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Timbre (sound quality) vibrato-less; hard-edged, raspy quality Solo vocal music dominates Improvisation highly valued
Western Opera
Eastern Vocals
Instruments
Chordophones Plucked Lutes: oud (most common); bouzouq (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey) setar (Persian classical music); tar (Iran); dotar (Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Northern Iran) tambur (Turkey) Bowed lute: jouzeh and rebab (in Arabic cultures); kamancheh (throughout the Middle East); and qichak (Eastern sections) Zithers: plucked qanun (or kanun); struck (hammered) santour Membranophones Conical hand drums: darbucca (or tabl); frame drums including tambourines (daff and riqq); and goblet-shaped drums (dombak) Aerophones End-blown flutes: nai (or ney); oboe-like double-reed instruments (zornah, surna); and a folk instrument type that consists of a pair of oboe-like pipes (of equal or unequal length), including the Arabic arghul and zummarah and the Persian qoshmeh
Chordophones Plucked Lutes: oud (most common); bouzouq (Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Turkey) setar (Persian classical music); tar (Iran); dotar (Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Northern Iran) tambur (Turkey)
Oud
http://www.youtube.com/v/oT_6pMTz4wo?version=3&hl=en_US &rel=0
Setar
http://www.youtube.com/v/6PWk84ij3ws?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0
Tar
http://www.youtube.com/v/5QclnG8s-gQ?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0
Santour
http://www.youtube.com/v/I-YxtVM8QrU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0
Ney
Zurnah
There are three prominent features and beliefs that unite Middle Eastern musical culture:
Vocal and compositional styles derived from the recitation of the Holy Koran - there are two styles of chant: muttaral is syllabic, unembellished, and subdued; mujawwad is emotional, ornamented, and melodically complex.
Mujawad
Music creates a kind of ecstatic, emotional bond between performer and audience. The terms tarab in Arabic and hal in Persian denote this quality.
The suite, or collection of individual pieces played together, is the major unifying compositional principle.
The most common type of suite found throughout the region is known as the taqsim (taksin, in Turkey). It consists of two parts: an improvised, usually nonmetric solo instrumental number; and the beshrav or peshrev, a metric, composed piece usually performed by an ensemble.
Other types of suites are the Egyptian wasla, the naubat found in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The Persian dastgah (the same name is used for this extended suite as for Persian modes)
is performed in five parts: pishdaramad (composed, for ensemble); chahar mezrab (composed or improvised, solo); avaz (solo, improvised, non-metric); tasnif (metric, composed song); and reng (a light, dance-derived instrumental piece). Iraq shares a similar form, known as the Iraqi maqam, which also centers on an extended avaz.
Music in Culture
Professional musicians are lowly regarded, while cultured amateurs are highly regarded. Halal a word that means legitimate. For music, it is chanted poetry; music for family celebrations such as weddings; occupational folksongs; military music. Haram a word that means illegitimate, in reference to classical musics as well as musics associated with unacceptable contexts such as nightclubs or for belly dancing
Every Arabic or Turkish maqam or Persian dastgah has a name. Some give the place of origin (like the Greek modes). (Listening Guide: Major Maqams) Taqsim a nonmetric improvised instrumental piece based on a maqam, consisting of several short sections Iq'a (or wazn in Arabic; usul in Turkish) rhythmic modes, or meter Radif in Persian classical music, the body of music, consisting of 250300 short pieces, memorized by students and then used as the basis or point of departure for improvised performance Gusheh in Persian classical music, a subdivision of a dastgah and smallest constituent of the radif
Tahkt literally platform; an ensemble of musicians, often including violin, santour, ney, and two drums, used to accompany singing and sometimes dancing, in Arabic popular music
Arabesk in Turkish popular music, a traditional Middle Eastern sound symbolizing the Turkish people's association with Islam and to older cultural traditions of the area
Dervishes individuals associated with Sufism who dance by whirling to achieve transcendence
Rai a modern popular music developed in Algeria and Morocco that combines traditional singing styles and Arabic modes with Westernstyle synthesized accompaniments
Umm Kulthum (1908-1975) an Egyptian singer who achieved international prominence, becoming a star of radio and film
Ideas about music are not universal. In the Middle East, music is generally considered an indulgence and therefore not good. Musicians also are not publicly valued. Yet, there are a lot of human sound phenomena that have musical content; although, they are not considered as music within the culture. The people of the Middle East in general, by conceiving humanly organized sound to exist on a continuum between recitation and music, from khandan to musiqi, they have rationalized different types of sound as more or less acceptable. This definition of musiqi is actually narrower than music in the West.
In Western culture, professional musicians (some types more than others) are valued over amateurs. In the Middle East, however, amateur musicians play what they want when they want, and therefore maintain a higher status than professionals, who play to order. While instrumental music may be lascivious, the scholarly study of music (which associates it with language) is admired. This attitude has produced a vast number of treatises by informed amateur scholars. Amateur musicians have a higher status than their professional counterparts because they have the freedom to improvise at will, not according to the demand of their employer.
In Western culture, improvised music even has a tonal and structural framework. Arabic music has maqam. The Iranian radif is an example of an articulated set of motifs used by musicians as the basis for improvisation.
Musical Texture:
Improvisation:
Within a strict framework, its overall form is predetermined but its details are determined by the improviser.
Rhythmic Organization:
Melodic Organization:
Based on systems of modes called maqam (in Arabic countries) and dastgah (in Iran).
Singing Style:
Tense with harsh, throaty tone; highly ornamented but without vibrato; men sing high in their range, and women low. Instrumental styles imitate vocal styles.
Khandan
Musiqi
Instrumental avaz
Belly Dance
A full performance of one mode (or dastgah) ideally consists of five parts arranged in the following order. The central piece of the performance is the improvised avaz.
Pishdaramad:
Lit.: before the introduction. Stately, metric, composed, instrumental piece always based on the radif, but may go through several gushehs. (slide 48)
Chahar mezrab:
Lit.: four plectrums. Fast, virtuosic solo instrumental piece, composed or improvised, with rhythmic ostinato. May appear at this point or internally in an avaz. Usually based only loosely on the radif. http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/hss_nettl_worldmusic_6e/active_listening_guid es/index.html#nettl6e_alg04_ch03-lg
Avaz:
Improvised and non-metric, may be instrumental or vocal. Based specifically on the radif. Normally between three and eight gushehs are used. (Slide 44)
Tasnif:
Metric, composed song with words, may be performed instrumentally. May be based on the radif, but only loosely. (slide 45)
Reng:
Fast, composed instrumental dance-like piece. Loosely based on the radif. (slide 49)
Pishdaramad:
Reng
Summary
The Middle East encompasses a large, diverse geographical and cultural area, and is generally known as the heartland of Arab and Islamic cultures.
Although very diverse, Middle Eastern music generally is highly improvised, with a single melody played by all instruments simultaneously in heterophony.
Vocal and instrumental music is generally highly ornamented, featuring trills, glissandos, or short secondary notes. Vocal music predominates.
The most common musical form is the suite, a grouping of individual pieces.
Maqam (or a system of scales) are used as the basis of all melodic creation.
There is a strict hierarchy observed between types of music and performers, with talented amateur musicians usually coming from a higher social class. Professional or popular musicians are typically looked down upon.
Discussion Questions
On a sliding scale, as between khandan and musiqi, where can we place different types of American music, from church hymns to punk rock?
What are some similarities between Middle Eastern and Indian music improvisation?
What are the differences between Middle Eastern and Indian ensemble textures? What are the similarities and differences between the Middle Eastern chordophones and chordophones found elsewhere throughout the word?
How can Middle Eastern music improvisation be compared to jazz or blues improvisation? What are the similarities between the tonal and rhythmic structures?
What is the commonality of beliefs in Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, concerning the origin of their vocal and instrument music?