amtaha - 4-6-2011 at 07:31 AM
I came across this the other day
http://www.arabicmusic4u.com/combined_maqamaat.htm
I was was trying to see if I can more samples where pentatonic scale is used in Arabic music.
Does any one has more thoughts or examples on this?
Thanks,
Hamid.
John Erlich - 4-6-2011 at 09:16 AM
Ahalan Hamid,
As far as listening, this is my favorite recording of Arabic-language music in mostly pentatonic scales: http://www.amazon.com/Songs-Sudan-Mustafa-Al-Sunni/dp/B00000IXIL
Mustafa Al Sunni's music sounds to my ears like it has a strong influence from Sub-Saharan Africa...I assume the source of the pentatonic sounds.
Enjoy,
John
Brian Prunka - 4-6-2011 at 09:18 AM
You can hear pentatonic scales combined with Arabic music in Sudanese music, like you said. Check out Abdel Gadir Salim.
Somalian music uses the oud, but it more typically pentatonic.
I've heard some microtonal pentatonics in Moroccan music, but I can't recall any examples offhand.
Khalid_Salé - 4-8-2011 at 06:48 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-IUHxySwUo
Said Chraibi is playing a taqsim in a pentatonic mode here. The music of Moroccan Berbers is frequently pentatonic.
Jaffa Road - 4-8-2011 at 02:17 PM
Some of Hamza el Din - if I recall correctly ??
amtaha - 4-9-2011 at 05:26 PM
@John: Thanks for the suggestion. The CD is really great.
@Brian: Would you believe me if I told you I never heard Somali music before? Wikipedia has an interesting entry about their music.
@Khalid: I see in the comment a praise for "Atlas, Sous, Sahara" These would be the Berber areas, I presume?
@Jaffa: Hamza El Din's a definite resource, but I was trying to gather more examples and takes on the scale.
I'll be trying to see if there are some literature on the subject, and let you know if I find reasonable findings.
Stay well,
Hamid.
Khalid_Salé - 4-10-2011 at 02:59 PM
Yes, Atlas and Souss are Berber areas (Atlas is the mountain range, Souss is the name of the region). Sahara refers to the desert area where they are
Sanhaji Arab-Berbers, not really connected to the Soussis in their culture or language, but also having a lot of pentatonic music. The Sahara culture
is very similar to that of Mauritania, where their music is also very pentatonic. There are some great Mauritanian traditional female singers who put
one in mind of nothing so much as the Blues Queens of the twenties and thirties.
But none of these make much use of the oud; they are Arabs or mixed Arabs, but their music has a much more 'African' feel, similar to that of Sudan,
Chad, etc.