Still feeling like a newbie here I want to ask a question I did not find an answer to. Being mainly a guitar player I ever wondered why the standard
arabic tuning has a whole step from G to A. I mean, bigger intervals like the upper four strings are tuned to make scale playing a lot easier. What is
the whole tone really good for? On my oud I tuned the G to F for easier scale playing. Ok, if you mainly play in C you have a fine fifth C-F drone to
strum, but that can't be the explanation, can it? Or does it have something to do with the maqams?
From information on David Parfitt's page I know there are four arabic maqams on G, two on A, two on B flat, six on B half flat, fifteen on C,
seventeen on D, two on E half flat, one on E and two on F. So, neither F nor G make much sense as a root for maqams. Considering that former ouds
mostly had five strings only with no C below makes it even more complicated for me to understand. Please - does anybody know the reason?
KlausJody Stecher - 6-17-2016 at 08:53 AM
The interval of a major second between two neighboring strings is a time-honored much-used occurrence in string instruments all around the world. In
order to appreciate what it is "good for" you need to play in one of these tunings for a while. The most well known guitar tuning of this sort is
D-A-D-G-A-D, the famous (or infamous) "Dad Gad" tuning.
American 5 string banjo has several tunings containing this interval. here are a few:
gDGCD
f#DGAD
gCGCD
gDGAD
One result of this tuning on oud is a particular resonance that the G of the fifth course gives to the fingered pitches on the four high courses. For
the most part I prefer the resonance that the fifth course tuned to F gives. My choice to tune that way has nothing to do with ease of playing.
But….. the interval of a major second does produce some advantages in fingering…. for certain kinds of music.
In the case of the five course oud, the fifth course was there to provide a lower octave to the second course. Before there were 5 course ouds there
were 4 course ouds. The fifth course completed the octave and probably relieved frustration.
The old, and now nearly obsolete 6 string Seni Rabab of North India had a number of tunings, now in use on a later instrument called Sursingar.
Because rababs and sursingars are of many sizes with varying scale lengths (length of the vibrating strings) the tunings are not typically given in
absolute pitch. I will represent the third string as D since that is the tuning of the third course of Arabic tuning on the oud nowadays.
D F# A D E A (that has one interval of a second)
D G A D E A (that has two)
D G A D G C (one)
D G B D G C (none)
D G C D G C (one)
Again, to understand the advantages of these tunings, one needs to be be familiar with the music the instruments were designed to play. A partial
answer that is immediately understandable: a pitch played on a open string has a different timbre/tonal character than the identical pitch that is
gotten by fingering a string. Sometimes the needs of the music, which is to say the emotional or mental or spiritual needs of the listeners and the
player, require this open string sound in certain circumstances. I don't mean to be obscure.Jody Stecher - 6-17-2016 at 09:25 AM
Three more points.
1) any maqam may be moved from its technically correct place to any other pitch. It is very unusual to hear a composition or a taqsim where this does
*not* happen. It is not unusual to hear Hijaz on G or on F for instance
2) G/ sol/ nawa is the center of Arabic maqam music. It is the first oud string to be tuned, the place where a change of maqam usually occurs.
Giving it a lower octave should not be a surprise
3) to understand why and how the fifth course at G is used listen to good oud players who tune this way. Also listen to Turkish and Armenian players
who tune this way ( a step higher). And read Hartun's recent comments on this tuning here on this forum.Brian Prunka - 6-17-2016 at 09:47 AM
In the case of the five course oud, the fifth course was there to provide a lower octave to the second course. Before there were 5 course ouds there
were 4 course ouds. The fifth course completed the octave and probably relieved frustration.
...
Again, to understand the advantages of these tunings, one needs to be be familiar with the music the instruments were designed to play.
Highlighting the most important parts of Jody's answer.
On the oud, you don't really play "scales" below G or F anyway.
You have to understand that maqam music is register-dependent in a away that Western music is not. So each register of the instrument has its own
function, the tuning of the lower courses reflects what they are used for, not an abstract theoretical design.
From information on David Parfitt's page I know there are four arabic maqams on G, two on A, two on B flat, six on B half flat, fifteen on C,
seventeen on D, two on E half flat, one on E and two on F. So, neither F nor G make much sense as a root for maqams.
This goes back to understanding the music. A list of maqamat like this is not going to help you understand. First of all, the list of maqamat on
David's site includes a bunch that are rarely or almost never actually used. Part of this is because the way that maqam music works is primarily by
jins, not "scale."
If you look at the main maqamat in Arabic music you have roughly:
Bayati (D)
Rast (C)
Saba (D)
Sikah/Huzam (E /b)
Hijaz (D)
Nahawand (C)
Nikriz/Nawa'athar (D or C)
Ajam (Bb)
Kurd (D or A)
Jiharkah (F)
Hijaz Kar (C)
Now I'm going to list them with common transpositions and the dominant pitch of each (Tonic-dominant).
Notice how many are commonly transposed to G, or have G as their dominant. This list doesn't even show the relative frequency of these maqamat in
repertoire. If you did that, the vast majority of the repertoire is:
Bayati: tonic D or G, dominant G or C
Rast: tonic C or G, dominant G or D
Sikah: tonic E/b or B/b, dominant G or D
Hijaz: tonic D or G, dominant G or C
Nahawand: tonic C, dominant G
Notice something? EVERY single one has G either as a tonic or dominant, except for sikah on B/b (which usually has G as the base of the third jins, in
fact).
So the M2 between courses 4 and 5 is just incidental, the real reason for it is that the G is a very very important note in Arabic music (Arabic
musicians tune to G instead of A).
Now personally, I usually tune the 5th course to F, because G is very accessible and I have the option of using the low F as well (which is fairly
common to have as tonic or dominant, though not as common as G). I learned this from Simon Shaheen, who uses this tuning. The only time I don't
really like it is for Bayati transposed to G.
newlife_ks - 6-20-2016 at 10:31 AM
Hello Jody!
I don't know how to reply with quote, you wrote:
>>1) any maqam may be moved from its technically correct place to any other pitch. It is very unusual to hear a composition or a taqsim where
this does *not* happen. It is not unusual to hear Hijaz on G or on F for instance.<<
I thought that maqams can't be transposed because of the quarter tones, or in other words, maqams with quarter tones near the open string tones are
not for transposing because they must be left out. Is that right or wrong?
Apart from that - thanks a lot to both of you for your enlightening words!Jody Stecher - 6-20-2016 at 10:51 AM
>>1) any maqam may be moved from its technically correct place to any other pitch. It is very unusual to hear a composition or a taqsim where
this does *not* happen. It is not unusual to hear Hijaz on G or on F for instance.<<
I thought that maqams can't be transposed because of the quarter tones, or in other words, maqams with quarter tones near the open string tones are
not for transposing because they must be left out. Is that right or wrong?
Apart from that - thanks a lot to both of you for your enlightening words!
Any maqam may be transposed. I don't understand what you mean about the quarter tones that are near the pitches of open strings. Why would that
matter? It certainly wouldn't matter to a vocalist or a flute player. They have no strings. Why would it matter to an oud player? what is the
obstacle? Jody Stecher - 6-20-2016 at 09:17 PM
An interesting point has occurred to me. It *would* be a bit of fingering nightmare to transpose a maqam that begins on one of the pitches that
coincide with "western" music to one of the microtonal pitches that occur in maqam music. Take maqam Rast for instance. It's conventional starting
point is C. Transposing Rast to G is fairly common. The third note in the Rast tetrachord is the so-called E "half-flat". Transposing Rast to start
on E half flat would be a fingering challenge and a mental challenge. newlife_ks - 6-21-2016 at 01:44 AM
Imagine what would happen if you transposed maqam Rast to F#. The third should be an A half flat. No open A-string allowed! That's what I meant to
say.Brian Prunka - 6-21-2016 at 05:45 AM
Rast on F# would be (+ = half-sharp)
F# G# A+ B C# D# E+ F#
No A half-flat.
Yes, some transpositions are impractical. Although possible, they lose the resonance of the oud and don't sound that good.
Microtones do introduce unique fingering challenges when taken from their normal positions. Jody Stecher - 6-21-2016 at 05:48 AM
Imagine what would happen if you transposed maqam Rast to F#. The third should be an A half flat. No open A-string allowed! That's what I meant to
say.
OK! Now I understand. Yes, that would be a bit inconvenient but avoiding open strings is not unusual in string music everywhere, including playing in
certain keys on the guitar, and maqam music on the oud is no exception. When playing jins (tetrachord) Saba from D we bypass the open second (G)
string(s). When playing jins Kurd from C we bypass the open third (D) string(s). No big deal. Suppose you play an F sharp major scale on the guitar,
ascending from fret 4 on the 4th string. You have to avoid the open g (3rd) string and the open e (1st) string. That doesn't mean that the key of F
sharp major can't be played or is forbidden.
I am thinking of your question. I'll try to answer, but my knowledge is incomplete. It is true that any maqam may be transposed, but the typical
occurrence of transposition is that each maqam is transposed to a few typical and useful places, not transposed to absolutely every possible existing
pitch. Look at Brian's list of common transpositions earlier in this thread. So far in my life I have never heard music where your example occurs.
Just now I tried it on oud. It is difficult because the pitch that occurs as the third note in Rast requires an unfamiliar finger placement and
results in a pitch that an Arabic quarter tone accordion couldn't produce. (You had used the term "quarter tones". I prefer the term microtones since
the small intervals of maqam music were/are not traditionally a half of a half step).
(by the way "A half flat" is the third note of Rast from F natural, not from F sharp. But I think you know that, and made a typo error, as we all
do).
I hope this is helpful. I think the best answer to all your questions can be found by listening to maqam music in an active way, listening as if you
were playing. Maqam music typically shifts tonal center and uses frequent transpositions. It's not like raga music which has a fixed tonic. After some
time you will gain analytic understanding of what is happening and you can confidently hear the many transpositions that occur.
