Maqamat  
Maqamat, the modal system of classical Arabic music, are a central topic in my composition folio. The compositions draw on aspects derived from Maqamat, these include microtonality, musical ornamentation and improvisation. “Sephardic congregations preserve musical practices derived from the Maqamat tradition of Arabic modal music” (Miller & Shahriari 2012, p.278), and Maqamat can be found in prayers and Piyyutim of the Middle Eastern Jewish communities (Kligman 2009, pp. 53-61).

 

The following observations on Maqamat are based on David Parfitt (2011). Parfitt describes the classical Arabic Maqam as a compositional device based on a mode with a particular intervallic pattern, as well as a set of performance rules indicating which notes should be emphasized. A Maqam also includes characteristic melodic patterns. The ideal showcase for the structure of a Maqam is an instrumental Taqsim. Taqsim is an improvised form in which the performer may modulate to several related Maqamat before returning to the original Maqam (see pages 23-25 for more details about Taqsim). Modulation is a highly developed art and relies on an intimate knowledge of the structure of the different Maqamat, as well as relationships between them. Expertise in modulation can only be achieved after many years of study and performance.

 

The Maqam scale can be thought of as being constructed from blocks (Ajnas). Jins (plural: Ajnas), is the Arabic pitch set of a tri-chord, tetra-chord or penta-chord. Each building block or jins has a characteristic pattern of intervals and is usually based on a particular tone. The Maqam builds from two sets of jins, lower jins (trunk) and upper jins (branch), that joined at a common note (when the ending note of the trunk is the beginning note of the branch), at two adjacent notes (when a tone separates the trunk and the branch) or at overlapping notes (when more than one note at the end of the trunk belongs to the branch as well). The Maqam is often named after the trunk, and ajnas may be reduced or extended to form the corresponding tri- chord or penta-chord. The qarar describes the note that begins the Maqam (the root note and usually the ending note of a piece), and the ghamaz describes the beginning note of the branch tetra-chord. The Maqam may also include secondary ajnas that can be employed when modulating. There are many ways of combining different ajnas, but only a small proportion of these combinations are employed in actual Maqamat. Around a hundred Maqamat are in use, although some are much more common than others and many are restricted to a particular country or region (i.e., Iraq, Egypt and Syria). The common Maqamat may be classified into eight different groups, which are named after the principal Maqam of the group: Rast, Bayati, Sikah, Nahawand, Hijaz, Nawa'athar, Ajam and Kurd.

 

Maqamat can be found in prayers and Piyyutim of the Sephardi-Mizrahi tradition (Arabic- influenced Jewish music). One example is Eretz Verum (Figure 1.1.), a well-known traditional Syrian Piyyut from Baqashot of Shabbath collections. Mark L. Kligman writes (2009) that “the importance of describing the Syrian Jewish community praxis of the Maqamat lies in the fact that not only is their definition of specific Maqamat consistent with the practice of modern Arab music but the manner in which they talk about the Maqamat is shaped by it as well” (p. 62). Eretz Verum is in Maqam Bayati (Figure 1.2.). It uses the following ajnas: (1) Bayati tetra- chord (D, E semi-flat, F and G) in bars 1-5, where the phrase is descending from G (the ghamaz) to D (the qarar), (2) Sikah tri-chord (E semi-flat, F and G) in bars 6-7 and in bars 10- 11, (3) Nahawand tetra-chord in G (G, A, B flat and C) in bars 22-24 (descending from D to G) and (4) Rast tetra-chord (C, D, E semi-flat and F) in bars 42-44. The F in bars 2 and 4 illustrates the use of Arabic ornaments. In this particular Piyyut the ornaments comprise a slow tempo trill of quarter-tones.

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Microtonality in Arabic Music   

Microtonality is an integral part of the language of improvisation and expression in Arabic music (Farraj 2007). Quarter-tones or three-quarter-tones occur in Arabic Maqamat in tunes/songs and in improvisational passages. The term quarter-tone is used by musicians to describe notes in the Maqam that are approximately a quarter of a tone high or lower. Nowadays, these notes are not thought of as being changed by a quarter-tone, but as being three quarters of a tone from a neighbouring equal note, and are therefore called three- quarter-tone notes as well (Bilitzky 2012). The Arabic method of dividing the octave into 24 quarter-tones was probably developed in the 18th century (Marcus 1993), and was accepted with some reservations at the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arabic Music. The 1932 Cairo Congress of Arabic Music was the first large-scale forum to present, discuss, document and record the many musical traditions of the Arabic world, and it was there that recommendations for its revitalization and preservation were made.

 

The microtonal pitch in Arabic music is not absolute, and therefore varies from player to player. That means a quarter-tone or three-quarter-tones of a particular performer will be slightly different in terms of intonation from that of another player (Cohen and Katz 2006, pp. 43-45). This practice is recognisable, and the variable pitches would nevertheless be associated to Maqamat.

 

Appendix 1 shows the main ajnas sets including those that contain microtonality. Ajnas (singular: jins), are Arabic tri-chord, tetra-chord or penta-chord sets. The Nahawand jins (1, 1⁄2, 1 tones) corresponds with the Western Aeolian mode, and the Ajam jins (1, 1 tones) corresponds with the Western Ionian mode. The Kurd jins (1⁄2, 1, 1 tones) corresponds with the Western Phrygian mode. The Rast jins (1, 3⁄4, 3⁄4 tones) can be achieved by lowering the third degree of the Western Ionian mode by a quarter-tone or raising by a quarter-tone the third degree of the Western Aeolian mode, and the Bayati jins (3⁄4, 3⁄4, 1 tones) can be achieved by lowering the second degree of the Western Dorian mode by a quarter-tone. The Saba jins (3⁄4, 3⁄4, 1⁄2 tones) has partial first three notes to the Bayati jins, and the Sikah jins (3⁄4, 1 tones) is an offshoot of the Rast jins (it starts from the third degree of Rast jins). The Hijaz jins (1⁄2, 11⁄2, 1⁄2 tones) and Nirkiz jins (1, 1⁄2, 11⁄2, 1⁄2 tones) are the only ajnas with intervals of 11⁄2 tones.

 

Incorporating neighbouring Maqamat in improvisation is an important part of the art in Arabic music. For example, in Taqsim listeners often follow the performer’s way of moving away from the basic opening Maqam and the way of returning to it at the end. In Taqsim and in other Arabic improvisational forms, microtonality also comes into play by modulation between corresponding Maqamat, such as Ajam against Rast, as well as Sabah and Nahawand against Bayati (Farraj 2007).