Photo: Oscar · CC BY-SA 2.5 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Erkan Oğur
Person · male · Turkey · Ankara · born 1954 · recording since 1982
Turkish musician (born 1954)
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Also known as Erkan Ogur · Эркан Огур
Timeline
13 events▣ Album 11◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1950s
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: Müzikte Anadolu Mistisizmi
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography432 words · 2 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1370407106
Biography
Erkan Oğur (pronounced [æɾˈkan oˈuɾ]) (born 17 April 1954) is a Turkish musician. As pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976. As composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk music and classical music with the ancient traditional music. He has played many concerts all over the world. He is regarded as a master of the kopuz and bağlama lutes.
Biography
Erkan Oğur was born on 17 April 1954, in Ankara, Turkey. He spent his childhood in Elazığ, eastern Turkey, where he became interested in violin and the Turkish bağlama lute, and started to practice them frequently. He graduated from high school in Elazığ, then moved to study physics at the Ankara University Faculty of Science from 1970 to 1973. As a result of encouragement to be a scientist by his father, he started to study physics engineering and in 1974 continued his education at LMU Munich in Germany, for three years. Oğur was introduced to guitar education in 1973. Instead of being a scientist, he chose to be a musician. Since he needed detailed sounds from a guitar in order to obtain Turkish melodies, he modified his guitar and invented the fretless classical guitar in 1976.
In 1980, he returned to Turkey, and started to study at the State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University. After his military service, he worked as an oud lute teacher. He had live performances with Fikret Kızılok and Bülent Ortaçgil where he contributed to scene with fretless guitar. He released his first album in Germany called Arayışlar ("Searches"). In 1989, he went to the U.S. to work with numerous local blues artists, foremost of which was Robert 'One Man' Johnson. He introduced fretless guitar into blues. A year later, he released his first album in Turkey, Bir Ömürlük Misafir
Bir Ömürlük MisafirSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Mor Dağlar5:292Ağırlama7:063Hey Onbeşli Onbeşli3:414Giz3:465Mamoş7:306Homecomings4:517Bir Ömürlük Misafir4:378Gayda2:289İki Keklik4:4310Çayın Öte Yüzünde3:5011Neden Geldim İstanbul'a7:2312Sis6:1913Davullar Çalar11:56 ("A Lifetime Guest"), which was ranked 4th in European lists. He still performs concerts through the world and in Turkey. Oğur works with Kemal Eroglu on technical improvements on bağlama lute; and continues his performances with Fahir Atakoglu and Bülent Ortaçgil. In 2004, he played on Yansımalar's album Pervane ("Moth"). He is a member of the Telvin trio, which mainly performs Turkish folk music in improvised jazz style, with İlkin Deniz and Turgut Alp Bekoglu, and has released an album called Telvin in 2006.
His soundtrack for the 2004 movie Yazı TuraYazı TuraSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Hada1:562E Minor Prelude2:093Gnossiennes No.33:394Tekbir1:525Aşk (Matthias Passion)5:126Zülfü Kaküllerin Amber Misali3:527Görünmeyen1:578Dersim Dört Dağ İçinde7:149Ağırlama1:2010Garipler4:03 by Uğur Yücel won two awards: the 2004 Golden Orange for Best Music at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, and the 2005 award for Best Music at the Ankara International Film Festival.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 16 | 85.4th |
| Studio albums | 11 | 91.9th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 38 | 78th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (16 release groups · 11 studio albums)
Albums · 11
1993 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 1:02:19
1Mor Dağlar (Purple Mountains)5:302Ağırlama7:073Hey Onbeşli Onbeşli3:424Giz (Mystery)3:465İki Keklik (Two Partridges)5:086Çayın Öte Yüzünde3:517Bayati5:138Hey Onbeşli Onbeşli II3:029Neden Geldim İstanbul'a7:2410Homecomings5:4111Made in Earth11:551996 · studio album
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Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:13:39
1Mor Dağlar5:292Ağırlama7:063Hey Onbeşli Onbeşli3:414Giz3:465Mamoş7:306Homecomings4:517Bir Ömürlük Misafir4:378Gayda2:289İki Keklik4:4310Çayın Öte Yüzünde3:5011Neden Geldim İstanbul'a7:2312Sis6:1913Davullar Çalar11:561997 · studio album
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Tracklist · 18 tracks · 48:17
1Onların Hikayesi1:562Mektup4:173Yapayalnız2:274Violin1:555Sound Of Silence1:186Partizan1:507Tango1:458Mektup, Pt. 33:499Romen Şarkısı1:5410Hüseyni2:4311Kızın Mektubu4:4012Oğul'a Mektup3:4913Babaya Mektup2:5614Sessizlik2:4615Mektup, Pt. 23:4716Nilüfer2:0817Gazel3:0418Rus Kızları1:131998 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 1:03:35
1Pencereden Kar Geliyor5:342Ey Zahit Şaraba Eyle İhtiram6:013Zeynep5:464Dağlar4:385Divane Aşık Gibi5:456Kerpiç Kerpiç Üstüne5:277Mecnunum Leylamı Gördüm6:058Bugün Ben Bir Güzel Gördüm4:589Kaleden İnişm'olur6:5110Derdim Çoktur Hangisine Yanayım8:2911Ben Seni Sevduğumi Dünyalara Bildurdum4:011999 · studio album
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Tracklist · 11 tracks · 49:31
1Tutam Yar Elinden6:212Zahid Bizi Tan Eyleme4:253Güzel Aşık Cevrimizi5:484Yağcılar Zeybeği2:365Dedim Kız Yaşın Nedir3:456Dede ile Balta2:227Bulut5:018Pinar Başından Bulanır4:539Zümre-i Nacileriz2:5110Söğüt'ün Erenleri5:0511Yüzün Gördüm Dedim6:242000 · studio album
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Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:06:43
1Seher Yeli6:242Yarim Senden Ayrılalı5:073Bülbülüm Altın Kafeste5:414Bir Sandığım Vardır6:385Oy Benum Sevduceğum5:266Zamanede Bir Hâl5:387Can Ellerinden Gelmişem2:418Karşıda Görünen Ne Güzel Yayla7:109Zahit Bizi Tan Eyleme5:4410Barış Güvercini6:1511Bir Şûh-i Sitemkâr5:1312Eşşeği Saldım Çayıra4:462006 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 49:18
1Double Trouble8:062Saba Nefes15:163Acemaşirân Son Yürük Semâi8:404Tünel2:595Tesadüfi3:476Why Birds Always Sing8:537Götürdüler1:372012 · studio album
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Tracklist · 19 tracks · 1:16:35
1Balıkağı2:262Bir Sevda5:443Kınalı Ada2:434Cemalin Nurun1:465Aşk Dansı4:056Dersim Dört Dağ İçinde7:217Hayal1:458Dur Dağı6:269Eksiklik Kendi Özümde5:0910Gnossienne No.14:3911Haydar1:5712Vardım Baktım Demir Kapı Sürgülü5:4213Kadim3:3414Peri Suyu2:1515Mardin Dağlarında4:5716Nevruziye2:3317Pencere Önü Çiçeği5:3118Nilüfer2:5419Yemen5:082014 · studio album
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Tracklist · 7 tracks · 45:07
1Elif'e Ninni5:152Gül Mevsimi5:453Dilek6:594İndim Yarin Bahçesine6:365Dokunmak6:156Bir Sevda7:467Naci Derler6:312017 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 1:14:14
1Yüce Dağ Başında4:302Havada da Kar Sesi Var5:353Eski Tüfek5:595Eğer Aşkı Seversen3:006Ağlama Yar (Mai Yazma)5:517Sunalar4:048Mihrican mı Değdi?5:479İşidin Ey Ulular4:3710Gökte Uçan Huma Kuşu5:0211Ben Meylimi Üç Güzele Düşürdüm5:4312Kar Yağar Karamişa3:0913Derdim Bitmez4:2714Dağ Üstüne Dağı Koysam5:5615Sen Benden Gittin Gideli3:473Ahçik6:472020 · studio album
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Tracklist · 6 tracks · 44:23
1Ayrılık Hasreti5:482Bülbülüm Altın Kafesde9:423Kirpiğin Kaşına Değdiği Zaman7:274İnsanlığa Ağıt9:015İz9:216Beş Taş3:04
Album · 5
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Müzikte Anadolu MistisizmiSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 5 tracks1Anadoluya Giriş (Pencere Önü İlk) 2Bozkır ve Geçmiş ve Gölgeler 3Mevlana ve Şems 4Pir Sultan Karşılama 5Şeyh Bedrettin ve Yunus | Live | 1982 | |
| 1982 | İstanbul'da Bir Amerikalı: Blues ve EmprovizasyonlarSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks1Papel del Plata 2What Can You Do 3Cutting for You 4Nothing Comes for Free 5You and Me (Sen ve Ben) 6Thats All Right Mama 7Anadol Cars 8Paradise in Her Eyes 9Ancient Agean 10Bodrum Bodrum | Live | 1982 | |
| 1983 | Perdesiz Gitarda ArayışlarSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 5 tracks1Makamlarda Gezintiler 2Renkler Yer Zaman Değiştirme 3Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 4Goodbye Pork Pie Hot Blues 5İki Keklik | Live | 1983 | |
| 1997 | EşkıyaSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 12 tracks · 40:251Fırat Ağıtı6:15 2Herşeye Yabancı Olmak1:02 3Urfa'dan Gazel / Urfa Türküsü / İhbarcı6:55 4Tünel0:56 5Baran Yıldızı1:41 6Karanlığın İçinden2:48 7Haliç2:36 8Seyreyle Güzel4:08 9Fırat Ağıtı (Aşk)4:01 10Cumali'nin Ölümü2:53 11Katil Olmak2:05 12Fırat (final)5:05 | Soundtrack | 1997 | |
| 2004 | Yazı TuraSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 10 tracks · 33:141Hada1:56 2E Minor Prelude2:09 3Gnossiennes No.33:39 4Tekbir1:52 5Aşk (Matthias Passion)5:12 6Zülfü Kaküllerin Amber Misali3:52 7Görünmeyen1:57 8Dersim Dört Dağ İçinde7:14 9Ağırlama1:20 10Garipler4:03 | Soundtrack | 25 September 2004 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Erkan Oğur head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 9 | 54.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 16 | 85.4th |
| Studio albums | 11 | 91.9th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 13 | 89.7th |
| Recording span (years) | 38 | 78th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telvin(band) | — | present |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.5 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Erkan_Ogur_rotterdam2007.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b14684dd-a46e-4341-b950-4cd052532f81discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b14684dd-a46e-4341-b950-4cd052532f81core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3056675seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erkan_O%C4%9Furbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erkan_O%C4%9Fur
Why this artist is in the database
- List of folk musicians
- List of Turkish musicians
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Oscar · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q3056675 · MusicBrainz: b14684dd-a46e-4341-b950-4cd052532f81
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