The Maqam Book

What makes hundreds of listeners cheer ecstatically at the same instant during a live concert by Egyptian diva Umm Kulthum? What is the unspoken language behind a taqsim (traditional instrumental improvisation) that performers and listeners implicitly know? How can Arabic music be so rich and diverse without resorting to harmony? Why is it so challenging to transcribe Arabic music from a recording? Inside Arabic Music answers these and many other questions from the perspective of two "insiders" to the practice of Arabic music, by documenting a performance culture and a know-how that is largely passed on orally. Arabic music has spread across the globe, influencing music from Greece all the way to India in the mid-20th century through radio and musical cinema, and global popular culture through Raqs Sharqi, known as "Bellydance" in the West. Yet despite its popularity and influence, Arabic music, and the maqam scale system at its heart, remain widely misunderstood. Inside Arabic Music de-mystifies maqam with an approach that draws theory directly from practice, and presents theoretical insights that will be useful to practitioners, from the beginner to the expert - as well as those interested in the related Persian, Central Asian, and Turkish makam traditions. Inside Arabic Music's discussion of maqam and improvisation widens general understanding of music as well, by bringing in ideas from Saussurean linguistics, network theory, and Lakoff and Johnson's theory of cognition as metaphor, with an approach parallel to Gjerdingen's analysis of Galant-period music - offering a lens into the deeper relationships among music, culture, and human community.

How to play Arabic music. Maqam structures with traditional quarter-tone intervals presented in easy-to-read formats. This book has become a widely-used standard for instrumentalists and singers who wish to enter the magical world of Arabic music.

Explores the cultural connection between Syrian Jewish life and Arab culture in present-day Brooklyn, New York, through liturgical music.

An in-depth instruction manual for the Arabic oud, the ancestor of the lute and guitar. A companion instructional online video is included showing key points toplaying the Oud.. Contents include: Holding the oud, Plucking the Strings, Basic Plucking Rules in Arabic Tradition, Positions of Left Hand Fingers, Basic Notes on the oud, Advanced Left-Hand Techniques, Maqamat, and much more. Over 40 tunes are included in the book. Standard notation only

Sound disc consists of digitally remastered musical selections originally recorded by the authors.

Finding and performing perfectly harmonious note intervals in Arabic music maqam systems. Knowledge of quartertones is not enough. This book explains how the maqamat follow the laws of acoustic physics and provide a history of clues given by traditional musicians which demonstrate that this knowledge was available by tuning with deep listening.

A full length treatment of the modal system used in Turkish art music including the music of the Whirling Dervishes. An invaluable aid to students of Turkish music and ethnomusicologists

A.J. Racy, a scholar of ethnomusicology, provides an intimate portrayal of the Arab musical experience in this pioneering book. Racy focuses on tarab, a multifaceted concept that has no exact equivalent in English and refers to the indigenous music and the ecstasy associated with it. His book examines aspects of musical craft, including basic skills, musician's inspiration, love lyrics as tools of ecstasy, and the relationship between performers and listeners.