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. See TRANSLATION for details.
14 The purpose of this section is to highlight musical notation issues
15 that are relevant to traditions outside the Western tradition.
22 @subsection Arabic music
24 This section highlights issues that are relevant to notating Arabic
28 * References for Arabic music::
29 * Arabic note names ::
30 * Arabic key signatures::
31 * Arabic time signatures::
32 * Arabic music example::
37 @node References for Arabic music
38 @unnumberedsubsubsec References for Arabic music
41 @cindex medium intervals
45 Arabic music so far has been mainly an oral tradition. When music
46 is transcribed, it is usually in a sketch format, on which
47 performers are expected to improvise significantly. Increasingly,
48 Western notation, with a few variations, is adopted in order to
49 communicate and preserve Arabic music.
51 Some elements of Western musical notation such as the
52 transcription of chords or independent parts, are not required to
53 typeset the more traditional Arabic pieces. There are however
54 some different issues, such as the need to indicate medium
55 intervals that are somewhere between a semi-tone and a tone, in
56 addition to the minor and major intervals that are used in Western
57 music. There is also the need to group and indicate a large
58 number of different maqams (modes) that are part of Arabic music.
60 In general, Arabic music notation does not attempt to precisely
61 indicate microtonal elements that are present in musical practice.
63 Several issues that are relevant to Arabic music are covered
67 @item Note names and accidentals (including quarter tones) can be
68 tailored as discussed in @ref{Note names in other languages}.
70 @item Additional key signatures can also be tailored as described
71 in @ref{Key signature}.
73 @item Complex time signatures may require that notes be grouped
74 manually as described in @ref{Manual beams}.
76 @item @notation{Takasim} which are rhythmically free
77 improvisations may be written down omitting bar lines as
78 described in @ref{Unmetered music}.
85 @ref{Note names in other languages},
93 @node Arabic note names
94 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic note names
97 @cindex Arabic note names
99 The more traditional Arabic note names can be quite long and are
100 not suitable for the purpose of music writing, so they are not
101 used. English note names are not very familiar in Arabic music
102 education, so Italian or Solfege note names (@code{do, re, mi, fa,
103 sol, la, si}) are used instead. Modifiers (accidentals) can also
104 be used, as discussed in @ref{Note names in other languages}.
106 For example, this is how the Arabic @notation{rast} scale can be
109 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
112 do re misb fa sol la sisb do sisb la sol fa misb re do
117 @cindex Arabic semi-flat symbol
118 @cindex Semi-flat symbol appearance
120 The symbol for semi-flat does not match the symbol which is used
121 in Arabic notation. The @code{\dwn} symbol defined in
122 @code{arabic.ly} may be used preceding a flat symbol as a work
123 around if it is important to use the specific Arabic semi-flat
124 symbol. The appearance of the semi-flat symbol in the key
125 signature cannot be altered by using this method.
128 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
131 \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
132 dod dob dosd \dwn dob dobsb dodsd do do
139 @ref{Note names in other languages}.
145 @node Arabic key signatures
146 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic key signatures
148 @cindex Arabic key signatures
150 In addition to the minor and major key signatures, the following
151 key signatures are defined in @code{arabic.ly}: @notation{bayati},
152 @notation{rast}, @notation{sikah}, @notation{iraq}, and
153 @notation{kurd}. These key signatures define a small number of
154 maqam groups rather than the large number of maqams that are in
157 In general, a maqam uses the key signature of its group, or a
158 neighbouring group, and varying accidentals are marked throughout
161 For example to indicate the key signature of a maqam muhayer piece:
167 Here @var{re} is the default pitch of the muhayer maqam, and
168 @var{bayati} is the name of the base maqam in the group.
170 While the key signature indicates the group, it is common for the
171 title to indicate the more specific maqam, so in this example, the
172 name of maqam muhayer should appear in the title.
174 Other maqams in the same bayati group, as shown in the table below:
175 (bayati, hussaini, saba, and ushaq) can be indicated in the same
176 way. These are all variations of the base and most common maqam
177 in the group, which is bayati. They usually differ from the base
178 maqam in their upper tetrachords, or certain flow details that
179 don't change their fundamental nature, as siblings.
181 The other maqam in the same group (Nawa) is related to bayati by
182 modulation which is indicated in the table in parenthesis for
183 those maqams that are modulations of their base maqam. Arabic
184 maqams admit of only limited modulations, due to the nature of
185 Arabic musical instruments. Nawa can be indicated as follows:
191 In Arabic music, the same term such as bayati that is used to
192 indicate a maqam group, is also a maqam which is usually the most
193 important in the group, and can also be thought of as a base
196 Here is one suggested grouping that maps the more common maqams to
199 @multitable @columnfractions 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6
200 @headitem maqam group
203 @tab Other maqmas in group (finalis)
211 @tab hussaini, muhayer, saba, ushaq, nawa (sol)
215 @tab shahnaz, shad arban (sol), hijazkar (do)
223 @tab hijazkar kurd (do)
227 @tab busalik (re), farah faza (sol)
231 @tab nawa athar, hisar (re)
235 @tab mahur, yakah (sol)
244 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
245 {non-traditional-key-signatures.ly}
253 @rlearning{Accidentals and key signatures}.
256 @rinternals{KeySignature}.
263 @node Arabic time signatures
264 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic time signatures
266 @cindex Arabic time signatures
270 Some Arabic and Turkish music classical forms such as
271 @notation{Semai} use unusual time signatures such as 10/8. This
272 may lead to an automatic grouping of notes that is quite different
273 from existing typeset music, where notes may not be grouped on the
274 beat, but in a manner that is difficult to match by adjusting
275 automatic beaming. You can override this by switching off
276 automatic beaming and beaming the notes manually. Where matching
277 existing typeset music is not an issue, you may still want to
278 adjust the beaming behaviour and/or use compound time signatures.
282 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
283 {compound-time-signatures.ly}
285 @lilypondfile[verbatim,lilyquote,texidoc,doctitle]
286 {arabic-improvisation.ly}
292 @ref{Automatic beams},
293 @ref{Unmetered music},
294 @ref{Automatic accidentals},
295 @ref{Setting automatic beam behavior},
296 @ref{Time signature}.
302 @node Arabic music example
303 @unnumberedsubsubsec Arabic music example
305 @cindex Arabic music example
306 @cindex Arabic music template
307 @cindex Template Arabic music
309 Here is a template that also uses the start of a Turkish Semai
310 that is familiar in Arabic music education in order to illustrate
311 some of the peculiarities of Arabic music notation, such as medium
312 intervals and unusual modes that are discussed in this section.
314 @lilypond[quote,verbatim]
318 \set Staff.extraNatural = ##f
319 \set Staff.autoBeaming = ##f
323 re4 re'8 re16 [misb re do] sisb [la sisb do] re4 r8
324 re16 [misb do re] sisb [do] la [sisb sol8] la [sisb] do [re] misb
325 fa4 fa16 [misb] misb8. [re16] re8 [misb] re [do] sisb
326 do4 sisb8 misb16 [re do sisb] la [do sisb la] la4 r8
329 title = "Semai Muhayer"
330 composer = "Jamil Bek"
341 @node Further reading
342 @unnumberedsubsubsec Further reading
347 The music of the Arabs by Habib Hassan Touma [Amadeus Press, 1996],
348 contains a discussion of maqams and their method of groupings.
350 There are also various web sites that explain maqams and some
351 provide audio examples such as :
355 @uref{http://www.maqamworld.com/}
357 @uref{http://www.turath.org/}
360 There are some variations in the details of how maqams are grouped,
361 despite agreement on the criteria of grouping maqams that are
362 related through common lower tetra chords, or through modulation.
365 There is not a complete consistency, sometimes even in the same
366 text on how key signatures for particular maqams should be
367 specified. It is common, however, to use a key signature per
368 group, rather than a different key signature for each different
371 Oud methods by the following authors, contain examples of
372 mainly Turkish and Arabic compositions.
380 Ibrahim Ali Darwish Al-masri