Arab Music I INTRODUCTION Umm Kulthum Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum was revered throughout Egypt, North Africa, and the Near East for her powerful voice and improvisational skill.

« The rhythmic structure of Arab music is similarly complex.

Rhythmic patterns have up to 48 beats and typically include several downbeats (called dums ) as well as upbeats (called taks) and silences, or rests.

To grasp a rhythmic mode, the listener must hear a relatively long pattern.

Moreover, the performers do not simply play the pattern; they elaborate upon and ornament it.

Often the pattern is recognizable by the arrangement of downbeats.

The Rhythm in Arab Music illustration demonstratesa simple performance of the rhythmic mode called sama ci thaqil, followed by the basic pattern. Rhythm in Arab MusicRhymically, Western music is usually divided into meters, typically of equal duration, which contain a fixed number ofindividual beats, or rhythmic pulses.

Different beats in the measures are accented—that is, receive more emphasis thanothers—depending on the genre of music, while each measure contains one downbeat (the beat with which the measurebegins) and one upbeat (the beat with which the measure ends).

In contrast, Arab music is based on nonmetricalrhythmic patterns.

These complex cycles usually include several downbeats and upbeats, as shown in the second line ofthis example of Arab music.

The first line shows a rhythmic pattern formed by elaborating upon the basic pattern providedin the second line.© Microsoft Corporation.

All Rights Reserved. Command of these systems of melody and rhythm is fundamental to the composition and performance of Arab music.

Students also learn pieces of music, both songsand instrumental works, but rarely perform them exactly as they were originally composed or presented.

In Arab tradition, good musicians offer something new in eachperformance by varying and improvising on known pieces or models in a fashion similar to that of jazz musicians ( see Improvisation).

The inventions of musicians can be lengthy, extending ten-minute compositions into hour-long performances that bear only a skeletal resemblance to the models. The inventions of the musician traditionally depend upon the response of the audience.

Listeners are expected to react during the performance, either verbally or withapplause.

Quiet is interpreted as disinterest or dislike.

The audience members, in this tradition, are active participants in determining the length of the performance andin shaping the piece of music by encouraging musicians to either repeat a section of the piece or to move to the next section. IV SUNG POETRY AND RECITATION Historically, words and music were closely linked in Arab music, and singing remains a central feature.

Although distinct from music, the Qur'an (Koran), the holy bookof Muslims, is typically recited aloud, and this public recitation often draws upon the melodic modes of Arab music.

The modes may help deliver the meaning or sense ofthe holy words without obscuring the words themselves.

Religious supplications and songs draw more on the musical system but emphasize the text in a manner similarto Qur'anic recitation. Oratory is a valued art in Arab societies.

Traditionally, recitations of poetry form part of ceremonies, celebrations, and other performances.

Sophisticated poetry andcolloquial verse are frequently sung, with the expectation that the singer's rendition will enhance the mood and meaning of the poetry but not obscure its puns or otherwordplay.

The singing of a qasida, a long narrative poem describing nature, political events, or religious devotion, exemplifies pre-Islamic classical tradition.

In this tradition, singers selected a dozen or more poignant lines from much longer poems and created melodies for them.

Their performances featured lengthy variations orimprovisations on lines at the behest of listeners who felt themselves drawn into the mood of the poetry and music.

This tradition continues in a multitude of genres ofsong, including highly colloquial folk songs performed in small villages, that operate similarly—that is, they combine clever ideas and wordplay with creative musicalrendition. V INSTRUMENTS AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC Instruments typically used in an Arab musical performance include the 'ud, a prototype of the European lute, and the nāy, an end-blown reed flute.

Frame drums, with or without jingles, and hourglass-shaped drums are common percussion instruments.

These instruments vary in name and shape depending upon the region of theirorigin.

Double-reed instruments of varying sizes, such as the Lebanese mijwiz and the Egyptian mizmar, are played at outdoor celebrations.

The Arab rababah, a spike fiddle, may have been the prototype for the European violin, which is now found in many Arab regions. Solo performance consisting of the interactive invention of good music with an appreciative audience represents a peak of musical accomplishment for theinstrumentalist similar to that which the singing of poetry represents for the vocalist.

In a taqsim, a form of instrumental improvisation, the instrumentalist chooses a melodic mode, offers interpretation of the mode, ascends in pitch, and modulates to other modes.

Eventually the instrumentalist descends to close in the original mode.Musical accomplishment lies in the musician's technical virtuosity, creativity, and subtlety in suggesting other modes, other compositions, or even the music of otherartists. Performances considered traditional—whether they are neoclassical events in concert halls, entertainment in hotels, or television programs—usually include both songand instrumental performances, often alternately, that last about an hour and are arranged to reach a climax in a vocal performance.

Such collections ofpieces—metrical and nonmetrical, vocal and instrumental, simple and complex, and often unified by mode—are central to Arab music.

Examples include the NorthAfrican nawbah, thought to have originated in Andalucía, and the eastern Mediterranean waslah musical forms, which were previously the standard of entertainment for small gatherings of elite Arab men.

Modern performances by Egyptian vocalist Umm Kulthum and Syrian Sabah Fakhri represent this tradition in the 20th century. VI CHANGES IN ARAB MUSIC While the general principles have been retained, the tradition of Arab music has changed throughout the centuries.

Distinctive local practices have evolved and becomeimportant to the cultural identity of their respective societies.

For example, the North African cities of Fès, Tetuan, Tlemcen, and Tunis have distinct versions of theAndalusian nawbah that help define local culture and are closely associated with the histories of their regions.

Melodic modes of the same name are tuned slightlydifferently in Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and the countries of North Africa.

Music of these regions is distinguishable by intonation.

Rhythmic modes also have varyingarticulations in different locales, and styles of the melodies and the renditions differ.

Sung poetry, particularly colloquial verse, changes with local dialects.

The Iraqimaqam is not simply a melodic mode, but a suite of pieces in a particular mode.

The word maqam in Iraq carries a meaning closer to that of waslah or nawbah than does the word maqam in other places. Because of the absence of recording or notation until the 20th century, it is impossible to be certain of the age of the melodies.

Particular melodies, specifically those ofAndalusian or Syrian muwashshahat, may be centuries old, but it is unlikely that they have remained exactly the same throughout the years.

Widely known musical. »