Music of the Middle East Common Features and Diversity

Music of the Middle East

Common Features and Diversity

• Many Arabic nations

• Iran and Turkey are non-Arabic.

• Israel –– a markedly unique culture surrounded by Arab nations

• Numerous ethnic minorities, such as the Kurds

Islam (established 622 AD) –– a monotheistic and egalitarian religion

The Middle Eastern Sound

• Monophony –– one melody line played simultaneously by all performers without harmonic accompaniment

• Parallel polyphony –– the same melodic line is played at different volumes or pitch levels by two or more performers

• Heterophony –– two or more performers playing the same melody, but with small differences in timing or ornamentation

• Ornamentation –– tones bent and embellished with trills, glissandos, or short secondary notes

Timbre (sound quality) –– vibrato-less; hard-edged, “raspy” quality

• Timbre (sound quality) –– vibrato-less; hard-edged, “raspy” quality

• Solo vocal music dominates

• Improvisation highly valued

Middle Eastern Vs Western Vocal Timbre

• 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

Setar

Tar

• Bowed lute: jouzeh and rebab (in Arabic cultures); kamancheh (throughout the Middle East); and qichak (Eastern sections)

Jouzeh, rebab and kamancheh

• Zithers: plucked qanun (or kanun); struck (hammered) santour

Santour

Percussion riqq, daff, dombak (tombak)

Ney

Zurnah

Features and Beliefs

• 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

Melodic Modes and Improvisation

• Maqam –– the generic term for mode (makam in Turkish) (mugam in Azerbaijan) (dastgah in Iran)

• Maqam tones are separated by pitch distances called intervals that comprise whole-tones, half-tones, three-quarter-tones (slightly larger the Western half-tone), and five-quarter-tones (slightly larger than the Western whole-tone).

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)

• 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 250––300 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

Vernacular and Popular Music and the Diasporas

• 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

Alireza Mashayekhi –– the first Iranian composer of electronic music

Rai –– a modern popular music developed in Algeria and Morocco that combines traditional singing styles and Arabic modes with Western-style synthesized accompaniments

Umm Kulthum (1908-1975) –– an Egyptian singer who achieved international prominence, becoming a star of radio and film

Ideas about the Definition of Music:

• 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.

Ideas about the Nature of Musicianship:

• 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.

Ways Musicians Learn to Improvise:

• 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:

• Almost always heterophonic.

Improvisation:

• Within a strict framework, its overall form is predetermined but its details are determined by the improviser.

Rhythmic Organization:

• Metric or non-metric, or somewhere in between.

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

• Sacred

• Improvised

• Non-metric

• Vocal

• Solo

Chanting of the holy Qur’an

• http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/hss_nettl_worldmusic_6e/active_listening_guides/index.html#nettl6e_alg05_ch03-lg

zurkhaneh (traditional Persian ceremonial exercises performed to the accompaniment of a drummer who chants from the epic poem,“Shahnameh”)

vocal avaz (non-metric improvisation)

Instrumental avaz

vocal and instrumentaltasnif (metric and composed)

Belly Dance

Typical Iranian performance

• 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_guides/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 primary instrument is the oud, a type of lute.

• The most common musical form is the suite, a grouping of individual pieces.

• The best music is thought to inspire a trance-like, higher experience of life.

• 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?