THIS IS A SHORTER VERSION OF MY BOOK WITH THE SAME TITLE. THE BOOK IS MORE PRECISE (MANY MORE RHYTHMS AND VARIATIONS, WRITTEN OUT IN NOTES AND ARABIC SCRIPT), IT CONTAINS ALSO A SECTION ON PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS WITH PICTURES, AN ARTICLE ON THE PEARL DIVERS FJIRI-TRADITION IN THE GULF, THE SAWT, THE MUWASHSHAH AND THE QURAN READING. A LARGE ALPHABETIC INDEX, A GLOSSARY AND A REFERENCE TABLE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MAQÂMÂT HELPS THE READER TO FIND EASILY HIS/HER WAY THROUGH THE VAST AMOUNT OF TERMS AND RHYTHMS OF ARABIAN MUSIC. THE BOOK IS NOW PUBLISHED AND CAN BE ORDERED FROM FENNICA GEHRMAN

PLEASE USE THIS PAGE WITH CAUTION. THE PRINTED BOOK IS FULLY REVISED, TURKISH RHYTHMS ARE ADDED AND THE INDEX IS COMPLETELY RENEWED.

INTRODUCTION

NOTES ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONS AND SYMBOLS

THE CONCEPTION OF RHYTHM IN ARABIAN MUSIC

ELEMENTS OF THE ARABIAN RHYTHMIC CYCLE

THE RHYTHMIC MODES

THE RELATIONS OF THE ARABIAN RHYTHMIC CONCEPTION TO OTHER CULTURES

CLASSIFICATION OF THE RHYTHMIC MODES

CATALOG OF ORIENTAL RHYTHMIC MODES (BUY THE BOOK)

INTRODUCTION

Several years ago during my visits to the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia I got seriously interested in Arabian percussion, mainly in darabukka playing, but later on I devoted myself also to the studies of the riqq (or the "tar" as the Egyptians call their tambourine with jingles, which plays an important role in Arabian classical music), and the North African bendîr (a framedrum with snare string running across the head underneath the frame). During my studies in the theory of Arabian music, most of the books I consulted, had more or less selective chapters on rhythm, but were never covering the vast amount of rhythmic modes used in classical and modern Oriental music. The increasing interest in Oriental music among the musicians outside the Arab world made it essential to write a book on the subject in order to fill this gap. The source material for this work was - with a few exceptions - accessible only in Arabic, a language not mastered by too many Western musicians (!) Studying the Arabic language myself, and with the help of my Syrian friend, the cellist Munir Bakieh, I went over a number of books and drumming tutors from all over the Arab world. A great help was also the Report from the 1. Congress of Arabian Music, held in Cairo 1932 (Thanks to the Finnish lutist and expert of Arabian music Leif Karlsson, who let me use his copy of the book). Because the variety of spoken Arabic dialects made it often difficult to transliterate the original terms into Western pronounciation, I included them for better reference, also in Arabic script. In transliterations I stuck to the pronounciation of the classical and the literary language. On the following pages the concept of rhythm in Oriental music will be explained step by step to an extend it never has been done before in the Western world. One will also encounter similar names to Western music (like "beat", "rhythm", "bars" etc.), but these terms will sometimes have a different meaning in the context of Arabian music. The listing will include over 400 rhythmic modes. Wherever it was possible, alternativ forms, variations and ornamented forms were included. Explanations, usage and tempos are included whenever they are of significant importance. If a rhythmic mode is used in various countries of the Arab world, no specific country is mentioned. Certain genres and forms of Arabian music are beyond the scope of this book due to their close relationship to the structure of the Arabic language. Therefore the chapter on rhythm in poetry has been kept only to an essential extend in order to understand the concept of the Arabian rhythmic structure. I hope, that this book will be a help to all percussionists, musicians and composers, interested in oriental music.

Herman Rechberger 1998

NOTES ON THE TRANSCRIPTIONS AND SYMBOLS

In order to avoid special accents and fonts on this page, a simplified transcription of the arabic alphabet was used for the pronounciation of the arabic words °=the glottal stop, all emphatic sounds are written in upper case letters, also the throaty H (there are three different h's in arabic = h, H and kh). Long vowels are transcribed with the help of the circumflex. The initial glottal stop of the Alef (which is often written as an apstrophe, was left out). In the printed book the emphatic sounds are underlined.

The arabic alphabet is: a (as in other, sometimes as in and), b (butter), t (time), th (that), j (jump) in Egypt "g" like in game, H (h with aspiration), kh (like German ch), d (dump), dh (like th but softer), r (rolling r), z (sonoric z), s (soup), sh (shine), S (emphatic s), D (emphatic d, sometimes also z), T (emphatic t), DH (emphatic dh, sometimes also z, especially in Egypt), ' glottal stop,° very tight throat sound, gh (like the French r), f (fun), q (somewhat like in cat, sometimes g in Iraq and sometimes glottal stop in Lower Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan), k (aspirated k), l (look), m (mind), n (now), h (help),û, w (depending on its position in the word), yî, yî, yâ (depending on its position in the word) non arabic letters (or farsi letters): v (veil), ch (chain) g (good).

In the bookform the music examples (the qualities of the strokes) have been written in both, the western notation with notes and the rhythmic spelling. In order to avoid large amounts of GIFS and special fonts, the Internet version contains only rhythmic spelling. The rhythmic values are notated as follows:

NOTES: DUM = 1/2 note heavy beat - TAK = 1/2 note weak beat - DUM = 1/4 note heavy beat - TAK = 1/4 note weak beat - DUM = 1/8 note heavy beat - TAK = 1/8 note weak beat - dum = 1/16 note heavy beat - tak = 1/16 note weak beat - dum = 1/32 note heavy beat - tak = 1/32 weak beat - dum = 1/64 note heavy beat - tak = 1/64 note weak beat

RESTS: S = 1/2 rest, S = 1/4 rest, S = 1/8 rest, s = 1/16 rest, s = 1/32 rest, s = 1/64 rest

tr = anticipated roll. / = dividing of the segments, || = barline if necessary

TRIPLETS: DUM-(3)-DUM or TAK-(3)-TAK = 3/8 in the time of 2/8

Any ear, a little familiar with Arabian classical and popular music (or oriental music in general), will immediately recognize the importance or even supremacy of the rhythmic element, but it is necessary to highlighten certain characteristics of Oriental rhythm, how it differs notably from others and in particular from the European conception, by introducing some basic facts.

The rhythm in our traditional Western music, merges approximately with the natural rhythm of the melody. It can be defined as succession of silent or sounding beats, accents or a media to express various values of notes, located at equal or unequal intervals compared to a linear, regular and virtual succession of simple units cutting out the musical duration in equal sequences which we commonly call for "units of time " and - in larger units - "measurement ". All these abstract units provide a base to the melody and the rhythm, which does not always necessarily coincide with them. The rhythmic layout in Western classical music, in a wider sense, is quite uniform: The accent in 3/4 is given to the first, and in 4/4 to the first and the third beat of the bar. Such an accentuation of course would very soon generate monotony if the rhythm would not be enriched by means of syncopation, and the use of irrational values compared to the fundamental beats (triplets, quintuplets etc.) Therefore in Western music identity between the rhythm and the measurement is almost non existant (although a rhythmic effect can be obtained by simple stressing in the isochronous beat which remains the base and the origin of measurement). The French composer Hector Berlioz lf did not hide such an obviousnessonce when he sais: " The rhythm, of all the parts in Western music, appears today to be the least advanced. "

In the traditional European music, up to relatively recent times, the role of the percussion instruments in the orchestras were negligible, and it is was well the melody and harmony which dominated, thus giving the percussion a role of an underlining effect.The invention of the barline, sometimes a constrain for the Western musician, contributed perhaps largely to the evolution of polyphony and made it possible to synchronize a great number of vocal and instrumental lines. Arabian music, with rare exceptions, ignores polyphony completeley, remaining in its principle strictly homophonic (in the Arabian orchestra all the instruments play the same melodic line in unison).

a) RHYTHM IN POETRY

Arabian music was connecting rhythm and measurement from the very beginning (even before the invention of musical notation) to the rhythm in poetry. In the grammatical sence there exists indeed a close link between the verb and the rhythm. It can be proven by the fact that at the time only the art of the song (or sung poetry) was considered as the highest form of artistic expression. In Arabian poetry the metrics have been fixed since the 8th century. Each meter (baHr) is composed of rhythmic unities, called ta°fîla (pl. tafâ°îl) from the verb fa°ala (he did). Let us look at three examples of the scheme "f°l" together with vowels, pre- and suffixes:

1) fa°ûlun and fâ°ilun

2) muftâ°ilun

3) mafâ°îlun

We have two types of syllables, representing the three groups of tafâ°îl:

a) a short syllable or "open" does not contain any long vowel (here: fa, °i, ta, ma)

b) a long syllable or "closed" (here: lun, muf) contains long vowels (here: °û, fâ, °î)

We can write each syllable type with "U" (short) and "-" (long) or as an 1/8 note(short) and 1/4 note (long). Thus each example of taf°îla can be written in musical notation and we can be sure that in ancient times the musical and poetic rhythms of the Arabs have been very close to each other. If we tranfer for example the 1. group fa°ûlun and fâ°ilun to metric notation we receive U - - and - U - and in musical notation 1/8 + 1/4 + 1/4 and 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/4. These are the rhythms mujjarad and inSirâf. If we want to transcribe e.g. the noSS waHda to a taf°îla we receive

4/4 = DUM TAK TAK DUM TAK = U - - U - = mafâ°ilâtun.

The complete table of the tafâ°il looks like that:

fa°ûlan U - - mafâ°îlun U - - - mufâ°alatun U - U U - fâ°ilun -U - mustaf°ilun - - U - fa°ilâtun - U - - mutafâ°ilun U U - U - maf°ûlâtu - - - U fa°lun - -

fa°ilun U U - fa°ilatun U U U - fa°lân - -- mafâ°ilun U - U - maf°ûlan - - - mufta°ilun - U U - fa°alâtun U U - - fa°ûlâtu U - -U fâ°ilâtu &endash; U - U

fâ°ilân &endash; U -- maf°awlân - - --

This demonstration shows sufficiently the close connection which exists between Arabian prosody and musical rhythm. In fact the meters of Arabian poetry allowed this astonishing diversification of rhythms. When we look at the repertory of the Arabian rhythms, such as it appears to us at the present time, one can isolate two categories of rhythmic structures covering the two universal fields of musical activity in the Arab world: classical music and popular music. In this respect, the structure of the long rhythmic cycles in classical turco-arabic music appear to us as a direct relation to the influence of poetry and song by their characteristic regular succession of time units, comparable with the succession of the syllables of sung poetry. Some theorists insist on the fact that if the sung verses have 5, 6, 7 or 8 feet, musical measurement will have 5, 6, 7 or 8 units of time. But this is certainly to schematic, and limited mostly to the old form of syllabic song, which the Arabs knew before the decisive influence of the ornamented greek-byzantine songstyle. The influence of this inheritance is still growing. A good example are the muwashshahât, musical forms practised mainly in North Africa, in which the song is dominated by a strong connection the poetry. The repertory of the Arabian popular rhythms appear to us obviously more directly related to the dance, characterized by rhythmic periods, generally short and embroidered with a vast amount of ornamentation and syncopation, serving the need for showing the virtuosity of the percussionist.

b) ELEMENTS OF THE ARABIAN RHYTHMIC CYCLE

Arab musicians have a vast repertoire of rhythmic patterns (identical patterns may sometimes appear in different names in different areas). The general term for rhythm is wazn (pl. awzân) which means "weight or measure"). We have to be careful when reading "measure", because it is not equal to the term used in western music. In Western music we have for example a measure of 4/4 which means, that there are 4 main beats in the bar. The complete pattern, or cycle dawr, (pl. adwâr), repeated throughout the piece, is composed of smaller sections analogous to the feet of poetic meters. In oriental music the content of a "bar" is built up from segments or portions called juz' (pl.ajzâ'). Each segment includes a number of units (what we call 1/8 notes, 1/4 notes etc.) called in arabic zamân awwal (lit. basic unit or first time, pl. azmina awwala). The segments together form the rhythmic cycle, what we would call in terms of Western music for a pattern. That means, the structure of strong and weak beats is always the same. Of course in most cases the cycles will always include all possible kinds of syncopation and ornamentation.

In the scheme above we have a cycle (dawr) called qâtiquftî which is built of two segments of three units separated by one of two units (3+2+3) including all together eight units.

A cycle of eight units (in western terms an 8/8 rhythm) offers us various possibilities of division of the eight beats:

The qâyim wa niSf used in the parts of the nuba (North African or "Andalusian" Suite) is divided into two equal segments of four units

(4+4) = DUM DUM TAK -S- / TAK -S- TAK TAK

There are three main types of segments:

1) Simple, containing two or four units ( juz' basîT)

1a) Two units form the "little simple segment" (juz' basîT saghîr)

1b) Four units form the "big simple segment" (juz' basîT kabîr)

2) "limping" segment, always in three (juz' a°araj or juz' aqSâq). The name aqSâq is a turkish loan word, the arabic equivalent is a°araj. Many of the limping segments are examples of turkish influence.

3) Composed segments (juz' murakkab) containing odd and even amounts of units.

3a) 2+3 (juz' basîT 'a°araj)

3b) 3+2 (juz' a°araj basîT).

The so called composed cycles always contain one or several segments of odd and even numbers of units. Longer chains of composed segments are also very much used in the music of the Greek and Balkan area (Bulgaria, Romania, Yougoslavia, Macedononia). These rhythms often appear to the ear as binaire rhythms with a slightly "swinging off beat".

Examples:

5/8 DUM -S- / TAK -S- TAK (2+3) a°araj turkî

7/8 DUM -S- / TAK -S-/ DUM -S- TAK (2+2+3) here we have a typical popular Turkish pattern.

9/8 DUM -S- TAK TAK / DUM -S- / TAK -S- TAK (4+2+3) This cycle is couriosly called the "European" or the "French" (aqSâq ifranjî)

DUM -S-/ TAK -S- / TAK DUM -S- / TAK -S- (2+2+3+2) simply called aqSâq

9/8 TAK -S-/ DUM -S- / TAK -S- / TAK DUM -S- (2+2+2+3). Another version of the aqSâq

Let us observe another example: 10/8 DUM -S-S-/ TAK -S- / DUM DUM TAK/ -S-S-

The samâ°î thaqîl (the heavy thaqîl) of ancient Turkish origin, but later on an essential cycle in classical Arabian music. It includes 10 units of 1/8notes combined to 2 segments of 5 units again divided into 4 fundamental beats (3+2+3+2). The fundamental beats are called naqqarât aSliyya. As we can see, the fundamental beat can also be a rest. The term awzan stands in nowadays language often for rhythm in general.

THE RHYTHMIC MODES

Rhythmic periods are organized into rhythmic modes, or iqâ°ât (singular iqâ°). Iqâ° comes from the verb awqa°a (to let fall). In its puristic form it describes the special pattern of each rhythmic period or the rhythmic mode. In other words it is the layout of the successions of strong, intermediate, and weak beats, separated by pauses of various lengths. In todays language practice îqâ° stands often for rhythm in general. This well-developed system was described by many medieval theorists. Although six or eight basic modes are included in most treatises, many more have actually been used. The various modes are said to be linked with the universe, and each has a character appropriate to music of a different mood.

Regularity of the rhythmic pattern is not obvious because the rhythmic accents do not necessarily coincide with melodic stresses. A voice or solo instrument carries the melody, while the rhythm is added by percussion or by slapping the knees. Pauses are often marked by gestures. The two lines (rhythm and melody) are united in the arrangement of large sections, but individual beats may clash. A rhythmic mode varies somewhat, and the tempo can be varied within traditional limits. The iqâ°ât are in use also in today's Arabian music. Iranian music followed similar rhythmic principles in medieval times but now it is much freer rhythmically.

As we have learned, each rhythmic cycle contains a number of segments, which are again built up from units (notes or rests). The units can be strong (DUM) or weak (TAK). This system of successive beats are forming the iqâ° or rhythmic mode. Like the Indian musicians, who spell their modes in bols, also the Arab musician spells the units of his cycles to express the qualities of the strokes. For studying and practicing often in addition to the spelling physical actions are used:

DUM - (strong beat) beat with the right hand on the right knee

DUMMAH (two successive DUMs) - beat with the right hand on the right knee twice. The second beat is somewhat softer.

TAK (weak beat) - the right hand touches the left knee.

TAK-KA (two successive TAKs) - right hand beats on left knee and left hand beats on left knee.

TAK-KAH (TAK followed by a somewhat weaker TAK) - similar to TAKKA. KAH could also be a rest.

TÂ-HÂK (TAK followed by two TAKs very close together) - both hands are raised for the TÂ followed by a rapid succession of two beats on the left knee.

ORNAMENTATION

In spite of the close connection of rhythm to the melody and to Arabian poetry, the limitation to plain successions of strong and weak beats would be like fleshless skeleton and over a longer period even boring. Different from western music, the Arab musician considers sometimes even a rest as an item for ornamentation. That means that a rest does not mean necessarily "silence". It can be a sequence of unaccented TAKs or fill ins.

Let us have: DUM -S- (-S- being the rest)

Possible ornamentation forms are DUM [tak tak TAK TAK] or DUM [tak tak DUM tak tak]

A rest could have the forms:

TAK TAK - TAK tak tak or TAK takkatakka or takkatakka tak tak etc.

Also the fundamental beats either appearing as DUM or as TAK can be ornamented and divided in almost any thinkable ways. One single TAK ornamented as:

TAK TAK or TAK takka or TAK tr-takka (tr stands normally for 4 anticipated grace notes) or TAK takkatakka

How rich ornamentation can be shows the following example:

basic form: TAK -S-S- = tak takka takka tak takkatakka or TAK tr-takka takka or TAK tr-takka takkatakka -s-

In addition to these basic rules a great number of other types of ornamentations exists. The most important of all is the use of syncopation ribât = junction or syncopation). Here an example: This cycle is divided in its basic form into three segments (4+4+4+2)

14/4 DUM DUM DUM -S- / TAK -S-S-S -/ TAK -S- TAK -S-/ TAK TAK.

With syncopation it is divided into 3 segments (4+5+5).

DUM DUM DUM -S- / TAK -S- DUM -S- TAK -S- / TAK TAK -S- TAK TAK.

Other types of ornamentation are often described with definitions like "to load" "to fill" (hashw from the verb hashâ) "complete" "to furniture" (ta°mîr) and "brodery" (Tarz). The interpretations of these terms may differ within the large area of Arabic speaking countries. Not to forget, that we have in some countries also a strong influence of African music (e.g. Sudan, Malawi, Western Sahara). Many ornamentation forms have also descended from Turkish music.

THE RELATION OF THE ARABIAN RHYTHMIC CONCEPTION TO OTHER CULTURES

The concept of rhythm in Arabian music can also be found in Ancient Greek Music and to a certain extend in the Early Music of the Middle Ages. The Ancient Greeks called the unit for KHRONOS PROTOS = "first time" or "basic time", the segments were called KOLA the strong and weak beats ARSIS AND THESIS, the accentuation or quality of the beats for ICTUS. Also the concept of the Indian TÂLA is equal to the characteristics of the Arabian dawr. A similar concept of rhythmic treatment can be found in the music of the French troubadours in the Middle Ages and later on in the isorhythmic motets of Machaut and Dufay. With the beginning of the polyphony in Western music this rhythmic concept as an informer of the melody disappears. But nevertheless, still in the music of the Renaissance we have often notated only a rhythmic skeleton as a basic reference for ornamentations and diminuations. The rhythmic repertoire of the ancient Turks and Arabs consisted of hundreds of rhythms or rhythmic modes, some of them with a large amount of units. Many of these rhythms have come out of practice, but an oriental percussionist has still to master a waste amount of different rhythmic structures odd to the percussionist of the western symphony orchestra. There are still existing a number of long cycles received from ancient Arabian classical music. The longest example known is called the "conquering rhythm" (Darb faTh), invented during the Ottoman period, counting 176/4.

The relation of Oriental music to the West reveals itself in both musical theory and practice. By the 9th century many Greek treatises had been translated into Arabic. Arabian culture preserved Greek musical writings, and most of those that reached the West did so in their Arabic versions. Arab theorists followed Greek models, often developing them further. The conquering of Spain and Portugal by the Muslims and the Crusades to the Near East brought Europeans in contact with Arabic theoretical writings and the flourishing Arabian art music. Musical instruments such as the lute (al-ud), the rebec (a small bowed instrument derived from the rabab), and the kettledrum (in the form of a pair of small kettledrums called nakers, from the Arabic naqqarah) became firmly established in European music. Also the qanun can be considered as an ancestor of the Austrian and Hungarian zither and other plectrum-plucked instruments (e.g. psalterium). Arabic writings were translated, among them the De scientiis, a work on the arts and sciences by the great 10th-century philosopher and musician al-Farabi (Latinized as Alpharabius). Such translations give further indication of the influence exerted by Muslim writers. Arabian influence on European medieval music is often difficult to prove. Borrowed elements were possibly completely transformed. The influence of Oriental music on European music is, at present, a subject of controversy.

As early as 711, Arab conquerors reached India, and Mongol and Turkmen armies later invaded the Near East, with resulting contact between Arabian and Asian music. There are similarities between the modal systems of India (the ragas) and of the Near East (the maqam system) and between some cosmological and ethical conceptions of music.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE RHYTHMIC MODES

The names of the rhythmic modes are often refering to certain criteries and characteristics:

Indication of movement and speed: dârij = The Common One - darj - spinning, Tâ'ir - starting, flying off - khafîf - light, bTâ'iHî = muSaddar = basîT - unfolding, thaqîl - heavy

Indication of characteristic accentuation: aqSaq - limping, bouncing, mudawwar - encircling, malfûf - upside down, maqsûm - divided, silsila - forming a chain, muraSSA° - inlayed, raqSân - dancing, °awîS - difficult

Indication of numbers of unities: Sitta°ashra (lit. 16)) = rhythm 32/4, arba°wa°ishrîn (lit. 24) = rhythm 56/4, kabîr - long, big, Saghîr - short, little

Indication of the place in the Nuba: quddâm - forward, dkhûl barwal - intoduction to the barwal, niSrâf - starting, khatim or khlâs - conclusion, end

Indication of musical genre: Barwal, samâ°î, bashraf, al-abyât, zendalî

Indication of structure: murabba - square, mukhammas - quinaire, noSS waHda or waHda-u-noSS - demi-unity or one and a half units

Generic terms: nawâkht (from the persian word for "to beat"), dawr hindi - indian cycle, Darb fatH - conquering rhythm, waHda - rhythmic unity

Indication of ethnic derivant: mudawwar °arabî - arabic circle, aqSaq turkî - Turkish aqSaq, aqSaq ifranjî- European (or French) aqSaq

Indication of tribes and diverse groups: maSmûdî (Moroccon tribe of MaSmûda), haddâwî (named after the Haddâwis in Morocco), mawlâwî (brotherhood of Mevlevi), Sufyân (Sufic)

Indication of poetry metres: Ramal, Hazaj

Indication of areas: fezzânî (Fezzan in Libya), djerbî (Djerba in Tunisia), Sa°îdî (Upper Egypt), wahrânî (from Oran)

Indication of use: zaffa - wedding procession (in Egypte)

Symbolism: muHajjar (lit. stony), signifying some modes starting with three DUMs

CATALOG OF ORIENTAL RHYTHMIC MODES (BUY THE BOOK)