In the theory of Arabic music, sayr is the abstract concept that for a given maqam, there is a traditional or expected sequence of different ajnas that influences melodies and entire songs in that maqam. It is not a deterministic thing like "jins A must always be followed by jins B" in some maqam, but a cultural understanding that certain motions are expected within the musical idiom, while others would be new and surprising.
The Arabic word sayr ( سير ) means "course" or "progress" and refers to the usual course of melody through the different areas of the maqam, in particular its ajnas.
Traditional music theorists tended to analyze sayr in a rather shallow way, often merely describing a maqam as having an "ascending" or "descending" sayr, or stating that one jins is used when ascending and an alternate jins when descending. The concept is about much more than a simple sense of direction, however, and some maqamat have an elaborate interconnected network of pathways through the different ajnas, varying from traditional or even cliché sequences all the way to rare, idiosyncratic modulations only known from a handful of pieces. [1] : 283
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of Classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of popular music styles, traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz. In these genres, chord progressions are the defining feature on which melody and rhythm are built.
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Regarding the music of Syria, there are certain musical traditions and practices that have been present in Syria longer than others. There have been musical influences introduced into Syria through multiple eras of conquest and influences from surrounding cultures in modern-day Syria. Lying in the Middle East, and connected to southern Europe by the Mediterranean, Syria became host to many distinct cultural musics through trade and route. The music present in Syria is related greatly to poetry, influenced greatly by the Bedouin nomadic tribes, the maqam system in Arabic classical music, as well as influenced greatly by the geopolitical movement and conflict in the Middle East. Syrian music generally has a singer who is accompanied by three or four instruments. The texture is usually thin but can become denser depending on the use of each instrument. Music is tightly linked to poetry in Syria.
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Dastgāh is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A dastgāh consists of a collection of musical melodies, gushehs. In a song played in a given dastgah, a musician starts with an introductory gusheh, and then meanders through various different gushehs, evoking different moods. Many gushehs in a given dastgah are related to an equivalent musical mode in Western music. For example, most gushehs in Dastgāh-e Māhur correspond to the Ionian mode in the Major scale, whilst most gushehs in Dastgāh-e Shur correspond to the Phrygian mode. In spite of 50 or more extant dastgāhs, 12 are most commonly played, with Dastgāh-e-Shur and Dastgāh-e Māhur being referred to as the mothers of all dastgahs.
Arab culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, in a region of the Middle East and North Africa known as the Arab world. The various religions the Arabs have adopted throughout their history and the various empires and kingdoms that have ruled and took lead of the civilization have contributed to the ethnogenesis and formation of modern Arab culture. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy and mysticism are all part of the cultural heritage of the Arabs.
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Pizmonim are traditional Jewish songs and melodies sung with the intention of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, weddings and other ceremonies.
The Syrian Cantor is the hazzan who leads the traditional prayer rituals in the synagogues of the Syrian Jews. He conducts the services using ten maqamat or musical modes. A cantor must be fully cognizant of these maqamat and their applications to the prayers. A different maqam is used each week, depending on the week's Torah portion.
Melody type or type-melody is a set of melodic formulas, figures, and patterns.
In Mizrahi and Sephardic Middle Eastern Jewish prayer services, each Shabbat the congregation conducts services using a different maqam. A maqam (مقام), which in Arabic literally means 'place', is a standard melody type and set of related tunes. The melodies used in a given maqam aims effectively to express the emotional state of the reader throughout the set liturgy. This article primarily describes the musical practices of Syrian Jews, though the musical traditions of other Mizrahi Jews communities are also based on the maqam system. Ashkenazi nusach includes a simplified system including three main modes or steyger and several minor variants. Muslims share the same practice of conducting services using the maqam, but differ substantially in many ways.
Taqsim is a melodic musical improvisation that usually precedes the performance of a traditional Arabic, Kurdish, Greek, Middle Eastern, Iranian, Azerbaijani or Turkish musical composition.
In traditional Arabic music, maqam is the system of melodic modes, which is mainly melodic. The word maqam in Arabic means place, location or position. The Arabic maqam is a melody type. It is "a technique of improvisation" that defines the pitches, patterns, and development of a piece of music and is "unique to Arabian art music". There are 72 heptatonic tone rows or scales of maqamat. These are constructed from augmented, major, neutral, and minor seconds. Each maqam is built on a scale, and carries a tradition that defines its habitual phrases, important notes, melodic development and modulation. Both compositions and improvisations in traditional Arabic music are based on the maqam system. Maqamat can be realized with either vocal or instrumental music, and do not include a rhythmic component.
In traditional Arabic music theory, a jins is a set of three, four, or five stepwise pitches used to build an Arabic maqam, or melodic mode. They correspond to the English terms trichord, tetrachord, and pentachord. A maqam is made up of two or more ajnas.
Carnatic music terms are briefly described in this page. Major terms have their own separate article pages, while minor terms are defined / described here.
In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale. It is called the dominant because it is second in importance to the first scale degree, the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the dominant note is sung as "So(l)".
In Judaism, musical nusach refers the musical style or tradition of a community, particularly the chant used for recitative prayers such as the Amidah.
Saba is a kind of musical scale used in both Arabic music and Turkish classical music. This article covers both the Arabic jins and maqam called "Saba" as well as the similar Turkish makam of the same name.