journeyman
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questions about notation
Hello,
I have two questions about notation in Arabic music. If you are playing a Samai in Rast for example, and in the 2nd or third theme there is a
natural sign before the B, I assume that the B does indeed become natural, like the 7th degree of a major scale. The question is, if after that the B
appears with a flat sign in front of it, does this mean the B is a Bb or does it revert back to the quarter tone flat of the Rast maqam?
The second question is, if the maqam changes from Rast on C (Do) to one with Ab and B natural, does the E (Me) remain a quarter tone flat or is it
assumed that the maqam has changed to Nahawand with Eb?
This should be obvious but I'm a bit confused, so any help would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Roy
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Brian Prunka
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Hi Roy,
accidentals (symbols changing the pitch, e.g., flat, sharp, natural, etc.) only change the note they are applied to, and subsequent occurences of the
same note in the same measure. For instance, if you're in Rast and a B-half-flat is raised to B natural, then the rest of the B's in the
measure are also natural unless they're changed to something else by another accidental. The next measure is back to normal (i.e., whatever the
key signature indicates). However, a "courtesy" accidental is often written in to remind you that the note is changed back. While not
necessary, it often helps avoid confusion and facilitate sight-reading.
The accidentals do not change any other notes (the answer to your second question would be that the E stays half-flat).
Finally, the modern practice is that accidentals apply only to the octave in which they appear. So if the B in the middle of the staff has a natural
sign, the B below middle C is not affected and is thus still half-flat (assuming we're still talking about Rast). This practice is not uniformly
adhered to in middle-eastern music and pre-19th century western music, so sometimes the music is written assuming that an accidental in one octave
applies to other octaves as well. Usually one can tell from the musical context whether this is the case.
For example, the instance we're talking about, Rast with Ab and B natural, is Maqam Suznak. In maqam Suznak, the B below middle C is almost
always B-half-flat unless you're modulating to Nahawand in the lower jins. So unless it's specifically noted and makes sense in the music,
you wouldn't assume that the lower B is natural as well.
Hope this clears things up . . .
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journeyman
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Hello Brian,
Thanks for the information. There is just one thing that I am not clear on, and that is when after the note appears with a natural sign there is a
flat sign before it, in this case Bb, does this mean it reverts back to the Rast quarter tone flat or is it really a Bb? (1/2 tone below B)
Thanks,
Roy
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Brian Prunka
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Hi Roy,
in that case it would actually be Bb. If it was a B half-flat, it would have the half-flat sign (flat with a slash through it).
Brian
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journeyman
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Thanks a lot Brian; that clears things up perfectly.
Cheers,
Roy
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