Hello people, i have been studying and trying to learn the Oud now for nearly four months and i'm trying my best to understand and learn the Maqamat.
I wanted to try and figure this one out myself but i've been racking my brains for ages, so let me pick your brains please.
I am led to believe that the lower tetrachord dictates what the Maqam is and that there are conjunt tetrachords and disjunct ones. If i had a Hijaz
on D
D Eb F# G A Bb C D
I could have two disjunct tetrachords of the Hijaz on D and a Kurd tetrachord on A right?
But i could also have two conjunct tetrachords of a Hijaz on D and a Nahawand tetrachord on G yes???
Is there something i'm missing? is it obvious? Does it affect how the Maqam is being played depending on how we interpret the scale or does the
theoretical analysis mean nothing?
HELP ME PLEASE!
ThanksJody Stecher - 4-3-2012 at 02:59 PM
Sometimes the theory makes my head spin, especially when attempting translation between local traditions or between Turkish and Arabic music. I
sympathize with your plight but also don't understand it. Could you please say what the problem is? Everything you say seems true but what is the
difficulty? Theoretical analysis illuminates possibilities (depending on the intonation of B you might have Bayati and Rast in place of Kurd and
Nahawand for instance.) Alternative analyses open doors. Are you looking for the definitive door? Brian Prunka - 4-3-2012 at 03:22 PM
The primary tetrachords are determined by what the dominant note of the maqam is, more or less.
In Hijaz, this would be a conjunct Hijaz (d) + nahawand and/or rast (g).
You could certainly utilize the kurd/bayati on A as a variation, but the primary modulation is to G. In fact, as Scott Marcus analyzed, the dominant
of most C or D based maqamat is G, regardless of the tonic pitch.
The conjunct/disjunct aspect is not super-important, and people also disagree about "tetrachords", as some ajnas can be pentachords or trichords. adamcrossley - 4-3-2012 at 04:12 PM
Quote:
The primary tetrachords are determined by what the dominant note of the maqam is, more or less.
I thought it was the other way round, is it not that the first note of the upper tetrachord is the dominant? So the dominant of a given scale could
either be the 4th or the 5th depending wether the tetrachords are conjunct or disjunt?Brian Prunka - 4-3-2012 at 05:20 PM
What I mean is that given the following series of notes:
D Eb F# G A Bb C D
If the dominant is G, then it is a hijaz jins on D and a nahawand jins on G, not a hijaz jins on D and a kurd jins on A.
Since the theory is an analytical tool, it is the fact of the dominant that determines what the jins is and not the reverse, although it is a bit
circular to try to say which comes first.
You could certainly consider hijaz to have a D hijaz jins, a G nahawand jins, an A kurd jins, and a Bb Ajam jins, but analytically the D and G anjas
are the primary ones.
Regarding conjunct/disjunct, there is some disagreement about certain ajnas: for example, some people consider Rast to be C D E/b F, while others
consider it to be C D E/b F G. G is the dominant either way, but whether you consider it conjunct or disjunct depends on how many notes you put in
the base jins.
Danielo - 4-3-2012 at 11:45 PM
Hi,
I think the confusion may come from way maqam theory is taught in Arabic countries today, according to Scott Marcus' thesis.
He wrote that there is a growing tendency to unify all maqamat sharing the same lower tetrachord into one single maqam, e.g.
In current Turkish theory, these maqamat are all distinct. In older or more traditionalist Arabic sources, you could find various intermediate
statements.
Regarding Hijaz, Turkish theory recognizes four kinds :
Hicaz : Hijaz tetrachord on D + Rast pentachord on G (dominant = G)
Hicaz Homayun : Hijaz tetrachord on D + Buselik pentachord on G (dominant = G)
Zirguleli Hicaz : Hijaz pentachord on D + Hijaz tetrachord on A (dominant = A)
Uzzal : Hijaz pentachord on D + Bayati tetrachord on A (dominant = A)
(not mentionning transposed/descending variants as Shenaz, HicazKar, SedAraban, EvcAra, etc....)
The splitting of the octave between one pentachord and one tetrachord is done according to the dominant of the particular scale.
Indeed there are no disjunct tetrachords in Turkish theory as far as I know ; instead an extra degree is added to the lower or upper tetrachord if
needed.
regards.
Dan
Marina - 4-4-2012 at 12:33 AM
;-)
Hijaz - ramaz 4th step, re - karar, sol - ramaz, tetracord 1st hijaz, 2nd nahawand sol
The 2nd tetracord allways starts at ramaz ("dominant") ;-) at all maqamat, but u have to learn by heart the "dominants" of each maqam.
It is not always the 5th step, that's why I wrote the word "dominant" with "---"
Also the word "tetracord" is not exact, it's better "jins" "ajnas"pl. - because sometime its 5 nots, sometimes 4, sometimes even 3...
