Johnnyboy
Oud Maniac
Posts: 63
Registered: 7-1-2007
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Ahwak driving me nuts!
Good day to all of you!
So I have been practicing Ahwak by Abdel Halim Hafez by ear for a while now and it has brought me some questions.
Now, the first part of the song is easy but it is the second part of the song that is really driving me crazy! 
Everytime I listen to that part I wonder what kind of weird scale/maqam it is played in.
If you're not familiar with the song, please go to http://www.7alim.com/wma/entirelist.shtml where there are different versions of the song Ahwak.
Now since I really love this song, I have been googling the life out of it find this out and I noticed that there has been quite a lot of discussion
between musicians (!) about the maqam it is written in. Please see these interesting discussions here:
1.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:d0jV-iiVRxwJ:w...
2.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Pdau64KkMKUJ:w...
I am quite a newbie when it comes to maqams (I am more of an ear player) but to sum these discussions all up:
- They have concluded that in the second part of the song, the music part (which is the start of the second part) is in Hijaz Kur. That I already
found out myself.
- It is the singing part that comes after that what has been confusing, some say it is in Sika Baladi, Hijaz Ghareeb or Huzam while others say that
it's just a transposed version (by a few cents lower) of the Hijaz Kur. Finally, others say that the old, not so good recording of the song is the
cause thinking the singing part is in another maqam. So there has been quite a quarrel about the singing part containing 1/4 notes or not.
Listening to that part myself, there is a time when I feel it as a transposed Hijaz Kur while another time I feel it as a Sikah Baladi.
So guys, what are your views on this? In what maqam do you play that part?? And can somebody please elaborate what the differences are between Sikah
Baladi, Hijaz Ghareeb and Huzam, preferably by schemes? (maqamworld.com wasn't clear enough for me)
I'd really appreciate it if someone could give me a definitive explanation about this since this song has brought me a few steps closer of throwing
myself out of the window. 
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DoggerelPundit
Oud Junkie
Posts: 141
Registered: 7-28-2010
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Nasreddin Hoca was once on a walk through the countryside.
As it happened, a weary traveler was walking on the same road. Being a fast walker he soon caught up with the Hoca. As he came near, the traveler
heard the old man whistling a tune as he walked. Struck by the beauty and complexity of the tune, the traveler slowed his pace in order to listen and
hear the entire melody. After a while he had heard enough to want to learn it. He caught up with the Hoca to find out how.
"Who are you old man, and how did you learn to whistle such a beautiful tune?"
"I am Nasreddin and I have whistled this tune for years" said the Hoca. "It is called Ahwak."
"Nasreddin Hoca I would love to learn this tune called Ahwak replied the traveler, but it sounds very difficult."
"It is not at all difficult" said the Hoca. "I will tell you how if you like."
"Oh, please do!" the traveler said.
"In truth it is quite easy" Nasreddin replied. "It is merely a matter of whistling each of its notes, one after the next, in the proper order."
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chaldo
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 2-13-2005
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Mood: archaic mood
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I think maqam mustaar is probably the solution here...
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Johnnyboy
Oud Maniac
Posts: 63
Registered: 7-1-2007
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Quote: Originally posted by DoggerelPundit  | Nasreddin Hoca was once on a walk through the countryside.
As it happened, a weary traveler was walking on the same road. Being a fast walker he soon caught up with the Hoca. As he came near, the traveler
heard the old man whistling a tune as he walked. Struck by the beauty and complexity of the tune, the traveler slowed his pace in order to listen and
hear the entire melody. After a while he had heard enough to want to learn it. He caught up with the Hoca to find out how.
"Who are you old man, and how did you learn to whistle such a beautiful tune?"
"I am Nasreddin and I have whistled this tune for years" said the Hoca. "It is called Ahwak."
"Nasreddin Hoca I would love to learn this tune called Ahwak replied the traveler, but it sounds very difficult."
"It is not at all difficult" said the Hoca. "I will tell you how if you like."
"Oh, please do!" the traveler said.
"In truth it is quite easy" Nasreddin replied. "It is merely a matter of whistling each of its notes, one after the next, in the proper order."
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You, sir, have opened my eyes. After reading your story and following Nasreddin's advice I somehow managed to play that confusing part without a
hitch. I didn't know there was such an easy solution to this... :P
Chaldo:
It seems that this maqam is indeed very close to it. Funny enough, I played the notes of this maqam before because I found it closest to that part of
Ahwak without even knowing it was a maqam lol. Now I can finally rest my vague playing on a known acknowledged maqam .
It's weird in the discussion topics they didn't even mention that maqam though.
I noticed that some remixes and performances by other singers of that song just use the Hijaz Kur for that part. 
The only performance I found that uses the original maqam for that part is this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUwXzcpWcmU , performed by Amal Maher (starting from 5:25, though I advice you to listen to the whole song since
she sings it so beautifully). This really sounds like a maqam mustaar indeed.
Thanks a lot for your help! Anyone else who has totally different opinions on this one?
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majnuunNavid
Oud Junkie
Posts: 622
Registered: 7-22-2013
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Mood: Dude, where's my Oud?
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I'm listening to this version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od6LJhVvNOI
I hear Maqam Ajam on F in the beginning, then a modulation to Maqam Shahnaz on D which focuses on jins hijazkar Bb C# D Eb F#, then when the singing
comes back in it's Maqam Saba Zamzam on D with a leading note from Bb that is reminiscent of the melody used in the Shahnaz section.
The Bb to D jump is what is making this sound like mustaar.
I've been referencing this video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWCWs8Spdw) where he says it's in Maqam Kurd, which is a relative mode to ajam, I can see how that can be
misidentified as such. But the beginning section starts and ends on a major chord so it has that major scale feeling.
To make matters worse, in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7iQ-bi0o4 The Oud player is playing some weird pitches in place of Bb, not quite Bb and not quite B half-flat.
Whereas the original video with abdel halim singing, the pitches are clearly full flat.
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