1 @c -*- coding: utf-8; mode: texinfo; -*-
3 Translation of GIT committish: FILL-IN-HEAD-COMMITTISH
5 When revising a translation, copy the HEAD committish of the
6 version that you are working on. For details, see the Contributors'
7 Guide, node Updating translation committishes..
15 The purpose of this section is to highlight musical notation issues
16 that are relevant to traditions outside the Western tradition.
20 * Turkish classical music::
24 @subsection Arabic music
26 This section highlights issues that are relevant to notating Arabic
30 * References for Arabic music::
31 * Arabic note names ::
32 * Arabic key signatures::
33 * Arabic time signatures::
34 * Arabic music example::
35 * Further reading for Arabic music::
39 @node References for Arabic music
40 @unnumberedsubsubsec References for Arabic music
43 @cindex medium intervals
47 Arabic music so far has been mainly an oral tradition. When music
48 is transcribed, it is usually in a sketch format, on which
49 performers are expected to improvise significantly. Increasingly,
50 Western notation, with a few variations, is adopted in order to
51 communicate and preserve Arabic music.
53 Some elements of Western musical notation such as the
54 transcription of chords or independent parts, are not required to
55 typeset the more traditional Arabic pieces. There are however
56 some different issues, such as the need to indicate medium
57 intervals that are somewhere between a semi-tone and a tone, in
58 addition to the minor and major intervals that are used in Western
59 music. There is also the need to group and indicate a large
60 number of different maqams (modes) that are part of Arabic music.
62 In general, Arabic music notation does not attempt to precisely
63 indicate microtonal elements that are present in musical practice.
65 Several issues that are relevant to Arabic music are covered
69 @item Note names and accidentals (including quarter tones) can be
70 tailored as discussed in @ref{Note names in other languages}.
72 @item Additional key signatures can also be tailored as described
73 in @ref{Key signature}.
75 @item Complex time signatures may require that notes be grouped
76 manually as described in @ref{Manual beams}.
78 @item @notation{Takasim} which are rhythmically free
79 improvisations may be written down omitting bar lines as
80 described in @ref{Unmetered music}.
87 @ref{Note names in other languages},
95 @node Arabic note names
96 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic note names
99 @cindex Arabic note names
101 The more traditional Arabic note names can be quite long and are
102 not suitable for the purpose of music writing, so they are not
103 used. English note names are not very familiar in Arabic music
104 education, so Italian or Solfege note names (@code{do, re, mi, fa,
105 sol, la, si}) are used instead. Modifiers (accidentals) can also
106 be used, as discussed in @ref{Note names in other languages}.
108 For example, this is how the Arabic @notation{rast} scale can be
111 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
114 do re misb fa sol la sisb do sisb la sol fa misb re do
119 @cindex Arabic semi-flat symbol
120 @cindex Semi-flat symbol appearance
122 The symbol for semi-flat does not match the symbol which is used
123 in Arabic notation. The @code{\dwn} symbol defined in
124 @code{arabic.ly} may be used preceding a flat symbol as a work
125 around if it is important to use the specific Arabic semi-flat
126 symbol. The appearance of the semi-flat symbol in the key
127 signature cannot be altered by using this method.
130 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
133 \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
134 dod dob dosd \dwn dob dobsb dodsd do do
141 @ref{Note names in other languages}.
147 @node Arabic key signatures
148 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic key signatures
150 @cindex Arabic key signatures
152 In addition to the minor and major key signatures, the following
153 key signatures are defined in @code{arabic.ly}: @notation{bayati},
154 @notation{rast}, @notation{sikah}, @notation{iraq}, and
155 @notation{kurd}. These key signatures define a small number of
156 maqam groups rather than the large number of maqams that are in
159 In general, a maqam uses the key signature of its group, or a
160 neighbouring group, and varying accidentals are marked throughout
163 For example to indicate the key signature of a maqam muhayer piece:
170 Here @var{re} is the default pitch of the muhayer maqam, and
171 @var{bayati} is the name of the base maqam in the group.
173 While the key signature indicates the group, it is common for the
174 title to indicate the more specific maqam, so in this example, the
175 name of maqam muhayer should appear in the title.
177 Other maqams in the same bayati group, as shown in the table below:
178 (bayati, hussaini, saba, and ushaq) can be indicated in the same
179 way. These are all variations of the base and most common maqam
180 in the group, which is bayati. They usually differ from the base
181 maqam in their upper tetrachords, or certain flow details that
182 don't change their fundamental nature, as siblings.
184 The other maqam in the same group (Nawa) is related to bayati by
185 modulation which is indicated in the table in parenthesis for
186 those maqams that are modulations of their base maqam. Arabic
187 maqams admit of only limited modulations, due to the nature of
188 Arabic musical instruments. Nawa can be indicated as follows:
194 In Arabic music, the same term such as bayati that is used to
195 indicate a maqam group, is also a maqam which is usually the most
196 important in the group, and can also be thought of as a base
199 Here is one suggested grouping that maps the more common maqams to
202 @multitable @columnfractions 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6
203 @headitem maqam group
206 @tab Other maqmas in group (finalis)
214 @tab hussaini, muhayer, saba, ushaq, nawa (sol)
218 @tab shahnaz, shad arban (sol), hijazkar (do)
226 @tab hijazkar kurd (do)
230 @tab busalik (re), farah faza (sol)
234 @tab nawa athar, hisar (re)
238 @tab mahur, yakah (sol)
247 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
248 {non-traditional-key-signatures.ly}
256 @rlearning{Accidentals and key signatures}.
259 @rinternals{KeySignature}.
266 @node Arabic time signatures
267 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic time signatures
269 @cindex Arabic time signatures
273 Some Arabic and Turkish music classical forms such as
274 @notation{Semai} use unusual time signatures such as 10/8. This
275 may lead to an automatic grouping of notes that is quite different
276 from existing typeset music, where notes may not be grouped on the
277 beat, but in a manner that is difficult to match by adjusting
278 automatic beaming. You can override this by switching off
279 automatic beaming and beaming the notes manually. Where matching
280 existing typeset music is not an issue, you may still want to
281 adjust the beaming behaviour and/or use compound time signatures.
285 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
286 {compound-time-signatures.ly}
288 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
289 {arabic-improvisation.ly}
295 @ref{Automatic beams},
296 @ref{Unmetered music},
297 @ref{Automatic accidentals},
298 @ref{Setting automatic beam behavior},
299 @ref{Time signature}.
305 @node Arabic music example
306 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic music example
308 @cindex Arabic music example
309 @cindex Arabic music template
310 @cindex Template Arabic music
312 Here is a template that also uses the start of a Turkish Semai
313 that is familiar in Arabic music education in order to illustrate
314 some of the peculiarities of Arabic music notation, such as medium
315 intervals and unusual modes that are discussed in this section.
317 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
321 \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
322 \set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f
326 re4 re'8 re16 [misb re do] sisb [la sisb do] re4 r8
327 re16 [misb do re] sisb [do] la [sisb sol8] la [sisb] do [re] misb
328 fa4 fa16 [misb] misb8. [re16] re8 [misb] re [do] sisb
329 do4 sisb8 misb16 [re do sisb] la [do sisb la] la4 r8
332 title = "Semai Muhayer"
333 composer = "Jamil Bek"
344 @node Further reading for Arabic music
345 @unnumberedsubsubsec Further reading for Arabic music
350 @emph{The music of the Arabs} by Habib Hassan Touma [Amadeus Press, 1996],
351 contains a discussion of maqams and their method of groupings.
353 There are also various web sites that explain maqams and some
354 provide audio examples such as :
358 @uref{http://www.maqamworld.com/}
360 @uref{http://www.turath.org/}
363 There are some variations in the details of how maqams are grouped,
364 despite agreement on the criteria of grouping maqams that are
365 related through common lower tetra chords, or through modulation.
368 There is not a complete consistency, sometimes even in the same
369 text on how key signatures for particular maqams should be
370 specified. It is common, however, to use a key signature per
371 group, rather than a different key signature for each different
374 Method books by the following authors for the @dfn{Oud}, the Arabic lute,
375 contain examples of mainly Turkish and Arabic compositions.
383 Ibrahim Ali Darwish Al-masri
388 @node Turkish classical music
389 @subsection Turkish classical music
391 This section highlights issues that are relevant to notating Turkish
395 * References for Turkish classical music::
396 * Turkish note names::
400 @node References for Turkish classical music
401 @unnumberedsubsubsec References for Turkish classical music
403 @cindex Turkish music
404 @cindex Ottoman music
405 @cindex comma intervals
409 Turkish classical music developed in the Ottoman Empire in a
410 period roughly contemporaneous with classical music in Europe,
411 and has continued on into the 20th and 21st centuries as a
412 vibrant and distinct tradition with its own compositional
413 forms, theory and performance styles. Among its striking
414 features is the use of microtonal intervals based on @q{commas}
415 of 1/9 of a tone, from which are constructed the melodic
416 forms known as @notation{makam} (plural @notation{makamlar}).
418 Some issues relevant to Turkish classical music are covered
422 @item Note names and accidentals are provided in
423 @ref{Non-Western note names and accidentals}.
428 @node Turkish note names
429 @unnumberedsubsubsec Turkish note names
431 @cindex Turkish note names
435 Pitches in Turkish classical music traditionally have unique
436 names, and the basis of pitch on 1/9-tone divisions means
437 makamlar employ a completely different set of intervals from
438 Western scales and modes: @notation{koma} (1/9 of a tone),
439 @notation{eksik bakiye} (3/9), @notation{bakiye} (4/9),
440 @notation{kücük mücenneb} (5/9), @notation{büyük mücenneb}
441 (8/9), @notation{tanîni} (a whole tone) and
442 @notation{artık ikili} (12/9 or 13/9 of a tone).
444 From a modern notational point of view it is convenient to
445 use the standard Western staff notes (c, d, e, ...) with
446 special accidentals that raise or lower notes by intervals
447 of 1/9, 4/9, 5/9 and 8/9 of a tone. These accidentals are
448 defined in the file @file{makam.ly} (to locate this file on
449 your system, see @rlearning{Other sources of information}).
450 A more detailed description is provided in
451 @ref{Non-Western note names and accidentals}.