the Ud" Mehmet Polat tried out some of Niccolo Paganini's caprices and transcribed them to the Ud, without making any transpositions. He played the 5th and 17th caprices which is the first time Paganini's Caprices are played on the Ud.He is interested in Indian music, he is applying the 'gamak's (an Indian style of playing by sliding with the finger/nail on the strings) on the ud, influenced by the style of playing the Indian string instrument Sarod. Now he is studying Master of Indian music in the Conservatory of Rotterdam(CODARTS). His artistic research subject is “A combination of three Indian Ragas and Turkish makams”