Thread: Maqams and their mood

I'd like to find for a list of the most common maqams with their related meaning/mood.

I have checked Maqamworld, and I have Scott Marcus' and Ali Racy's books, but I have n not come across that secret list. Do I need to dig deeper, or where else should I look?

Aboudi Badawi's Arabic Maqams Made Simple CD? Karim Nagi narrates it, and he mentions the mood of them, but only slightly.

Ajam = Cheerful, a feeling of happiness and joy
Bayat = Uplifting
Hejaz = Mystic, Hossam Ramzy says Spiritual.
Kurd = Airy, Free, Spacious. Modern. Closest to western music.
Nahawand = Produces extreme changes of emotion. Dramatic. Used mostly in love songs.
Rast = Maqam of Tarab. Classical music.
Saba = Blues maqam. Sad when played slow, "Groovy" (per Karim) when played fast.
Sika = Youth, strength, fresh. "Mountain" music, but now standard.

I asked him why a "sad" song would be written in a happy maqam, and he said that typically a song will go through several maqams, so the overall mood of the song changes. Or it could be a deliberate artistic choice on the part of the composer. Or like Saba, the mood changes depending on the tempo.

Just a scratch, but it's my Maqamat 101 :)

Thanks a lot, that's VERY helpful, and will go into my vault of essential BD info, i.e. the precious stack of dog-eared, coffee-stained, scribbled-on workshop notes ;-) Off to get the CD.

Thanks Aziyade. Off to get the CD too!

I know what maqam *are* but have very little knowledge of the individual maqamat.

I've thought about studying them in depth, but there's so much else to study about this dance and the music that goes with it (like the Arabic language, and the rhythms) that this always falls off my list.

So, given my lack of background, forgive me if this is a silly question, but I'm wondering about the importance of maqam from a dancer's perspective.

If I know the maqam, that will tell me the mood (assuming I have or can deduce what maqam the song is in, and that I'm wearing my handy-dandy decoder ring).

But... if the songwriter and musicians have done their job, shouldn't the emotional content of the music be obvious? Isn't the point of the maqam and other musical devices to drive that emotion straight to my heart and bypass my brain? (isn't that the point of music, on one level?)

And if they HAVEN'T done their job and the emotional content of the music isn't apparent to me, then should I infuse my dancing with emotion that isn't authentically triggered by the music AND that isn't apparent to my audience?

Or does knowing the maqamat help you as a dancer in some other way?

I can only speak for myself here, I am not the kind of dancer who can express such subtle nuances properly anyways. For me, learning these things just for the sheer joy of knowing more is a good enough reason.

Just FYI -- the notes I gave above are pretty much all that's on the Cd as far as talking about mood. He doesn't go into any more detail. And this only applies to Arabic maqamat. The Turks and Persians have a totally different system.

There was an article in Arabesque or Habibi one about maqamat and moods. Let me see if I can find that.

What is nice about the CD though is that he gives you 3 samples of what the maqam sounds like: as a scale, in a taqsim, and then in popular music.


Lauren:
As a singer or a musician, it would be important to know the maqam including how to stay inside it while improvising, but as a dancer ... well, I think probably not so much. It's one of those things somebody dared me to do once, so I'm trying to be able to identify them by ear -- just to say I can :) lol.

From a dancer's standpoint, there are better things to be studying, probably.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I know what maqam *are* but have very little knowledge of the individual maqamat.

I've thought about studying them in depth, but there's so much else to study about this dance and the music that goes with it (like the Arabic language, and the rhythms) that this always falls off my list.

So, given my lack of background, forgive me if this is a silly question, but I'm wondering about the importance of maqam from a dancer's perspective.

If I know the maqam, that will tell me the mood (assuming I have or can deduce what maqam the song is in, and that I'm wearing my handy-dandy decoder ring).

But... if the songwriter and musicians have done their job, shouldn't the emotional content of the music be obvious? Isn't the point of the maqam and other musical devices to drive that emotion straight to my heart and bypass my brain? (isn't that the point of music, on one level?)

And if they HAVEN'T done their job and the emotional content of the music isn't apparent to me, then should I infuse my dancing with emotion that isn't authentically triggered by the music AND that isn't apparent to my audience?

Or does knowing the maqamat help you as a dancer in some other way?

Hi Lauren, I think that it comes down to how you have learned to culturally interpret certain musical progressions. In the west, we tend to think minor scales are dark and major scales are light automatically because that it the musical culture we have absorbed over the years. It is similar with maqamat - the musical culture has infused certain progressions with meanings that will seem obvious to those who were raised in that musical culture, but that those of us not raised with those musical assumptions may miss. It gets even more complicated, for example, when you hear a happy song written in a dark minor scale. You may hear that the song is happy, but interpret it as somewhat creepy-happy because you are acknowledging how we culturally view that musical progression.

From what I understand from musicians, it works the same way with maqamat. The song itself may not fit the mood of the maqam, but the mood of the maqam is usually intended to give nuance to the mood of the song.

I'll have to check out the Badawi CD.
Powers supplies some additional info.
Kurd: Gently romantic or more powerfully exciting and dance oriented.
Bayyati: Turkish sufi music is frequently in this maqam.
Hasayni: Same as Bayyati but perhaps more folk and less classical.'
Saba: Very powerful myseical mood.
Nahawand and Farahfaza: Straightforward sweet and bright.
Rast: Romantic, positive, cheerful, classical.
Mahur: More foreceful version of Rast.
Surnak, Suz Dalar, Nerz Rast, Rast Beshayer, Yaka.same as Rast.
Hajaz Kar Kurd: Lightly romantic.
Nawa Athar: Formal. Mystical.
Huzam, Rahat el Arwah, Irak and Sikah: Sacred, mystical.
Ajem Ashiran:b right and happy.

Ranya Renee of NYC will be dedicating a whole DVD on this subject. She's aiming to release it (and another) in April. Visit her website or join her mailing list to get updates. She has awesome DVDs and teaching methods. I can't wait for her DVD about maqamat.

BDF

Originally Posted by maurazebra

I'll have to check out the Badawi CD.
Powers supplies some additional info.
Kurd: Gently romantic or more powerfully exciting and dance oriented.
Bayyati: Turkish sufi music is frequently in this maqam.
Hasayni: Same as Bayyati but perhaps more folk and less classical.'
Saba: Very powerful myseical mood.
Nahawand and Farahfaza: Straightforward sweet and bright.
Rast: Romantic, positive, cheerful, classical.
Mahur: More foreceful version of Rast.
Surnak, Suz Dalar, Nerz Rast, Rast Beshayer, Yaka.same as Rast.
Hajaz Kar Kurd: Lightly romantic.
Nawa Athar: Formal. Mystical.
Huzam, Rahat el Arwah, Irak and Sikah: Sacred, mystical.
Ajem Ashiran:b right and happy.

NVRmind -- found it and ordered it :)

Hi gang! I have to say that studying the melodic aspect of Arabic music changed my dance life forever; and I venture to guess I might have gotten bored without it. For me, at least, knowing what is happening with the note progressions, even in a general way, helped me become more aware of them, and in following them, I think it helped me to get the music more into my body when dancing. I see a lot of really great American dancers who are only capturing the rhythmic shifts, and they are in my view missing a big opportunity to connect deeper on an emotional level. Of course some people may just "get it" naturally ("bypassing the brain" :-D ) but many don't, and that's when learning about what is going on in the music can be helpful.

At least that's what I was thinking when we went into the studio to record my next DVDs back in December!! :-) There will be two different releases, both on taqasim, maqamat, and Arabic musicality for dancers, with different approaches.

Someone mentioned earlier the website maqamworld.com --a great, great resource. Johnny Farraj, who created that site, is a real "maqam nerd", and he did a thorough job of it. :-)

Oh, one more note about emotional colors of the maqamat-- some people can put a name to the emotions evoked, but not everyone agrees on them. (Except most people agree that Saba maqam is sad.) I decided to wear a different dance outfit for each maqam we covered in one of the dvds, and asked the musicians' opinions about which color i should wear for which maqam, kind of as a joke (they are not "fashion guys"!). They did have opinions about it though.... They sometimes disagreed about which color best captured which maqam, but they found some validity in the concept. :-)

Oh, I can't wait for this DVD! If you could include a "reading list" for the serious geeks ;-) that would be an extra bonus.

Ranya, why can't YOU do online classes and lectures and stuff?

I'd buy a subscription to a weekly email lecture by you on music or pretty much anything.

Yay Ranya! Can't wait!

Well, thank you! I'm actually trying to get up to speed with everything, but i do plan to offer more teleconferencing and long-distance coaching groups, including with some of my musician colleagues here in NYC... It may take a little while to get everything in place, but we're making progress behind the scenes. :-)

Here's another book recommendation for the geeks out there ;)

The Music of the Arabs
by Habib Hassan Touma

It's not a perfect book but there is a lot of good stuff in it.

Anything by Ali Jihad Racy, too. He is terrific. (music and books!)

I am so excited for more Ranya!

Originally Posted by ranyarenee

At least that's what I was thinking when we went into the studio to record my next DVDs back in December!! :-) There will be two different releases, both on taqasim, maqamat, and Arabic musicality for dancers, with different approaches.

What is the maqam for 'giddy with excitement'? That is what I need to be playing right now. Okay, and now I need the maqam for 'cheesy fan girl'... ;)

Seriously, Ranya, this sounds great.

Originally Posted by Monica

What is the maqam for 'giddy with excitement'?

Ajam, I think.

Okay, and now I need the maqam for 'cheesy fan girl'... ;)

Nahawand, definately.


See it's like we have our own secret code.
Hey everybody, post your maqam as your facebook profile today. LOL.

Originally Posted by aziyade

NVRmind -- found it and ordered it :)

Can you share the info? I'm fascinated and am going to be ordering stuff. I have the Badawi CD listed.

Sure -- I'm pretty sure she was talking about this set:

Cameron Powers - Arabic Musical Scales - Basic Maqam Teachings #01BI1000001


Looks complicated without being TOO complicated.

Thanks!

Nahawand is my middle name, baby.

..l;,..l;,