Transcript Maqam - MoroccanMusicMiniterm

ARABIC MUSIC: MAQAM
Katharine Kerr: Moroccan Music MiniTerm
What is Maqam?
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Translation: place, location, rank
Pl. Maqamat
System of notes used in traditional Arabic music.
Maqam designated as a technical term in Arab music for the first time in the fourteenth
century.
Defined by tradition with habitual patterns and melodic development.
Maqam is the tonal system of North Africa, Near East and Central Asia
Can Be achieved vocally or instrumentally
Otherwise known as…
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Maqam is the general name
given to the Arabic tonal
system, however it is also
known as:
 Makam
– Turkey
 Destgah – Iraq
 Mugam – Azerbaijan
 Shash Maqom – Central Asia
Background: Arab Music
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Arab music: an oral tradition
Early Arabic music was very poetical
Music traditions influenced by contact with various cultural traditions through the expansion of Islam
through the globe.
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Brought in various musical traditions, instruments, and rhythmic forms to the Muslim culture
Included expansion of literate and scholarly traditions through contact with the cultures Persia, India, Byzantium, and
Greek heritage.
Exposed to math and philosophy of Greek works which treated music theory as a branch of mathematics
Several Scholars contributed to Arabic music theory:
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Al-Kindi (800-877AD)
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Ibn Sina (b. 980AD)
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Wrote about musical scales and intervals
Concept of pitch and tuning instruments
Ziryab (Abul-Hasan b. 789AD)
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Based music theory on Greek models
As a physician explored the healing power of music
Al-Farabi (870-950AD)
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Wrote music theory on scales, musical notation using letters
Described how to produce scales on the oud
Introduced the oud to Spain
Added a 5th string to the oud
Later styles of composition and performance are traced to his ideas about harmony, rhythm, and composition
Origins in Persia (Iran), Azerbaijan (Armenia), Turkey, Iraq, and Buchara (Russia)
The Oud
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Because of the microtonal
variations of Arabic music,
the oud is an ideal
instrument for playing notes
in Arabic music.
Musicians are not
constrained by fixed frets
like on a guitar.
The Breakdown
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Most maqamat are of
Turkish, Persian, or
Arabian influence or a
mix of the three.
70+ different maqam
24 different tones in an
octave
Each maqam can have
many different modes,
each with similar
characteristics to the main
tone row.
Cont…
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Maqam often include notes approximated by
quarter tones.
 Depicted
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by a half-flat sign or a half-sharp sign
Rarely are notes precisely halfway between two
semitones.
Musicians must learn the exact tuning of a note by
ear for each maqam
Cont…
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A maqamat is
made of sets of 3,
4, or 5 notes
called jins (pl.
ajnas)
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Translation: gender,
type or nature of
something
Generally, maqam
are made up of
two main ajnas,
upper and lower
jins
Common Maqam
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Rast
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Bayat
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maqam bayat audio samples
Saba
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maqam rast audio samples
maqam saba audio samples
Nahawand
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maqam nahawand audio sample
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Hijaz
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Hijaz-kar
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‘ajam
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maqam hijaz kar audio samples
maqam 'ajan audio sample
Sikah
Moods of Maqam
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Each maqam is characterised by a different mood and
healing property.
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Maqam Rast:
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Maqam Hicaz:
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Protects against physical and emotional paralysis
Improves flexibility and dance
Good for the eyes
Enhances scientific thinking
Creates Inner Calmness
Protects and strengthens the urogenital system, chest area, and heart.
Creates Humility
Maqam Buselik:
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Effects joints, chest, belly, blood circulation, and blood pressure
Prevents pain in the pelvis
Creates Inner Power
Maqam vs. Western Scales
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A maqam can have microtonal variations.
Each maqam has a different character that conveys
mood, similar to the mood created by major and
minor scales of Western music.
Maqam rast envokes a feeling of pride
 Maqam sikah envokes a feeling of joy
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Each maqam has specific rules about which notes
should be emphasized, how often, and in what order.
There are rules about the starting note, ending note
and dominant note.
Bibliography
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Cohen, Dalia. Palestinian Arab music : a Maqām tradition in practice / Dalia Cohen
and Ruth Katz. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2006.
Simms, Rob, 1962- The repertoire of Iraqi maqam / Rob Simms. Lanham, Md.
: Scarecrow Press, 2004.
Ben-Simhon, Yoel. "The Music." Sultana Ensemble. 2004. Sultana music. 1 Apr 2008
<http://www.sultanamusic.com/sultanaensemble/learnmusic.php>.
"The Arabic Maqam." Maqam World. 2001. Maqam World. 31 Mar 2008
<http://www.maqamworld.com/maqamat.html>.
Touma, Habib Hassan . "Arabian Music: Maqam." Maqamat. 15 Jan 2008. Multimedia
Publishing. 1 Apr 2008 <http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/maqam.htm>.
Parfitt, David. "Music Notation." The Oud. 2004. 3 Apr 2008
<http://www.oud.eclipse.co.uk/notation.html>.
"Music." Cities of Light. 2007. Unity Productions Foundation. 3 Apr 2008
<http://www.islamicspain.tv/Arts-and-Science/The-Culture-of-Al-Andalus/Music.htm>.
Guverc,Oruc. "Rivers of One:The Rast Makam Traditional Sufi Healing Music." Interworld
Music,1997.