Al Yahudi
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Basic notes and theory
Ahalan Everyone here,
Just started taking lessons and I am looking for printable
notes and basic music theory. I have read notes in the past but dont remember a thing.
Does anyone know of a good online resource? I have searched the forums but couldnt find anything substantial that teaches music theory for the oud
from scratch, everything that I have found assumes that one knows basic note reading and I dont really.
Thanks a lot for the help!
Peace
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Tom Moran
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Here's a link to a thread on Marina's book. It's excellent and does hove a section on basic theory.
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=8078#pid529...
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Al Yahudi
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Re:
Thanks for the reply.
I have ordered and sent that book back. Its too shallow and assumes you know how to read music. No substitute for a teacher I guess..
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MatthewW
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try: http://www.turath.org/
also Oud Proffs CD/DVD, highly recommended:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=7231
Jamil Bashir Method (thanks to ALAMI)
http://www.arabicouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=6257#pid3...
good luck amigo! 
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Edward Powell
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http://www.maqamworld.com has very useful VERY basic maqam theory well demonstrated. This is for Arab maqams
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Danielo
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Hi,
I am not sure that the info on maqamworld is completely correct...
-for instance the second jins of Huseyni is said to be rast on g, I believe it is bayati on a
-the huzam scale (ascending) is given as finishing on high e half-flat, I thought that the third jins was nawa athar on c ?
-the second jins of bayati is said to be busalik on g, I believe that (at least in the ascending form) it is ajam on f ?
and so on..
My knowledge of maqamat is very limited but do "experts" agree ?
Dan
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nayoud
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There is also Cameron Powers' very basic book
http://www.amazon.com/Arabic-Musical-Scales-Teachings-without/dp/09...
Hisham
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Edward Powell
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haha!
yes, maqamworld is often incorrect, but it is not a bad place to start for a beginner as long as you keep in mind that a lot of it is incorrect.
anyway, thinking strictly in terms of static scales and tetrachords will always lead you into trouble when trying to analyze maqamat. The problem is
that no makam is static, and many notes shift position depending on your melodic direction.
for example - yes it is clearly incorrect to say that the second jins of huseini is rast from neva. It is a sin to say this simply because it gives
the impression that neva is a strong note in huseini--- but in fact the huseini note itself (A in Arab tuning, E in Turkish), obviously, is the most
important note in Huseini makam! So yes the second jins is something like a bayati (or ussak) from A. But this is also not at all correct because this
'bayati' tetrachord is just as often played as a 'kourd' tetrachord - - - that B is constantly shifting between half and full flat. If you don't
"catch" this characteristic movement of this note you will not get the huseini feeling.
Huzam, on the other hand is REALLY confusing if you listen to both Arab and Turk way of playing it. Arabs seem to make a very big hijaz from G... but
the Turks make an EXTREMELY SMALL hijaz from that same point (neva).
I think it is basically correct to say that the second jins of Bayati is Busalik from neva (G). Because neva is the dominant and in Bayati it is
supposed to be MORE important than the tonic. Also the Bb doesn't shift at all until you start "aiming" for the high octave, then this buselik from
neva becomes a Rast from neva.
The one main thing I don't like about maqamworld, and in fact general Arab maqam theory is that although the dominant is pointed out, still there
seems to be an absence of the recognision of which is MORE important, the tonic - dominant - or octave.
This theory feature is one of the main things I really prefer about the Turkish theory over the Arab. Arab theory simplifies it so much that you have
a hard time extracting any makam feeling from the theory. Turk theory, rather, divides makams into 3 catagories;
1- those makams which have the tonic as the most important
2- the dominant most important
3- the octave most....
the first catagory highlights LOW notes, the second - MID-RANGE, the 3rd, focuses on HIGH NOTES, and finally descend back down to the tonic.
---please correct any of my mistaken understandings, thanks!
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Danielo
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Hi Edward,
thanks for you insights about Huseyni, I did not know about the importance of kurdi.
About bayati, I must admit that it is rather confusing for me. I agree that nawa is the most important note, however I had the feeling that we had
something like
ajam on f with a strong emphasis on the second (nawa). To be more precise, I don't feel that busalik on g is really exposed? (see for instance
Sunbati's taqsim)
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Edward Powell
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Bayati of course is very confusing - in my opinion because probably as a result of the simplification of the Arab theory... what seems to have
happened is that the Arab theory lost this distinction, to a large degree, between makams that have the tonic as most important, and makams that have
the dominant or octave as most important. This loss, I feel, is particularly noticable with makam bayati.... but, on the other hand, if we look at
it in a more positive light, the 'modern arab bayati' can also be seen as something new and unique unto itself.
According to Turkish theory the 4th degree of bayati is far more strong than the tonic, but arabs forgot or dropped, or ignored this and simply play
bayati starting with the tonic. In Turkish theory this would be USSAK makam. But it is not so simple to say that modern arab bayati is simply ussak,
because in order to make a REAL ussak you must make a very strong rast on low G (yegah note)... but it seems that arab bayati is not doing this. So I
seem them as 3 similar, but quite different makams, Arab Bayati, Turk Bayati, and Ussak.
Turk bayati (perhaps this is closest to the original??) will NEVER open with the tonic. It starts right away strongly on the 4th degree, and also will
never venture melodically below the tonic (whereas in USSAK you MUST!)
Regarding the ajam on F.... yes, of course, this is once very important SMALL STOPPING POINT. This is where the concept of the SEYIR comes into
great importance. Because when understanding the character of a makam you must know:
1-basic scale
2-basic tetrachords
3-how do these tetrachord change/alter when the melodic direction changes
4-what are the essential SMALL STOPPING POINTS... these are known, NOT AS MODULATIONS, but simply as very small -but very important- momentary
stopping points on other makams. Ajam on F is a great example of this. What you do is just for a moment in your taksim, you suddenly imagine that you
are playing ajam makam from F... just for a moment... then you reorient yourself BACK to bayati. Every makam has some of these which are really
really important to know - in order to get the feeling.
This is why it is really important to know the SEYIR..... which is something maqam world doesn't even mention.
In fact I never heard a Arab player mention this concept. Maybe it has a different name? But my guess is that Arabs know this by "feeling/experience",
but Turks have written it down as a theory.
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Brian Prunka
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Thanks for the distinctions Edward. I know Johnny (who runs Maqamworld) and will send him your suggestions. He is always trying to improve the
site.
I have heard Simon Shaheen talk about seyir, using that word, and also talk about the focus of the maqam (tonic/dominant/octave) and directionality.
I hope you get to go to Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon; I think it will help you get closer to what you're looking for (real Arabic maqam) . . . then
you can write a book explaining it. A sort of comparative maqam/makam theory?
Back to the original topic of this thread, I think what you may need is a basic music book (not oud related) that explains how to read music in a
general way.
Otherwise, there is the oudtutor:
http://www.pro.com.eg/oudtutor/
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Edward Powell
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Thanks Brian.... sounds like I need to talk to Simon one of these day 
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nayoud
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With all that was said in mind, does anybody have this book on
"Turkish Music Theory and principles"
http://www.tulumba.com/storeItem.asp?ic=zBK980282DN312
Cheers
Hisham
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Edward Powell
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There in fact is one book on Turkish makam theory which was written by an American I think in the 80's... this is just an excellent (!) book, but I
forget the name and author.
I'm sure Eliot can tell us about this.
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nayoud
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Edward Powell
There in fact is one book on Turkish makam theory which was written by an American I think in the 80's... this is just an excellent (!) book, but I
forget the name and author.
I'm sure Eliot can tell us about this. |
Edward
I think you mean Karl Signell... actually, he is right here in Maryland very close to where I live.
His book "Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish Art Music" was out pf print for sometime but now its been reissued lately in paperback as well as CD form
(by usul books in Florida):
http://www.amazon.com/Makam-Modal-Practice-Turkish-Music/dp/0976045...
What i was looking for is a Maqam equivalent to "The Ragas of Northern Indian Music" by Alain Danielou or "The Rags of North India" by Walter
Kaufmann. Unfortunately there is nothing in the Arabic language that I know of that is encyclopedic in this regard .
Cheers
Hisham
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Al Yahudi
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Re Original Post
Brian , Thanks for the note.
I think I am going to look for a basic music theory book and stick with my teachers method Brandon T, you probably know him
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