In this page, I present information about music, theory, practicing and some recommended exercises. Theory:

Maqam or Makam Maqam or Makam is the common name for the modal system used in the Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia and Europe. This modal system is based on scales, sounds, Songs, and prayers. The system of maqam also originated from the instruments of these regions, whose tuning system is different from the western tuning system. In these maqams it is common to find tones that are in between notes. For example: the D (Duka) Ney, has the third note in between the E and the Eb. We will talk about Quarter tones later. For now, lets try to understand maqams from the western point of view: The base of the maqam is usually constructed from two parts, penta chords or tetra chords. Each part is called ajnas (Jins - plural.) In the following examples of jins, there are no quarter tones. Below are the common names used for various jins, but note that you may encounter the same jins under different names and transpositons. Ajam (Similar to Bb Major): Bb, C, D, Eb Nikriz, Nawathar or Hisar: C, D, Eb, F# Nahawand (similar to minor): C, D, Eb, F Hijaz: D, Eb, F#, G Kurd: E, F, G, A Jahar Kah (similar to F major): F, G, A, Bb Sipahr: F, G#, A, Bb Busalik or Farahfaza (minor): G, A, Bb, C If we connect two Jins we will get a maqam, for example: Ajnas Hijaz with Ajnas Busalik create: Maqam Hijaz: D, Eb, F#, G + G, A, Bb, C try playing or singing this maqam! Usually the maqam is constructed from two Jins; one is the lower Ajnas, which in this case starts on the note D, and the second, the upper Ajnas, here begining from the fourth note, G. Together the two Jins (tetra chords) form the maqam. The difference between a scale and a maqam is in the way it is played. A maqam is a little bit more than a scale since it has it’s own characteristic nuances; ornaments, trills, bendings etc. Each maqam has it’s own sound and mood. In order to learn a maqam, you should play it step by step and listen very carefully to the relationship of each note to the tonic. You will find that some notes are very compatible with the tonic and some are very incompatible with it. Practice maqam Hijaz! Play it up and down very slowly! Taqsim or Taksim An instrumental solo is called a taqsim. The art of taqsim is the art of improvisation, using maqams. In the traditional music, taqsim is played by a solo instrument, by itself, on top of a beat, or on top of a drone. The drone is the tonic of the maqam. Lets try playing a taqsim After you have gotten the sound of the maqam into your ears, you should start to improvise melodies using only the first four notes of the maqam (the lower Ajnas.) The next step is to move to the fourth note of the maqam, and start building a secondary melody on the next four notes (upper ajnas,) using the motifs from the first ajnas. Learn which notes of the maqam are the notes that sound better to land on! find the notes that you want to pass through! The only way to practice taqsim playnig on any maqam, is to play it for a long time, listen to yourself, and observe your own sound. If you like what you hear, you are on the right track. You should also listen to recordings of other musicians playing taqsims on different instruments. A few things to remember: When playing a Taqsim, take your time, don't play don't run! Build your Taqsim and think about telling a story. Use Long notes! When you are not sure where you want to go, stay on one note for a while, Breathe and take your time. Use more successive note and less jumps! Stay on the maqam for a while before Modulating. (We will talk about modulations later) When Modulating to a different Maqam, be clear about the new Maqam. In the taqsim, each maqam has it‘s own components. Each maqam has it’s own particular alternative modulations, specific tempo and dynamics. Certain notes in one maqam can be better to start and to end a phrase on. Other notes are better used as passing tones. For example, in maqam Hijaz: the D is the 1st note, the tonic, the home of the maqam, the final landing. The 4th note is G, which creates tension, and is a good note to start the Taqsim, to stretch to or to take off from, the beginning of the upper ajnas. The note A is the 5th note, It is a good place to start developing a new idea. In a different Maqam you will find different rules.The lower ajnas is the primary part of the maqam and it indicates the type of the maqam. The upper ajnas has the secondary role. When modulating, we are using different jins, keeping some common notes from the original jins while altering others. Modulations in the taqsim Look at the next example on maqam Nahawand in D: Original notes of the maqam: D,E,F,G + G,A, Bb, C, and resolve to D On the way down, alternate the upper ajnas with Hijaz on A and the lower Ajnas with Nikriz on D! : D, C#, Bb, A, + G#, F, E, D Try to play these notes and modulate from the original maqam Nahawand! Note: in a taqsim, maqam always starts and ends on the original notes of the maqam. Quarter Tones: Deriving from the natural instruments of the Middle East and Africa, some of the notes in these maqams are not equally tempered. For example, in the Dukah (D) Ney, the note E is lower than the western E. This E/Eb is a quarter tone and it creates the Arabic Sound. It is called Sikah. In order to understand this sound try to sing a Major tetra chord! C, D, E, F Now, take the E down a little bit, placing it in between E and Eb! C, D, E/Eb, F This is the Ajnas Rast, which has the Middle Eastern sound. Another commonly used quarter tone is in between B and Bb. Here are some more Jins. These jins contain quarter tones: Iraq: B/Bb, C, D, E/Eb Rast: C, D, E/Eb, F Bayat: D, E/Eb, F, G Saba: D, E/Eb, F, Gb Sikah: E/Eb, F, G, A Yekah: G, A, B/Bb, C

About Practicing

A few things to remember before starting any kind of practice:

1. Warm up before practicing! 2. Always be relaxed, sit comfortably and breathe before doing any exercise! 3. Practice one exercise for a while before moving to the next! (It is better to get one exercise really good.) 4. It is important to practice the exercises with the metronome and with your foot tapping the beats. 5. Repeat the exercise every day! (Building long term memory requires repetition.) 6. After doing one exercise for a long time, if you feel comfortable with it and you start to get new ideas from it, try to apply it to your instrument. 7. If you have mastered several of the exercises, you can try to connect and mix them together (that’s where the fun begins.) 8. Enjoy!

Exercises:

The first series of exercises are rhythmic singing exercises that comes from the South Indian rhythmic system. I learned these exercises from Jamey Haddad and I found them very effective. These exercises have helped me to feel long cycles, odd meter forms and develop my rhythmic abilities on my instrument. Even though these are singing exercises, feel free to try to play them. E.1) The first exercise is to sing different subdivisions over one steady beat. The metronome plays the beat at a very slow tempo and you should sing the syllables on top of the beat. X pulse in 1 beat: Syllables to sing, tap your foot on the Ta! 2 pulses in 1 beat: Ta Ki 3 pulses in 1 beat: Ta Ki Ta 4 pulses in 1 beat: Ta Ka Di Mi 5 pulses in 1 beat: Ta Di Ki Na Thum 6 pulses in 1 beat: Ta Di -- Ki Na Thum 7 pulses in 1 beat: Ta -- Di -- ki Na Thum E.2) The next singing exercise is a reduction exercise in 4 beats. We will take the syllables that we sang in the first exercise on 4 pulses And we will sing it in the reduction form, In the tablet below, each box indicates one pulse of 1/16 note. Every 4 boxes is one beat. Reduction means that after the first cycle of 4, we will drop off 1 1/16 note, so if we have 4 1/16 notes in the first 4, we will have 3 1/16 notes in the next cycle, 2 1/16 notes in the next cycle and only 1/16 notes in the last cycle. Each "--" and each Syllable represents the 1/16 pulse. The Box indicates where the foot taps. It is very important to tap with your foot every beat (4 boxes = 1 beat) and without subdevisions with the foot. Read the tablet from left to right and down as if in reading music! 1 2 3 4 Foot Foot Foot Foot Ta -- -- -- Ka -- -- -- Di -- -- -- Mi -- -- -- Ta -- -- Ka -- -- Di -- -- Mi -- -- Ta -- Ka -- Di Di Mi -- Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ka Di Mi E.3) Now, we will do the same thing on 5 beats. This exercise is very difficult but if you will take your time to understand it, and you will practice it, you will gain a lot. 1 2 3 4 5 Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Ta -- -- -- Di -- -- -- Ki -- -- -- Na -- -- -- Thum -- -- -- Ta -- -- Di -- -- Ki -- -- Na -- -- Thum -- -- Ta -- Di -- Ki -- Na Na Thum -- Ta Di Ki Na Thum Ta Di Ki Na Thum Ta Di Ki Na Thum

E.4) So, you got the Idea? can you do it in 7 beats? (Remember, practice these exercises for a long time! it is not enough to be able to do them You want to get them deep into your system.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Foot Ta -- -- -- Ka -- -- -- Di -- -- -- Mi -- -- -- Ta -- -- -- Ki -- -- -- Ta -- -- -- Ta -- -- Ka -- -- Di -- -- Mi -- -- Ta -- -- Ki -- -- Ta -- -- Ta -- Ka -- Di -- Mi -- Ta Ta Ki -- Ta -- Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ki Ta Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ki Ta Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ki Ta

Home Performances Bio Press Recordings ANISTAR Projects Gallery

Audio Teaching Contact Links