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Author: Subject: Can anyone explain whats up with Maqamat and time ?
Al Yahudi
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[*] posted on 4-22-2010 at 07:41 AM
Can anyone explain whats up with Maqamat and time ?


I am learning without a teacher.

Going over maqamworld material I realize that there is certain numbers under each note of the maqam and I wonder how do you actually treat these numbers, are these the comparative time one needs to take to let each note play before playing the next or is it the pitch playing each tome ?

Thanks for the clarification
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Danielo
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[*] posted on 4-22-2010 at 07:50 AM


Hi,

there are just the intervals between adjacent notes (counted in fractions of a tone).

Dan

PS: I recommend Oudproff's DVD you'll find more material than on maqamworld (which is a good start but not always correct)
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fernandraynaud
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[*] posted on 4-23-2010 at 01:15 AM


Oudprof's DVD helps in so many ways, it's the best $25 you can spend.

His Maqam Analyzer is a program (a spreadsheet actually) that allows you to enter info like root and dominant note, and the intervals (in quarter tones). It then shows all the maqamat that fit the data you've supplied so far. You can use it to identify maqamat in existing music, but also to help you "plan" improvisations.

Allow me to give an example of how I've used it. Let's say I want to base a piece on the A (La) string, so I want to know which maqamat have a tonic in low A. There are 6 as I recall. And which of those start with a Bayat tetrachord? I think there are two. So maybe I'll start a Taqsim with one of them, rooted on a Bayat on A. Then to plan modulations I can enter different intervals for the upper jins and it will show me what the resulting maqamat are called, that's handy! With that information I can go back into the video clips and study how those maqamat have been played. It's a GREAT little tool.

The starting tutorials are very useful, as are the exercises.

Then as you study a maqam (there are about 100), video clips show the fingering and then examples of how the seyir or "path" is worked. A typical maqam will include 3-4 good example taqasim.

All in all this DVD is a jewel, especially for anybody who's studying on their own. Practicing within a maqam sets up a framework with rules and expectations, which is exactly what a player needs to explore and develop creatively, instead of learning "songs". As to the latter, there's a little bug so that it doesn't always obey the command to stop playing songs in the background as you read, and THOU SHALT learn a few songs whether you want to or not. :D

Everyone abso-%$#@-lutely sh'oud have it! ;)


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Danielo
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[*] posted on 4-23-2010 at 01:48 AM


Hi Fernand,

I have oudprof's first version of the DVD, the description of the maqamat is a bit too sketchy, i.e. little is said (sometimes nothing) about the seyr and common modulations.

Has v.2. more stuff about this?

thanks!

Dan
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fernandraynaud
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[*] posted on 4-23-2010 at 07:24 PM


You know, I can't compare, I only have version 2. He includes several examples for most maqamat, which illustrate the seyir, but the text says little, it only has room for the basic description of the maqam, as shown.

But where have you seen much written information on the Seyir? The Turkish tradition seems to have more prescribed seyir, but for the Arabic one, we may have to scrape, like D'Erlanger's volume 5, and Marcus' dissertation.

Still, this DVD is a blessing, with the Analyzer and a collection of video examples organized for quick access I think it's fantastic. Just the ability to immerse yourself in a different maqam every day for a practice session is very useful.

I have some bug reports and suggestions. More info on typical modulations would be great. It would make sense if we all submitted suggestions for what we would like to see in version 3.

(Marcus, Scott Lloyd (1989). Arab music theory in the modern period, Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. Published by U.M.I. 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106.)



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bibo10
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[*] posted on 4-23-2010 at 08:43 PM


I think i need to buy that DVD




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Michael-GOD BLESS EGYPT
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Danielo
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[*] posted on 4-24-2010 at 05:11 AM


Thanks Fernand.

Looking at the Bayati description in the first version, the text is basically the same but there are less examples in mine - so the difference lies in the videos not in the text!

The only source that comes to my mind regarding Seyr is Elranger's book. It's sometimes explicit in the description of the maqamat, otherwise it is easy to understand from the taqsim scores.

(for those that don't have it yet here is a pdf of this great work).

Dan
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Al Yahudi
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[*] posted on 4-25-2010 at 03:12 AM


Fernand ,

Thanks for the tips regading the dvd.

I have an issue though and it sounds like you can clarify this for me.
I find it easy to pick up middle eastern songs or any other rythem and play it by ear, but it seams for me impossible to "hear" the maqam not to mention improvise a little bit.

for instance, the "learn to play videos" on this website are ok for me to play until it come to the taqasims part where i lose track.

I am afraid to get frustrated with the dvd if it wont sexplain basic maqam and modulation stuff and assumes it is obvious.
I know basic notes but I tend to read them once just to pick it uo and take it from there.

any suggestions what to do ?

thanks a lot




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[*] posted on 4-25-2010 at 05:12 AM


Hi Al,

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBOizia1tZg, it's Cinuçen Tanrıkorur's Lecture-Demonstration on "TAKSIM (Improvisation) in Turkish Music", check it out.

Also, when I was starting out, several players told me to listen to the Samai for the makam I was trying to improvise on. The parts of the Samai give you a few modulations for the makam they're written in. But first, watch the Tanrıkorur letcures, and see if this helps any.

Lastly, it helps to listen to taksims by players you like, and not just on Oud -- but violin, kanun, ney, clarinet, and vocals. Good luck man.

Regards..PaulO
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Sazi
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[*] posted on 4-25-2010 at 05:18 AM


Quote: Originally posted by Al Yahudi  

I am afraid to get frustrated with the dvd if it wont sexplain basic maqam and modulation stuff and assumes it is obvious.
I know basic notes but I tend to read them once just to pick it uo and take it from there.

any suggestions what to do ?








This section of maqamworld should help there...

http://www.maqamworld.com/modulation.html





http://www.youtube.com/Sazi369

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fernandraynaud
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[*] posted on 4-26-2010 at 01:00 AM


Who am I to say? I'm a western trained musician, mostly self-taught at that, who has taken an interest in skarki music. Sazi's reference is one I was going to suggest as well. Somehow playing the maqamat, learning to play them, triggers new ideas to improvise. Playing the lower jins then the upper then together then switching out the upper for an entirely different one, there aren't that many, somehow opens up something that feels right, like the sound of water running contains all notes and all melodies. Not much of an answer, sorry.

I should add that there is an element of concentration in any improv that is very important, somthing like listening to the notes themselves and how they interact, at a much deeper level than a melody, and that is why studying the maqamat is so useful. It makes you feel those relations.
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