The origins can be traced back to at least the 3rd millennium BC. Actual physical examples have been unearthed dated back to 2450BC in the royal cemetery of Ur in Southern Mesopotamia. From the 12th century C.E. onwards the ney became an important classical instrument and today is the only wind instrument found in Arab art music and the principle classical wind instrument throughout the Islamic world (except for India).

The ney is the also the principal instrument of the Sufi and Dervish Sects and is used to induce states of trance or ecstasy. According to Ibn Zaila (d. 1048) "sound produces an influence on the soul in two ways: one on account of its musical structure (ie physical structure) and the other because of its similarity to the soul (spiritual structure). The art of Sama', or "listening" (if translated very very roughly), is quite an interesting facet of Middle Eastern spiritual music, and will explain what this has to do with the ney much better than I can here.

The ney is played with the pads of the fingers and not the finger tips. The technique required to produce sound is difficult to master - some musicians believe it to be the hardest of all wind instruments to learn. The playing position to produce sound from the ney is done in two ways. The first is placing the ney to one side against nearly closed lips which produces lower notes, the second way is to place the instrument between the teeth (interdental) with the upper lip covering the rim, which produces higher notes. The different manners of playing the ney distinguished by country and the style of the instrument. In both techniques circular breathing is used to produce continuous sound.

An accomplished musician can achieve a 3 octave range on one ney just by adjusting his fingering, head, lips and breath control. Otherwise up to 3 neys can be used for a classical concert.

Five or six finger holes are usually placed in two groups and the first 3 fingers of each hand are used in playing. As well some neys have a thumb hold which is inverted to facilitate overblowing of the octave. When all of the holes are covered and the top hole left open this gives the pitch of the particular nay. The pitch of the nay is determined by the musicians/regional needs. Here is a list of some of the different pitches - Nay mahur (C), nay dukah (D), nay baselih (E), nay changah (F), nay nawa (G), nay ajam (B flat), nay kardan (C).

Take the ney and place your left hand middle finger on the front upper middle hole and the left thumb on the thumb hole on the back. Place your right hand middle finger on the front lower middle hole. This is a "key" note for the instrument, and if you have a "Dukka" ney, it will play either D or G, depending on how hard you blow. It is one of the easiest notes to play, so one generally starts with it. Purse your lips slightly, as though you were about to say "who", and place the ney mouthpiece at the right corner of your lips, pressing into the flesh slightly. The ney should not be pointing straight down in front of you, but to the right, at, say a fifteen degree angle (with your feet at zero), and your head tilted somewhat to the right. This varies, though, according to the instrument. The player needs to discover the correct placement to get the best sound. That is the only way to learn.

Now, keeping your lips in the "who" position, blow directly through them. Do not attempt to direct the flow of air to the side or downward with your lips as you might with a flute. I started to get my first sounds by whistling into the ney, which approximates the correct lip position. The airflow is adjusted by moving the ney with relation to the lips, versus moving or altering the formation of the lips to change the airflow.

Below is the fingering position described above:

   O   LIndex
X  X   LThumb, LMiddle
   O   LRing

   O   RIndex
   X   RMiddle
   O   RRing

The ney/nai are pitched by the name of the note made with the 1st fingerhole open; thus the Arabic standard (Rast=C) nai is one at D. This means that all the holes closed render a C; the 1st hole open, D, then respectively Eb, E1/2b, F, F#, G. This is for the lowest octave and for the 1st register, differing by an octave; the 2nd register overblows a fifth higher, the same sequence of holes rendering the notes A, Bb, B 1/2b, C, C#, D; the 3rd register plays an octave above the 1st register, C, D, etc.

Other notes are made by partially opening a tonehole, changing the blowing angle or a combination of the above. Also not that the G note in the 1st register is the same pitch as the all-holes-closed note in the 2nd, as is the C in the 2nd reg. and the closed C of the 3rd; these alternate fingerings are used for musical purposes and to check internal tuning.

Arab style playing is generally more rhythmic, and reflective of the shepherd association, as the nai is commonly a pastoral instrument. The classical nai is usually longer, the folk models shorter. The Turkish style is more smooth and flowing, betraying the Dervish association. In Turkey, the Mevlevi (Whirling Dervishes) long ago adopted the ney as their main instrument in the sema, the spiritual service that includes the trance dancing spinning. The pastoral association is weaker in Turkey, the ney being a learned, urban Classical instrument; various types of kaval, smaller flutes of end and fipple blown types fill in the folk world.

C. Sachs - The History of Musical Instrument (NY 1940)
E. Zonis - Classical Persian Music (NY 1973)
J. Jenkins & P. Rovsing Olsen - Music and Musical Instruments in the 
     World of Islam (London 1973)
A. Buchner - Folk Music Instruments of the World
The New Oxford History of Music - Ancient and Oriental
H. G. Farmer - numerous works
Groves Musical Dictionary (in 20 volumes)