Astrophysicist
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Makam book question
Dear friends,
I am on a big dilemma on what book should I choose to obtain a deeper understanding of makam modal theory. One thing is that I feel so confused
because of the different nay systems (bolahenk, kiz, etc) and what a player has to do on the fingerboard of the ud in order to be in accordance with
these systems. Is there any proper-or primordial-reference system? I guess no... A player must be adaptive and ready for any tonic that a nay player
plays in. Anyway, that is not my only point. I want to find out many other things too, such as what is hidden behind double named makams, eg buselik
asiran, tahir buselik, saba zemzeme, etc...
I believe that I've red anything it is free on the internet on makam theory and I concluded I need a book covering that topic. My first book was Habib
Hasan Touma "The music of the Arabs". It is a great introductory book but only that. What do you think about Karl Signell's book? (I've found that
there is a cd edition too, with additional material, look at lulu.com).
Any suggestions?
thanks in advance,
George.
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Edward Powell
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Hi George -WELCOME!
It sounds like you really want to learn about makams. This is great, and your desire alone - if maintained - will take you there. From my own
experience and incredible struggle, and moderate success so far, I can suggest a few things.
First of all, as Ross Daly told me at my beginning, 1- you must STUDY makam theory, it is intricate, confusing, and different than anything else, and
you won't catch it without study. 2- he also told me that if you want to get to know something you need to GET CLOSE TO IT.
ok - basically listen as much as you can... read and absorb as much as you can... try to figure things out on your own, then when you get stuck
and have questions - ASK FOR HELP!
It is like putting a large jigsaw puzzel together, piece by piece... don't worry too much about the final conclusion, just focus on one small piece
at a time. It will TWIST your brain at first, but very soon you will start to notice connections and more connections. The point is that from all the
craziness there is a system in that is completely interconnected - so very soon your knowledge starts to build on itself and it gets easier and
easier.
First of all - do NOT worry about playing in all the different tunings. This is A VERY ADVANCED THING, not for starters. Just pick ONE TUNING AND STAY
THERE UNTIL YOU ARE MUCH FURTHER ALONG. I for one almost never change tunings.
You must decide if you are going to play Arab or Turkish style (for the time being, then switch later if you want... but just do one at a time).
A great way to learn the makams is to:
1- have recordings of a particular compostion.
2- get the notes for this composition.
3- learn the comp. and try to analyze the logic behind EACH note. When you don't understand why a particular note is there --- ASK!
Get started with one makam, one composition, and post your progress right here. When you get confused, just ask - those who know will be happy to help
I'm sure.
Is there anyone near you who can give at least a couple of makam lessons?
you can get tons of notes here:
http://www.turkmusikisi.com/nota/index.htm
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adamgood
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Hi George,
Edward mentions to stick to one tuning system at first, it's a great idea. Probably everyone here will agree Bolahenk is best to start with and
probably it's what you're most used to. Of course all of your recordings of taksims and pieces are in different tunings but if you have Amazing
Slowdowner or something similar, you can re-pitch to bolahenk.
regardless of re-pitching, it's useful if you can follow a taksim in your head as you're listening, meaning while you are hearing a taksim from any
tuning, follow in your mind in bolahenk tuning where on the ud the person is playing. This will really help you to get into the makam system. Does it
make sense what I'm saying?
There are unfortunately no english translations for the good theory books that have been designed in TR but I would say it's worth it to check out
Signell's book. It gives some nice anecdotes and some history as well as some theory.
What else, ja I agree with Edward, pick one makam to study for a very long time, gather as many recordings as possible for that one makam and just
listen listen listen.
Ask tons of questions!! No matter how basic you think the question is. There are lots of knowledgeable people on this message board.
Something about the "double name" makams, typically they are compound makams. Tahir Buselik is made up of two makams (yup you guessed it, tahir +
buselik). It begins like Tahir and ends instead like Buselik.
But there are many compound makams that aren't named like this, Ferahfeza being one of them (there's a recent thread on Ferahfeza).
FYI, In the case of Kurdilihicazkar, this means "makam hicazkar with the pitch kurdi"
what else? ask some more questions, you are on a roll.
adam
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Edward Powell
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yes, of course bolahank is the place to start if you decide on turkish - but if you want to play arabic SUPERDE is the default homeground.
my suggestion is to learn the turkish system because after that the arabic system is a breeze... but the other way around might not work since the
arab way of learning is based more on ear training rather than intellectual explanations (which work better for Western adults).
anyway, regarding the makams you already mentioned it sounds like you are oriented towards Turk.
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Astrophysicist
Oud Lover
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I don't know what to say you guys...It is so moving that you understood my dead-end and you replied back to me...THANK you so much.
Edward, I can tell that you identified my orientation! I live in greece, forgot to tell ya, so I prefer to begin with the turkish practice of the
makams. It seems that our traditional music is sharing much with turkish traditional music so I could benefit from it as I am not a complete alien to
that music.
Well, one of the biggest obstackles is the language problem. Indeed, only few books are written in english regarding that topic. I think I will order
Signell's book that week.
Currently I have a problem. Does anybody knows what happened to http://www.neyzen.com ? It's been three months since I cannot load the page. I am also sure that you are not having the same problem, because I
would easily have picked up, here in the forum, the same complaint as mine! I strongly believe that somehow my ip is banned(!) from that page, because
when I click on the google "temporary saved page" of neyzen.com, it shows a newly designed page! I cannot though reach the nota arsivi section... Can
anyone figure out what the problem is?
Anyway, I have many questions and at that time I am trying to scan the entire forum before I post something already questioned.
Yesterday I attended a yayli tanbur concert! The player was Evgenios Voulgaris and he played four classic turkish music pieces. I think he begun the
concert with Veli Dede's Hicaz humayun pesrev. It was really nice! Evgenios is a teacher of traditional musical instruments at the technical
educational institute of Epirus, Greece (Ι think there are some youtube videos with him). I met him right after the end of the concert and I
think I will arrange a makam lesson with him soon! I am really aware that dealing only with books you cant get much further. That concert brought me
hopes!
George.
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Edward Powell
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Good luck George!
Don't be afraid to ask questions even if they have been previously covered. This happens continuously anyway.
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Marina
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Scot Marcus book about maqams (his phd. work) is very rich, maybe too much information,  but if you want ALL the information, this is the book.
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michoud
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Hi all!
Marina what´s the name of Scoot´s book about maqam??
Thanks in advance
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ALAMI
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The full thesis has been made available to these forums members since a while thanks to our friend TP21, the download link is available in the FAQ
thread:
http://www.arabicouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=6809
I just edited my post there to make it clear
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Astrophysicist
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Thank you guys for your interest,
I think that Dr. Marcus's book is a difficult and not an introductory book. Very difficult to digest with many references that you have to follow up,
in order to deepen your understanding. But hey, thats the academic way! It is a PhD thesis and thats the way it should look like. On the other hand,
Rodolphe D'Erlanger's work is something that any arabic makam enthusiast should have in his/her archives. But even that, it is not the panacea.
Anyway, I hope Signell's book will prove to be what I'm looking for.
Any other books concerning mainly turkish makamlar?
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