Ahe Arabic Maqam

Arabic Music Maqam *

he Arabic Maqam

What is a Maqam ?

In Arabic music, a maqam is a sequence of notes with rules that define its general melodic development. The nearest equivalent in Western classical music would be a mode (e.g. Major, Minor, etc.).

Arabic maqams are built on top of the Arabic scale (or diwan in Arabic). Unlike the chromatic scale used in Western classical music, the Arabic scale's tuning is not tempered.

What are Quarter Tones ?

Many maqams include notes that can be approximated with quarter tones (depicted using the half-flat sign: or the half-sharp sign: ), although they rarely are precise quarters falling exactly halfway between two semitones. Even notes depicted as semitones may include microtonal subtleties depending on the maqam in which they are used. For this reason, when writing Arabic music using the Western notation system, there is an understanding that the exact tuning of each note might vary with each maqam and must be acquired by ear.

How can Maqams be broken down ?

The building blocks for maqams are sequences of 3, 4 or 5 notes, called trichords, tetrachords and pentachords, respectively. The Arabic word for these sequences is jins (plural ajnas). Two sequences can be joined at the same note, at two adjacent notes, or can overlap each other.

In general each maqam is made up two main sequences (called the lower and the upper), and may include other secondary sequences which are very useful for modulation. Instead of thinking of a maqam as a collection of 8 or more individual notes, it's often easier to think of it as a group of two or more sequences.

See the Sequences section.

What is the difference between a maqam and a scale ?

The Arabic maqam is built on top of the Arabic scale (or diwan in Arabic). The maqam is generally made up of one octave (8 notes), although sometimes the maqam scale extends up to 2 octaves. But the maqam is much more than a scale:

• Each maqam may include microtonal variations such that tones, half tones and quarter tones in its underlying scale are not precisely that. E.g. the E in maqam Bayati is tuned slightly lower than the E in maqam Rast. These variations must be learned by listening not by reading, which is why the oral tradition is the correct way to learn Arabic music.
• Each maqam has a different character which conveys a mood, in a similar fashion to the mood in a Major or Minor scale, although that mood is subjective. Since classical Arabic music is mostly melodic (excludes harmony), the choice of maqam greatly affects the mood of the piece.
• Each maqam includes rules that define its melodic development (or sayr in Arabic). These rules describe which notes should be emphasized, how often, and in what order. This means that two maqams that have the same tonal intervals but one is a transposed version of the other, may be played differently (e.g. maqamat Kurd and Hijaz Kar Kurd, or maqamat Nahawand and Farahfaza).
• Each maqam includes rules that define the starting note (tonic, or qarar in Arabic), the ending note (or mustaqarr in Arabic), which in some cases is different to the tonic, and the dominant note (or ghammaz in Arabic). The dominant is the starting note of the second jins (in general the 5th, but sometimes the 4th or 3rd note), and serves as the pivot note during modulation.

Are maqams transposable ?

When Arabic maqams are defined, taught and documented, each maqam always starts on the same tonic. For example, maqam Bayati is always shown as starting on D. In general maqams are transposable, but only to a handful of different tonics. This is unlike scales in Western classical music, where for example a major scale can have 11 possible tonics. For example, maqam Bayati can also start on G and A. When transposing, musicians mention the tonic name after the maqam name for clarity (e.g. "Bayati on G" or "Bayati on A").

Similarly, only a handful of quarter tones are exploited in Arabic maqams (with the understanding that the term quarter tone is approximate, and that many semitones include microtonal variations as well). The main quarter tones are: E, A and B. Unusual maqams like Sikah Baladi introduce a few more, but they are rarely used anywhere else.

The reasons behind this limitation are probably technical and pragmatic, and have to do with the difficulty of transposing on classical Arabic instruments (oud, nay, qanun). On the oud for example, it is important to be able to exploit open strings to play tonics, 4th and 5th notes, since the sound on open strings is always louder and in tune. In addition, since the oud tuning is not tempered but based on harmonic fifths between open strings, maqams don’t sound equally in tune and pleasant on every tonic.

Some maqams change name when transposed because they vary in their feel or mood. Maqams could also have a different melodic development (sayr) when transposed, including a different dominant note, etc.

For example maqam Rahat El Arwah is a transposed version of maqam Huzam, but they have different moods. To describe the difference using very subjective terminology, the first is lower, more mellow and spiritual, the second is higher, lighter and more funky. Another example are maqams Hijaz Kar, Shadd Araban, Shahnaz, and Suzidil, which all have the same tonal intervals.

Another reason for different transposed versions of a maqam having different names might be historic, since each name (and tonic) may have been used in a different region (Arab, Persian, Turkish. etc.).

How many maqams are there ?

There are probably thousands of Arabic maqams, too many to list, including many Persian and Turkish hybrids. It's difficult to find a definitive list of Arabic maqams that all textbooks agree on, or a definitive reference on which maqams are strictly Arabic and which are Turkish or Persian. There are also many local maqams used only in some regions of the Arab world (e.g. Iraq and North Africa), and unknown in others. But the most widely used and known maqams are about 30 to 40, and these are the ones covered in this web site

See the Maqam Index section.

What is Modulation ?

Modulation is a technique used during the melodic development of a Maqam. In simple terms, modulation means shifting the emphasis from one tetrachord to another. The term tetrachord is used here in the general sense to mean a 3, 4 or 5 note sequence, or jins.

The simplest way to modulate would be to develop the maqam's upper sequence after having developed the lower sequence. Another possibility would be developing one of the maqam's secondary sequences (e.g. exploiting the Ajam trichords in maqam Bayati, etc). So far all the sequences used are made up of notes that fall in the maqam's scale.

More challenging modulations involve playing a new sequence which falls outside the maqam's scale, by using a few accidental notes. This type of modulation sounds pleasing when the new sequence is compatible with the previous one. The new sequence along with the previous one could form together a compatible new maqam. In most cases modulation makes use of the maqam's dominant note (the hinge between the two main sequences), and the starting notes of the two main sequences.

On a larger scale, modulation means moving from one maqam to another compatible one. There are well established maqam combinations that sound very pleasant and are learned through experience. The musician can carry on transitioning from one maqam to the next, but usually returns to the starting maqam unless the point of the modulation was to end up on a new maqam. In a complex improvisation, the musician can modulate over half a dozen or more maqams.

The simplest and most common way to modulate is to replace the maqam's upper jins with another compatible jins of the same size. Sometimes the new resulting maqam is already a variant of the same maqam. The pivot note for such a transition would be the dominant, which is generally the starting note of the upper jins. The new resulting maqam could start from the upper jins, or from the first maqam's tonic.

Example 1 : A lower Rast tetrachord and an upper Rast tetrachord result in maqam Rast. The first modulation would be replacing the upper tetrachord with Nahawand, resulting in another variant of maqam Rast. Another modulation is replacing the upper tetrachord with Hijaz, resulting in maqam Suznak. The Hijaz tetrachord can also be used to start a full maqam Hijaz. Another alternative would be replacing the upper tetrachord with Bayati, resulting in maqam Nairuz. The Bayati tetrachord can also be used to start a full maqam Bayati, and so on.

Another common modulation technique exploits similarities between ajnas, by going back and forth between an incomplete jins and its full version.

Example 2: the first 3 notes of the Nahawand tetrachord can lead to the Nawa Athar tetrachord, the first 3 notes of the Bayati tetrachord can lead to the Saba tetrachord, and the first 3 notes of the Kurd tetrachord can lead to the Athar Kurd tetrachord.

Modulation is a very important technique that shows the true richness and beauty of the maqam system, and requires a lot of experience and knowledge of the Maqamat and their constituent ajnas.