cbounds
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Maqam Scale length
I have been a professional guitar player for 20 years. About two months ago I bought an Oud from Nileshop.net and began trying to learn a little on my
own. The first maqam I have been experimenting with is Nahawand. Just sitting around improvising melodies with this maqam.
One question is this. When you are learning the fingering for a maqam generally how many octaves do you cover? When you improvise are you only playing
melodies in one octave?
Also do you tune the drone string different depending on which maqam your taqsim is in? For example if you are going to play bayati in D do you tune
your drone string up to D so you can use it to drone as you play?
Also I am guessing I need to learn some traditional Arabic tunes since I do not know any. I am from Houston Texas and I am not Arabic so I do not know
any. Anyone direct me somewhere on the net where I can find sheet music and traditional arabic music I should learn to help me learn about the feel of
different Maqam?
Just a few questions from a begginer.
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zalzal
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Some printed music here
http://www.issaboulos.com/pmusic.html
http://www.zeryab.com/E/Arabic_Sheets.htm
And of course the best ressource for maqam
http://www.maqamworld.com/
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Jason
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When I'm first working out fingerings for a maqam I will play it in as many octaves as possible (usually 3 but sometimes 4). In traditional taqsim
you probably won't use more than 2 octaves but it's good practice to be able to play up high if you ever decide you want to.
Sometimes I retune the low strings and sometimes I don't. It just depends on how I feel. If you're new to fretless instruments it might be a good
idea to keep a drone tuned to the 'root' of the maqam so you can check your intonation easily.
As a fellow guitarist I would suggest learning a few Longas. They're simple rhythmically but they will get your fingers moving around and work on
your intonation. Longa Nahawand and Farahfaza are both good.
Good luck. Which oud did you get from nileshop?
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cbounds
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Want to tell me what Longas are and how to learn them? I got this oud from Nilshop.net:
http://www.nileshop.net/store/nileshop_viewItem.asp?idProduct=916
If I continue to progress with the oud I hope to get a Shehata soon!
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Microber
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This one is very nice.
Pay attention to the position of the right hand.
It's very different from the position used to play guitar.
You have to relearn it completely.
Microber
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billinpitt
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That looks like one "high quality armature oud" you got yourself there. I got a cheap one from mid-east.com and it actually sounds pretty good.
Jason how do you tune to get a 4 octave scale out of the oud?
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cbounds
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http://www.Maqamworld.com says I can use AJAM on Eb as a modulation from Nahawand on C. It looks as though AJAM is basically the Eb major scale.
Can anyone suggest any other maqams I can modulate to from Nahawand on C. What are the most used?
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Jason
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I tune C or D - G A D G C from low to high. There aren't many maqams you can do up to 4 octaves but it is possible. You can hit 5 octaves with C
Nahawand! You usually need to use harmonics to get a few notes. This is easier on some ouds than others.
I think practicing them up to 3 octaves is fine though. Anything past that is really just for 'show' than any real music making (in my hands
anyway).
cbounds, try longa farahfaza, nihavent, or sabbough. They're all pretty straight forward rhythmically.
I agree with the poster above that suggested paying close attention to your right hand. It really is completely different. I find that I almost
always do hybrid picking on the oud for anything fast. That's something that I never do on guitar. The angle of your hand is also quite different.
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al-Halabi
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Jason, how do you get 5 octaves with the tuning of your oud? By the time you complete three octaves (bass C-C, C-c, and c-c') you are already up the
fingerboard near the soundhole on the highest course. It's technically possible to continue up the high course and cover a fourth octave, mostly by
fingering the course without pressing it against the surface of the soundboard. Maybe you can explain how you manage to get yet another octave after
that and what musical purpose that serves.
I think your statements about playing 4 and 5 octaves can be confusing and not helpful for beginners.
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Jason
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You are correct, you have to do some notes by using harmonics or by playing on the string without pressing down. As I already stated it has
absolutely no musical purpose in my playing. Notes that high do not ring and generally don't have a very good tone. You may have heard someone like
Naseer Shamma use those extreme ranges for special effects or even melodies, however.
The original poster asked how we practice maqams so I answered his question. If you read my post you will see I said 'In traditional taqsim you
probably won't use more than 2 octaves but it's good practice to be able to play up high if you ever decide you want to.'
I don't see how this is confusing or misleading... the original poster is a professional musician, he didn't seem to be confused by my post.
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cbounds
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I have my OUD tunes CFADGC... Anything wrong with that I read it was standard tuning so I did it that way. Now I do not see many people tuning this
way. Am I practicing with some crazy tuning no one uses?
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cbounds
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You guys are saying "cbounds, try longa farahfaza, nihavent, or sabbough."
Where are you getting this music? Do you have sheet music as well? How are you learning these tunes?
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Jason
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Longa Farafahza
Longa Nihavent
Longa Sabbough
Here is a good place to start for Arabic scores. http://www.zeryab.com/E/Arabic_Sheets.htm
Does anyone know of some other resources? I have a few links to Turkish sheets if you're interested in those but this is the only one for Arabic that
I have.
Generally, transcriptions are the most basic melody. The challenge lies in adding embellishment to the melody. I kind of think of it like trying to
do a chord melody from a chart, no easy task hehe.
I hope this helps.
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palestine48
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Cbounds-
Nothing wrong with youru tunin, I tune the same way and yes it is standard.
Modern oudists like marcel khalife go a step higher and tune fadgcf, to get a higher note out of it but the cadgcf is what most traditional music
uses.
Cbounds, what is the definition of a drone string?
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zalzal
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This can be of interest for having an overall view on the maqams scales
http://leb.net/rma/Articles/maqamat.html
From: achebli@carol.net (Adib)
Newsgroups: rec.music.arabic
Subject: Quick Reference for Maqamat
Below is a quick reference for the most popular maqamat in the arabic music.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think of this format.
Adib
_____________
Key-
C-do D-re E-mi F-fa G-sol A-la B-si
s-sharp z-half-sharp b-flat k-half-flat
Maqam 3ajam (Major):
====================
Tonal division: 1 1 ? 1 1 1 ?
Key of C: C D E F G A B C
Key of G: G A B C D E Fs G
Key of D: D E Fs G A B Cs D
Key of A: A B Cs D E Fs Gs A
Key of E: E Fs Gs A B Cs Ds A
Key of B: B Cs Ds E Fs Gs As B
Key of F: F G A Bb C D E F
(I won't go into the sharp of flat keys)
Maqam Nahawend (Minor):
=======================
Tonal division: 1 ? 1 1 ? 1 1
Key of A: A B C D E F G A
Key of E: E Fs G A B C D E
Key of B: B Cs D E Fs G A B
Key of D: D E F G A Bb C D
Key of G: G A Bb C D Eb F G
Key of C: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
Key of F: F G Ab Bb C Db Eb F
Maqam Rasd: ( same as 3ajam but drop 3rd and 7th by ?)
===========
Tonal division: 1 3/4 3/4 1 1 3/4 3/4
Key of C: C D Ek F G A Bk C (popular)
Key of G: G A Bk C D E Fz G (popular)
Key of D: D E Fz G A B Cz D
Key of A: A B Cz D E Fs Gz A
Key of E: E Fs Gz A B Cs Dz A
Key of B: B Cs Dz E Fs Gs Az B
Key of F: F G Ak Bb C D Ek F (popular)
Maqam Byati: ( same as Nahawend but drop 2nd by ?)
============ ( *optional: raise 6th by ? on way up )
Tonal division: 3/4 3/4 1 1 ? 1 1
Key of A: A Bk C D E F* G A (popular)
Key of E: E Fz G A B C* D E
Key of B: B Cz D E Fs G* A B
Key of D: D Ek F G A Bb* C D (popular)
Key of G: G Ak Bb C D Eb* F G (popular)
Key of C: C Dk Eb F G Ab* Bb C
Key of F: F Gk Ab Bb C Db* Eb F
Maqam Kurd: (Same tonal division as Nahawend, but starts from 5th)
===========
Tonal division: ? 1 1 1 ? 1 1
Key of E: E F G A B C D E (popular)
Key of B: B C D E Fc G A B
Key of F: F Gb Ab Bb C Db Eb F
Key of A: A Bb C D E F G A (popular)
Key of D: D Eb F G A Bb C D (popular)
Key of G: G Ab Bb C D Eb F G (popular)
Key of C: C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C
Maqam Hijaz: ( So close to Kurd on paper! )
============ ( *optional: raise 6th by ? on and off )
Tonal division: ? 1.5 ? 1 ? 1 1
*
Key of E: E F Gs A B C D E
Key of B: B C Ds E Fs G A B
Key of F: F Gb A Bb C Db Eb F
Key of A: A Bb Cs D E F G A (popular)
Key of D: D Eb Fs G A Bb C D (popular)
Key of G: G Ab B C D Eb F G (popular)
Key of C: C Db E F G Ab Bb C
Maqam Sika:
=========== (* Optional: may drop 5th by ? tone)
Tonal division: 3/4 1 ? 1.5 ? 1 3/4
*
Key of C: Cz D E F Gs A B Cz
Key of G: Gz A B C Ds E Fs Gz
Key of D: Dk Eb F Gb A Bb C Dk
Key of F: Fz G A Bb Cs D E Fz
Key of B: Bk C D Eb Fs G A Bk (popular)
Key of E: Ek F G Ab B C D Ek (popular)
Key of A: Ak Bb C Db E F G Ak
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oudplayer
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hey zalzal
Awesome stuff thx alot i have a question ?? when it says key of ECT does that mean the strinf or the starts from the note . it might be a silly
question but not sure . and willing to make a fool of my slef.
thx sammy
we are lost camels in the desert and wanna find our way to water and the water is in aden
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