David Parfitt
Oud Junkie
Posts: 629
Registered: 11-16-2003
Location: Devon, UK
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Iraqi maqams
Hi everyone
I am currently in the process of updating my website, and would like to add a section on Iraqi maqams. Can anyone give me any more info (such as
ascending/descending forms of the scale, root notes, variations) on the following maqams:
Awj, Awshar, Dasht, Khanabat, Lami, Laouk, Mukhalif, Penjgah, Rahawi
(I understand there is a certain amount of Persian influence in some of these.)
I already have the info in the Munir Bashir 'Art of the Oud' CD written by Simon Jargy, and the info on Maqam Lami that was posted on the
Oud Message Board.
Best wishes
David
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Wm. De Leonardis
Oud Maniac
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Hey, David,
Have you seen the book The Maqam Music Tradition in Iraq by Y. Kojaman? I picked it up at the library were I work the other day. Though I haven't
had a chance to read it yet, at first glance it seems to cover some maqams in detail. It includes two CD's of some wonderful old recordings,
too--oud is not very present, though.
Reference:
The Maqam Music Tradition in Iraq
Y. Kojaman
2001, London, ISBN 0953975215
Let me know if you need any more information on the book, and I'll look into it.
Cheers,
William
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TruePharaoh21
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What do you specify as Iraqi maqams? Are these just different names for the ones that we have already (Rast, nahawand, etc.) or are they completely
different scales?
TP21
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David Parfitt
Oud Junkie
Posts: 629
Registered: 11-16-2003
Location: Devon, UK
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Iraqi maqams
Hi TP
I think most of the maqams I listed are unique to Iraq. (Some may even be specific to a particular city or region of Iraq - apparently maqams Mansuri,
Ibrahimi, Mahmudi, Laouk, Shur and others are associated with Mosul.) Awj Ara (=Awj?) is similar to the Turkish Evcara makam, but I cannot find much
agreement on the interval structure of the scale or even the 'base' note (iraq or kawasht?). I understand that Mukhalif, Dasht, Penjgah and
Awshar correspond to Persian modes with similar names. According to the Orientaltunes website, Maqam Lami was invented by the Iraqi singer Qabbanji in
the last century.
I am also not sure to what exent the maqams correspond to those used in the Iraqi 'maqam' style of singing. As far as I know, the oud was
pretty much an accompanying instrument for such singers in Iraq until Sherif Muheiddin and Munir Bashir made it more of a solo instrument. However, I
don't know whether the maqams were 'carried across' directly from the vocal music or whether they underwent any further development on
the oud. (By the way, thanks William for the reference to the maqam book - I'll certainly check it out.)
On the subject of Iraqi oud, does anyone have the Oud Method by Jamil Bashir? Or the one by Sherif Muheiddin? There is an article in Arabic on Jamil
Bashir I found recently at:
http://www.iraqiartist.com/Arabic/Articles/Asim_Alchalabi_1.htm
Look forward to hearing your feedback.
Best wishes
David
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tillit
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maqam
Dear Mr. David Parfitt,
do you know how comes the same maqam (3.6.1.5.2.6.1) is called 'awg'ara / 'aug'ara / 'awj'ara ? Is the one correct version? Do you know anything about
the meaning of this maqam?
Beste wiches from Hamburg/Germany,
Till Knipper
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al-Halabi
Oud Junkie
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David,
I just noticed your original inquiry from last year. In case it is still relevant I wanted to recommend a recent book that could help answer your
questions about the characteristics of various Iraqi maqams.
It is The Repertoire of Iraqi Maqam, by Rob Simms (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2004). The work, written by an ethnomusicologist, gives a
good introduction to the tradition of Iraqi maqam, followed by an analysis of over forty maqams as performed by some of the top practitioners of this
art, like Sha'oubi Ibrahim, Yusuf Omar, and Rashid Qundarchi.
Your comments about the distinctness of the Iraqi maqam tradition are correct. It includes not only modes unique to Iraq, but a whole elaborate art of
singing the maqam (called "qira'a" or reading of the maqam) which is not found in other Arab countries. The Iraqi maqam has definite affinities with
Persian music, both on the theoretical level and in performance style, but it has also drawn on Turkish and Kurdish elements that together have
combined to give the music its special character.
The oud method of Muhiddin Targan was published in Turkey in 1995 (under the title Ud Metodu). It preseves all his original comments and instructions,
with explications of older Ottoman Turkish words that would no longer be familiar to a Turkish reader today. Jamil Bashir's oud method follows an
instruction methodology similar to Muhiddin's, with comparable excercises and drills to build speed and control in both hands.
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