Oudoneit
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Turkish pitch and performance practice
I thought I had it sussed: The first string of a Turkish oud is tuned to D at concert pitch but is notated as G, a fourth higher.
However, I just tried to play along with a recording by Murat Aydemir (tanbur) and Salih Bilgin (ney) from the wonderful disc, 'Neva' (Golden Horn
Records), of the Neva Pesrevi by Cemil Bey. The first note is notated as an E, and when they play it - it sounds like an E at concert pitch. i.e.
notation and concert pitch are the same. I was playing an 'E' on the second course, second 'fret' (on my oud), and was therefore a fourth too low. I
had to play the second 'fret' on the first course.
Have I misunderstood something, or have the performers transposed the pieces to suit their instruments? If so, is this a common performance practice?
I thought all Turkish instruments read from the same score.
Rob
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adamgood
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Hi Rob,
No worries, you're on the right track, they transposed it to be playing in "Kiz" (the i should be a dot-less "i") tuning system. this is a very common
tuning that Turkish musicians play from, especially for this pitched ney that Salih plays on for i think the whole CD.
There are names for the different tuning systems, for Bolahenk tuning, the Neva piece would start from concert A. Kiz tuning the Neva piece would
start from concert E (you're best off beginning from the open 3rd string)
the other names of the tuning systems I don't know off hand, can anyone else post those for reference?
regardless of what pitches the piece (meaning all turkish pieces) will sound at, the notation will always stay at the same place.
does it make sense what I wrote?
Adam
-------
Adam here to say that this seems to be incorrect what I wrote! changes below.
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Oudoneit
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Hi Adam,
Bolahenk, I've heard of. Kiz, I haven't - until now. So one could read Turkish scores at concert pitch (an octave lower) if it suits you and whoever
else you are playing with? So which instruments prefer which tuning system?
Rob
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adamgood
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HEY! I really think I made a mistake! It's not kiz tuning i believe it's Mansur but someone with more knowledge may want to double check me on
that?
If you are saying that they're recording begins on the concert pitch E then that would mean their Rast = G. sorry about that, someone please double
check me on this? thanks.
I believe these to be the correct names of the different tunings in Turkish music. On the left is the name, on the right a description of what concert
pitch the note Rast will equal.
mansur - rast = G
sah - rast = F
davut - rast = E
bolahenk - rast = D
süpürde - rast = C
müstahsen - rast = B
kiz - rast = A
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al-Halabi
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Adam is correct, the piece is played in Mansur. It is transposed a fifth lower than the Turkish notation indicates. In Bolahenk tuning, the tonic of
makam Neva, the note dugah, is concert pitch E (the makam would be referred to as being 'yerinde,' meaning 'in its base position'). In this
performance the tonic is concert pitch A, which is a fifth lower (or a fourth higher) than the standard 'yerinde' pitch for dugah. If you want to play
along with the recording on an oud in Turkish tuning, it would be easier to play a fourth higher, using the open second course neva as your tonic,
although the notes that are in the higher register (like tiz cargah and tiz neva) will be a challenge. The alternative is to play with the note yegah
as your tonic, which is awkward in this makam.
Transposing a fifth lower on the tanbur for this piece does not pose a technical problem because the tonic becomes the open melody string, which is in
concert pitch A. On an oud with Arabic tuning the piece can also be played easily in this transposition with the open fourth course as the tonic.
Transpositions a fourth lower (to the Kiz Neyi tuning) are much easier to accommodate on the oud because you just move to the next lower course.
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al-Halabi
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Rob, it's fairly common to hear Turkish pieces transposed. In solo pieces, oud players will most commonly transpose a fourth lower. It allows them to
extend the range available on the higher octaves and also to create different sonorities with the lower pitches. A piece or taksim in Huseyni or
Hicaz, for instance, would be played with B instead of E as the tonic. Kanun, ney and tanbur players will also transpose pieces. Neys that come tuned
in Kiz or Mansur tunings, which are common on flutes, require additional instruments to play the pieces a fourth or fifth lower (or higher) to
accommodate them. In vocal pieces, transposition is sometimes necessary in order to accommodate the voice of the singers. So the standard notation is
not taken as binding, but is often transposed from necessity or choice. Feel free to experiment.
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Oudoneit
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Thanks guys. It is interesting to me that players will transpose when playing solo, as there are no other players in my area, so I have to play solo.
Transposition gives me more freedom, but I have to be able to transpose at sight. I can read in Bolahenk, and now I realise I could easily read in
Mansur, but the others might take some working out. It would also be easier to find other instruments such as flute and violin to play along with if
they could read at concert pitch, and if they could find the microtones...
This also raises questions about what sort of musical techniques players use when they are arranging solo pieces. I'm thinking of parallel runs in
octaves, and...what else? Scales, drones, thirds??
Rob
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