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SEMINAR

Music Spirituality and

Islam

Organized by

The International Institute of Advanced Islamic

Studies (IAIS) Malaysia, the Department of

Malay Studies, National University of

Singapore, the University Scholars Program,

National University of Singapore and

Museum Volunteers JMM

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An Overview of the Maqams

Music of the Arabs

Prepared by

Raja Zulkarnain Raja Mohd YusofNational Conservatory of Arts

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MAQAM

In Arabic music, a maqam (pluralmaqamat

) is a set of noteswith traditions that define relationships between them, habitual

patterns, and their melodic development. Maqamat are bestdefined and understood in the context of the rich Arabic musicrepertoire. The nearest equivalent in Western classical music

would be a mode (e.g. Lydian, Phrygian, etc.)

QUARTER TONES

Many maqamat include notes that can be approximated withquarter tones (depicted using the half-flat sign or the half-sharp sign ), although they rarely are precise quarters falling

exactly halfway between two semitones. Even notes depicted assemitones sometimes include microtonal subtleties dependingon the maqam in which they are used. For this reason, when

writing Arabic music using the Western notation system, thereis an understanding that the exact tuning of each note might

vary with each maqam and must be learned by ear.

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THE ARABIC MAQAMS

There are dozens of Arabic maqamat, too many to list,including many Persian and Turkish hybrids. It's difficult

to find a definitive list of Arabic maqamat that alltextbooks agree on, or a definitive reference on which

maqamat are strictly Arabic and which are Turkish orPersian. There are also many local maqamat used only in

some regions of the Arab world (e.g. Iraq and NorthAfrica), and unknown in others. But the most widely used

and known are about 30 to 40 maqamat.

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MAQAM FAMILIES

Ajam AjamUshairan, Jiharkah, Shawq AfzaNahawand Farahfaza, Nahawand Murassah, `Ushaq Masri

Rast - Mahur, Nairuz, Suznak, Yakah

Bayati Bayatayn, Bayati Shuri, Husayni, Nahfat

Kurd Hijaz Kar KurdHijaz

Hijaz Kar, Shad `Araban, Shahnaz, Suzidil, ZanjaranSaba

Saba ZamzamSikah

- Bastah Nikar, Huzam, `Iraq, Musta`ar, Rahat al-Arwah,Sikah Baladi

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THE MUSIC OF THE ARABS

The Arabian music culture and an overview of themusical life of the Arabs throughout their cultural

history which include the Traditional Music genres aswell as the performance practice of sacred andsecular music.

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ARABIC MUSICAL FORMS (Genres)

Samai(pluralSamayyat), Tahmila(pluralTahamil), Muwashah(plural

Muwashahat),Mawwal

(pluralMawawil),Qadd

(plural(Qudud),Wasla

(pluralWaslat),Bashraf

(pluralBasharef),

Longa

(pluralLongas),Maqtoua Mousiqiyya, Qasida

(pluralQasaid),Dawr

(pluralAdwar), Taqsim(pluralTaqasim)and

Doulab

(pluralDawalib)

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RELIGIOUS MUSIC

The Reading of the Quran

Form and Vocal GenreThe Adhan

Formulations and Musical ProfileThe Mawlid

Text of the Mawlid and Musical

PerformanceThe Madih an-Nabawi

Musical PerformanceThe Dhikr

Musical Forms and Elements

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The Reading of the Quran

The Quran itself is often represented in the form of a song

that represents it own vocal genre. Such Quranperformance requires a beautiful voice and great musical

skill. Nevertheless, the one who presents the Quran is neverreferred to as mughanni(singer), although he/she of

course actually does sing, but as a muqri, tali, murattil,ormujawwid (reader or reciter).

No Muslim would ever use the word singing in reference toa recitation of the Quran. Terms such as those named

above are only applied to the Quran recitation, which is tosay, the field of religious music in general. The

differentiation between reading and singing is justified bythe fact that the Quran does not, in fact, have to be sung

but can also recited or read in a plain manner and style.Even so, the best Quran readers are always excellentsingers as well, and thus the singing of the Quran must be

clearly differentiated from secular song forms.

Sample http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UqWCFM5arA

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The Adhan

The adhan is the name for the call to pray from atop the minaret.

With this, the believers are called to the Friday holy service and tothe five prayers prescribed for the day in the morning, at noon,in the afternoon, at sunset and in the evening. Shortly before thebeginning of the holy service the muadhdhin(muezzin) climbs

atop the minaret or the roof of the mosque and loudly anddistinctly sings the text of the call to prayer, which for orthodox

Muslims comprises these seven formulations:

God is most great.I witness that there is no God but Allah.

I witness that Muhammad is the messenger of God.Come to prayer.

Come to Salvation.God is most great.

There is no God but Allah.

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These seven phrases are repeated one or more timesaccording to fixed rules, with a longer singing pause

following each phrase. The musical structure of the adhanis defined by the principle of contrast. Which gives an

individual musical profile to each repetition of a phrase aswell as to the different phrases.

Each adhan can thus be unmistakably identified, quite apartfrom the details of the melodic line, by the position of

these two melodic poles. The tempo of the adhan is usuallyquite slow; only at sunset is it performed at a faster tempo

and with fewer melismas. For festive occasions it iscustomary for two muadhdhinayn(dual of muadhdhin) toperform the adhan antiphonally. With skilled muadhdhinin(plural of muadhdhin), such as those engaged at the large

urban mosques, the call to prayer can become a highlydeveloped artistic musical form.

Sample in Maqam Bayati http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTPT9uOfJ2s

Sample in Maqam Nahawand http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6RVqBlGskI

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The Mawlid

Mawlid means birthday and denotes the publicperformance of the story of the Prophets birth. In the

mosque or in domestic spheres, a solo singer and a choirperform the text of the mawlid, which is composed in

rhymed prose. The official occasion for the performance ofthe mawlid is the birthday of the Prophet according to the

Islamic calendar, the first day of the month Rabi Awwal.

The oldest mawlid text known to us probably has its originsin twelfth-century Persia. From there, manuscripts spread toall parts of the Arabian world. Today, at least forty versionsof the text are known in the Arabic language. They comefrom different epochs and vary considerably in style andform. In North Africa, the mawlid is usually based on the

text of the Imam Barazanji, while in Iraq, that of theUthman-al-Mawsili is preferred.

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The musical performance of the mawlid is undertaken by asolo singer with a resounding voice who has a command ofthe maqam repertoire. He is assisted by a chorus of eight to

sixteen men. The chorus sings in unison and, followingcertain segments of the mawlid text, inserts new verses of

poetry as well as prayers of blessings for those present. Themusical structure of the mawlid is borrowed from the

musical forms of secular art music: in North Africa, themawlid calls to mind the style of the day maaluf, that is, theandalusi nubah: in Egypt, the dur; in Syria, the muwashah;

and in Iraq, the maqam al-iraqi.

Sample Mawlid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC65s0v7KME

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The Madih an-Nabawi

The madih an-nabawi is a widely popular song form in the

Islamic world whose texts eulogize the Prophet and his family.At the same time, the madih an-nabawi represents a genre in

the belletristic literature of the Arabs, wherein the deepestreligious feelings of the Muslim can be expressed. The

madaih(plural of madih) owe their propagation to Sufism(Islamic mysticism) and the poets who fully cultivated this

genre.

The earliest madaih however, came into beingin A.D. 632, immediately after the death of the prophet

Muhammad. Thus, one might justify the perception that themadih an-nabawi is actually a kind of death song. But since

Muslims continued to devote their thoughts and address their

prayers to the prophet Muhammad after his death as if hewere still alive, the term madih (praise) was considered theonly legitimate once.

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The musical performance of the madih is undertaken by asolo singer and a group of men, which forms the chorus. Theparticipants also accompany their singing with frame drums.The instruments are known by the name mazharor bandir.

The musical building block of the madih is a melodic passagethat the listener can encounter in different variation,paraphrases, and transformations. The chorus generally sings

the text of a line of refrain in strict rhythmic organization,whereupon the soloist answers by improvisationally varying,

paraphrasing, or transforming the same line of text.

Sample Madih http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VyrBMV-24A

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The Dhikr

Dhikr literally means pronouncement or remembrance. InIslamic mysticism (Sufism), the dhikr is a ceremony whoseliturgy can include recitation, singing, instrumental music,

dance, costumes, incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance. Asearly as the eight-century, small groups of pious Muslims cametogether in organized circles to recite out loud the suras of the

Quran and other religious texts.

Viewed from a musical standpoint, the dhikrceremony represents a large-scale musical form that can last

several hours and is laid out as a cycle that can include severalgenres of secular Arabian art music. The fundamental goal of a

dhikr ceremony is to bring about Gods presence (hadrah)during the devotional service.

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The vocal and instrumental pieces and the rhythmicpatterns correspond largely to the apparent musical formsof secular art music as practiced in the respective lands.

Thus, the musical elements of the madih section in the Iraqi

dhikr (maqam rows, wazn patterns, music and poeticforms, style elements) are taken from the maqam al-iraqirepertoire. The same applies to the madih in relation to the

nubah in North Africa, to the dur in Egypt, and to themuwashshahandqasidahin Syria.

Sample Dhikr http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQNr5ULsETE

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THANK YOU

National Conservatory of Arts (NCA)0108900055 | 0126174946

zulkarnain@nca.com.my | zulkarnainyusof@gmail.com

www.nca.com.my | www.facebook.com/MYNCA