Classical Turkish music (, "Turkish art music"; or Klasik Türk müzigi, "Classical Turkish music") developed in Istanbul and other major Ottoman cities and towns through the palaces, mosques, and Sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with a small instrumental ensemble. In recent times, instruments might include tambur (lute), ney (flute), kemençe (fiddle), keman (Western violin), kanun (zither), or other instruments. Sometimes described as monophonic music, the variety of ornamentation and variation in the ensemble requires the more accurate term heterophonic.