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

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.

Focusing on three entertainers who have become national icons Martin Stokes offers a portrait of Turkish identity that is very different from the official version of anthems and flags. In particular, he discusses how a Turkish concept of love has been developed through the work of the singers and the public reaction to them.

In this book Hormoz Farhat has unravelled the art of the dastgah by analysing their intervallic structure, melodic patterns, modulations, and improvisations, and by examining the composed pieces which have become a part of the classical repertoire in recent times.

Scales and modes are the building blocks of music. This is true for all the many music cultures of the world. This compendium covers the different scales as they are used in the Western tradition, including ie. the Greek, Byzantine, Octamodes, Takemitsu modes, Heptamodes, Octamodes, as well as modes in religious music and jazz, and synthetic scales created by some the most famous composers of the western music. Non-western scales cover Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Indian Ragas, Bali, Thai, Laos, Burma and the scales of some ethnic minorities in South East Asia. The wealth of information in this book is organized geographically, introducing and explaining over 500 different scales and modes. The use of the scales, the interval relations and structures are explained in illustrations. This compendium is an invaluable resource to everyone interested in the theory of the world’s music cultures, be it an individual musician, composer, arranger, musicologist, theorist, or jazz musician finding inspiration for the solos. See the sample pages for more information.