Cool Stuff: Arabic and Indian Music

    

        Hello everyone, I hope y'all doing great!. This week in class we have been focusing on Arabic and Indian Music. I have always been fascinated by Arabic and Indian in general, but I never look at it more in-depth. I wasn't sure how to start, but I figured it out. So, today I will be talking about Arabic music, traditional instruments used in Arabic music, and the different dances. Please set back and enjoy it. 

Arabic Music

Maqam System

        The maqam system is a theory of Arabic music that goes back to the ninth century. Arabic music is based on 8 commonly used melodic models or maqams. This system is composed and improvised, weather vocal, and instrumental. It is mostly taught orally, and by listening to traditional playing. It is also to create a mood or motion for the listeners.  

        These particular tones are organized in seven tone scales, and each one has a characteristic musical phrase made up of four continuous tones. That gives the maqam the flavor and recognizability it has. The tuning contains tones that sound "out of tune". It is called "microtones," because their distance apart is less than that of the semitone. To create Arabic music one should play traditional instruments that can produce the microtones that a non-native instrument can not. 

Melodic Style

        Traditional Arabic music is wholly melodic. It is often melismatic and highly ornamented. The singing is held as an expressiveness in music. In traditional styles, singers are always accompanied by an instrument that plays in unison with the singer. 

Rhythm in Arabic Music

        The rhythm is often a free rhythm, Metric rhythm is organized by rhythmic patterns that go like - 3, 4, 7, 8, or 10 beats long, it can go more than 100. The pattern is made up of two different timbers. The first is low-pitched and the other one is higher and drier. In the article, the author stated that "these patterns can be varied by decoration in performance, similar to improvised melodic ornamentation."

Traditional Instruments in Arabic Music

Kamanche

        Kamanche is one of the oldest musical instruments. It's widely played across the Middle East and North Arcam. The name Comanche means "little bow" in Persian. The musician holds the instrument upright on the sipe and pulls a bow across the strings. At first, I thought it was going to play a lovely soft tone. But when I heard it, it had high notes with plucky beats. 

        The Kamanche is 70 cm tall. The stem is made of plum wood, its body is carved from walnut wood. The face of the instruments is from a vial of the bovine liver, and the skin of fish or a camel. It weighs about 1-1.5. The springs are made by hand. It has 3-strings, but it has now become 4-stingings.  Holes are drilled in the front and back. This front is made out of fish skin. And the bows are wrapped around the bowl-shaped body. And that is how it is made out of. 

       

Alto Kemancha

Qanun

        The Qanun is like an old Egyptian harp. It has been a part of Arabic music since the 10th century. The word qanun means "law" in Arabic. This name is probably believed to be given because it's an instrument that lays down the law of pitch for other instruments as well as the singer. 

        This instrument is trapezoid-shaped with a flat board with over 81 strings, which consists of three chords to each note, resulting in a total of 8 notes per octave. It is placed flat on the knees or a small table. It is plucked with two plectra, both of them are attached to the forefront of each hand. The player creates the scale at the start. It switches from level to level with the left hand while playing with the right hand.

Dabke an Arabic Fold Dance

        The Dabke is an Arabic dance that started in the mountains. More specifically above the Mediterranean coastline and the Tigris River. When the dance was created only people from the villages and towns of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and some other regions nearby danced to it. 

        Today I want to focus more on Lebanon where it was originally formed. So back then when the weather would change, the villagers had to adjust one way or another. They did this by forming a dance based on building their homes. In Lebanon, and other regions would dance on top of the roofs because their roofs were flat and made of tree branches topped with mud. The reason they did this is that the weather would change the mud, which resulted in cracks on the roof. So, when they fix the roofs that would hold hands, form a line, and start stomping their feet while walking off the roof so that the mud would adjust. It was also great because the men had to work in the cold weather so the dance would help them keep warm. 

        This lead this tradition to be passed down to close family and people in the villages. The lyrics were sung while they danced while helping each other fix cracks their roofs were also passed down. Nowadays the Dabke is danced at a wedding, special occasions, and family gathers. At first, the dancing was slow but when the dance progressed it became fast. 

        Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a video where they dance on the rooftop but enjoy the video I add to the blog!

Sources:

“TRADITIONAL MUSIC IN THE ARAB WORLD.” Music in Global America, scalar.usc.edu/works/music-in-global-america/traditional-music-in-the-arab-world. 

Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/blogs/metkids/2019/meet-musical-instruments-galleries-families. 

Collaborator, Areviews App. “What Is Kamancheh?” Sala Muzik, Sala Muzik, 30 Mar. 2020, salamuzik.com/blogs/news/what-is-kamancheh. 

Farraj, Johnny. The Qanun, www.maqamworld.com/en/instr/qanun.php. 

Introtodance. “The Dabke-An Arabic Folk Dance.” History and Development of Dance/ Brockport, 9 May 2013, dancehistorydevelopment.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/the-dabke-an-arabic-folk-dance/.