The Middle Eastern Sound

MUNM 3613
Middle Eastern Music

Dr. Akarepi
Artist: Rottweiler. March 22, 2007. Luth’ud cor. [photo]. Retreived from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luth%27ud_cor.jpg. License: GNU Free Documentation License. Changes: cropped
In this class unit and presentation, you’ll learn about
• overarching characteristics and fundamental principles of the
musics of the Middle East – all these elements make up what we
will call “the Middle Eastern Sound”
• the kinds of musical characteristics to look for when analyzing a
piece of music or a song
• there is no additional reading to accompany this PowerPoint
There is enormous variety in Middle Eastern music, yet it has a
unique sound which comes from a combination of distinctive
characteristics.
These characteristics will be presented one by one in the following
slides.
Let’s first define texture: texture in music refers to the organization
of musical parts (melodies and harmonies) and the ways they relate
to each other. Think of texture as the layering of musical parts.
There are various types of musical textures. Middle Eastern music
makes use of two textures: MONOPHONY & HETEROPHONY.
Both of these textures involve the presentation of a single melody.
• In MONOPHONIC music, a single melody is sung or played. Think of
the azan: a single male singer delivers the azan; there are no
additional countermelodies heard at the same time or some type
of harmony to accompany the melody.
Listen to “Improvisation in Dastgah Nava on Kamancheh by
Kayhan Kalhor” located on the Canvas Modules tab on the
Readings and Activities page for this unit.
It is monophonic (one layer, one melody).
Read pg. 16-17 from the textbook.
• Heterophonic texture also involves one single melody but the
presentation of the melody is different now. More than one
instrument (or instruments and voices) perform the melody at the
same time but with slight variation in the rendering of the
melody. Each instrument may perform a slightly different version
of the same melody or with small differences in timing.
• Heterophony is the prevailing texture is Middle Eastern music.
When more than one Middle Eastern musicians play together, they
will create a heterophonic texture. Each musician/instrument will
create different ornaments within the melody. One performer may
bent the notes a little bit more than the other, play trills or add
short secondary notes.
Listen to “Attourath, Lamma Bada et Ali Darwich” located on
the Canvas Modules tab on the Readings and Activities page for
this unit.
In this example, you hear several instruments playing the same
melody simultaneously. Can you hear that there are small
differences in the rendering of the melody among the
instruments? The lute chordophone (oud) may add repeated
strikings of a note, the aerophone (nay) may add trills, etc. The
resulting sound sounds a little “muddy”. This is the sound of
heterophonic texture: not just the fact that multiple instruments
play the same melody, but create different ornaments / slightly
different renderings in the melody!
Let’s summarize two important features:
• Arabic music, unless it’s solo/monophonic, is always heterophonic.
• Arabic music does not use harmony.
• The exception to both of the above statements is modern Arab pop
music; it may utilize chords and harmonic progressions to support
a single melody and most often will not be heterophonic.
• Ornamentation relates with the Heterophonic texture. Middle
Eastern musicians ornament their melodies when performing and
thus create the heterophonic texture when playing together in an
ensemble.
• The musicians are free to decorate the melodies, add their own
ornaments and nuances, leave notes out, double them, highlight
notes by picking up and down on a string, slide between notes (nay
flute, lute chordophones), play trills (oscillate between two
notes), etc.
The more ornamented a passage, the better and more expressive its
audience perceives it to be!
Listen to “Ghada Shbeir – Ahwa Kamara” located on the
Canvas Modules tab on the Readings and Activities page for
this unit. Focus on the many different ornaments of the
instruments and voice. The song features a heterophonic
texture.
It’s difficult to describe the ideal sound; it’s easier to grasp it by
hearing the music. A lot of it is tense sounding, often with a raspy,
throaty, nasal tone, and a certain flatness. Instead of vibrato, it
features extensive ornamentation.
Listen to the Israeli female singer Yasmin Levy located on
the Canvas Modules tab on the Readings and Activities page
for this unit. .
You’ll develop an ear for Middle Eastern singing voices by listening.
For now, I would invite you to listen to a very interesting
Middle Eastern take on “Radiohead’s “Karma police” !
(located on the Canvas Modules tab on the Readings and
Activities page for this unit.)
Can you hear the extensive ornamentation by the oud player? The
singer’s timbre is also kind of raspy and flat and she uses ornaments
(but not as extensive as in a typical Middle Eastern song).
Arab music has always been considered essentially vocal. The
emphasis on vocal singing and the high praise given to Arab singers is
related to the intimate connection between music and the Arabic
language. It is a common practice to set classical Arabic poetry to
music. This music called Arab classical (or art) music is highly
valued.
Some Middle Eastern music is improvised, but much of it is composed, without the
use of notation, but memorized and handed down through oral tradition. A lot of
music can be seen as somewhere between absolute improvisation – the performer
has “total” freedom, there is no predictability – and absolute restriction by a
composer, with the performances being totally identical. There will always be
some level of improvisation.
Let me give you an example. How would two performances of an Arabic song differ
and what level of improvisation can occur?
• Choice of instruments: instrumentation is not fixed; yet some instruments are
used more often in folk music (e.g. mizmar, track 7) while others are more
associated with Arab art music (qanun).
• The introduction: most often, a song is preceded by an instrumental or vocal
introduction featuring an improvised solo.
• Choice of instrumental breaks: during song verses, the musicians may decide to
interpolate solo improvised sections or call and response duets between two
instruments.
• An Instrumental improvisation in Arabic and Turkish music is commonly
known as TAQASIM.
• A taqasim features a solo free improvisation on a selected musical scale
(set of notes; a musical scale is called maqam in Arabic). A taqasim is
almost always in free rhythm (non-metrical). The solo melodic line can
be accompanied by a drone (continuous note) played by an other
instrument. It also features extensive ornamentation.
• A vocal improvisation is called MAWWAL. It is also highly ornamented and
features MELISMATIC singing (a run of notes on one syllable).
Listen to Track 9, Track 11, and Track 15 (textbook CD) are
taqasims. Listen to them. Can you hear the drone sound in the
background? Can you hear the non-metrical approach to rhythm?
Listen to Track 16 (textbook CD); it is a mawwal.
A taqasim usually precedes a composed piece of music; it functions
as an introduction to a song or an instrumental piece of music. A
solo taqasim can be performed not only as an introduction but as an
instrumental break at defining points within a song or piece (after a
chorus or a verse for instance)
Taqasims are highly praised – showcase virtuosity and knowledge of

music theory, esp. of the Arab maqam system (Arabic musical
scales).
Most of the basic musical instruments used in the contemporary Arab
world were already known in the ancient civilizations of
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and southern Arabia. Throughout the history of
the region, instruments have generally been at the service of the
voice, and this status is still considered the quintessence of
contemporary Arabo-Islamic civilization. In the twentieth century,
modern trends in music began to change this status and liberate
urban instruments from their historical association with the voice;
but this trend has not really changed the primacy of the voice. In
"classical" Arab music, instruments rarely perform outside the
framework of a vocal repertoire; in folk music, some instrumental
performances are unrelated to the voice but are always connected
with a social occasion of which music is only one aspect. Still, there
are numerous musical instruments of all categories in traditional
urban and folk music.
Middle Eastern countries feature their own distinctive musical instruments.
However, there are a few pan-Arabic instruments (see their names below; you
need to become familiar with their shape and sound; you will be gradually
introduced to these and others but it’s still important to get to know the following
ones.). View/listen to the following examples on the Canvas Modules tab on the
Readings and Activities page for this unit.
• Oud
• Qanun
• Violin (adopted from the West and widely used in the Arab world)
• Nay (this is a nay taqasim – what makes this piece a taqasim? It is solo,
improvised, and of free rhythm, that is non-metrical)
• Mizmar
• Tabla
• Riqq (here it accompanies the oud)
MUSICAL STRUCTURE: refers to the overall layout or plan of musical
events; it is also called musical form.
You are discussing the structure of a piece of music when you
attempt to describe the order of musical events within in; e.g. how
it starts, what section follows next, the presence of a CHORUS
(same music, same text) and VERSES (same music, different text),
instrumental breaks (called interludes), etc.
One very common song structure in Arabic music is the Chorus-
Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus structure (note that in western songs,
the verse comes before the chorus). Example: Listen to track 7 and
follow along the lyrics in pp. 80-81.
Another structure is the through-composed: each line of the text is
set to a new melody; there is not a repetitive chorus section
(example: track 4 and lyrics starting at the end of page 54)
There is a unifying rhythmic system in Arab music. A rhythm is called
iqa.
The system of Arabic rhythmic modes is discussed in the
presentation titled “Middle Eastern Rhythmic Nodes” (future
lesson).
You must complete this important activity.
You will now listen to two (short!) very educational radio programs
in which George Collinet, host of Afropop Worldwide (an
international radio series on African music) is joined by scholars and
musicians to demonstrate unique elements of Middle Eastern musical
culture, including improvisation, ornamentation, audience
participation, and the state of "musical ecstasy.”
Listen to “What makes Arabic music unique” located on the

Canvas Modules tab on the Readings and Activities page for
this unit. This program is on improvisation and ornamentation
Listen to “Instruments and Rhythms of the Arab World”.
TAKE NOTES WHILE LISTENING – this info is very important


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MUNM 3613

Middle Eastern Music

Taqasims are highly praised – showcase virtuosity and knowledge of

Listen to “What makes Arabic music unique” located on the

Listen to “Instruments and Rhythms of the Arab World”.

TAKE NOTES WHILE LISTENING – this info is very important

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