Traditional and Classical Arabic Music
Source page: http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/traditional%20arabic%20music.htm
Traditional & Classical Arabic Music
Arabic music or Arab music (Arabic: موسيقى عربية; Mūsīqā ʿArabīyya) is the music of the Arab World, including several genres and styles of music ranging from Arabic classical to Arabic pop music and from secular to sacred music. Arabic music, while independent and very alive, has a long history of interaction with many other regional musical styles and genres. It is an amalgam of the music of the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula and the music of all the peoples that make up the Arab World today.
Pre-Islamic period
The development of Arabic music has extremely deep roots in Arabic poetry dating back to the pre-Islamic period known as Jahiliyyah between the 5th and the 7th century AD. Arab poets of that time - called شعراء الجاهلية or "Jahili poets" which translates to "The poets of the period of ignorance" - used to recite poems with a high musical rhythm and tone. Music at that time played an important role in cultivating the mystique of exorcists and magicians. It was believed that Jinns revealed poems to poets and music to musicians. The Choir at the time served as a pedagogic facility where the educated poets would recite their poems. Singing was not thought to be the work of these intellectuals and was instead entrusted to women with beautiful voices (i.e. Al-Khansa) who would learn how to play some instruments used at that time (i.e. lute, drum, Oud, rebab, etc...) and then perform the songs while respecting the poetic metre.
Early Islamic period
Arabic maqam is the system of melodic modes used in traditional Arabic music, which is mainly melodic. The word maqam in Arabic means "station" and denotes a melody type built on a scale and carrying 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. Maqams can be realized with either vocal or instrumental music, and do not include a rhythmic component. Al-Kindi (801–873 AD) was the first great theoretician of Arabic music. He proposed adding a fifth string to the oud and discussed the cosmological connotations of music. He published fifteen treatises on music theory, but only five have survived. In one of his treaties the word musiqa was used for the first time in Arabic, which today means music in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, English and several other languages in the Islamic world. Abulfaraj (897–967) wrote great book about music Kitab al-Aghani is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions by the 8th/9th-century litterateur. Al-Farabi (872-950) wrote a notable book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir (The Great Book of Music). His pure Arabian tone system is still used in Arabic music. Al-Ghazali (1059–1111) wrote a treatise on music in Persia which declared, "Ecstasy means the state that comes from listening to music". In 1252, Safi al-Din developed a unique form of musical notation, where rhythms were represented by geometric representation. A similar geometric representation would not appear in the Western world until 1987, when Kjell Gustafson published a method to represent a rhythm as a two-dimensional graph.
Andalusian classical music
By the 11th century, Moorish Spain had become a center for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually throughout France, influencing French troubadours, and eventually reaching the rest of Europe. The English words lute, rebec, organ and naker are derived from Arabic oud, rabab, urghun and nagqara'.
Sixteenth century
Bartol Gyurgieuvits (1506–1566) spent 13 years as a slave in the Ottoman empire. After escaping, he published De Turvarum ritu et caermoniis in Amsterdam in 1544. It is one of the first European books to describe music in Islamic society. In India, the Islamic Mughal emperors ruled both Muslims and Hindus. The greatest of these, Akbar (1542–1605) had a team of at least fifty musicians, thirty-six of whom are known to us by name. The origins of the "belly dance" are very obscure, as depictions and descriptions are rare. It may have originated in Pre Islamic Arabia Examples have been found from 200 BC, suggesting a possible pre-Islamic origin.
http://www.kr-music.com/classical-arabic-music-works/ (archived)
Early Modern Music in Cairo
Music was a key part of society. Tradesmen of every occupation used music during work and the schools taught the Quran by chanting. The songs of this period were similar in sound and simple, consisting of only a few notes. Musicians found work singing or playing at parties to entertain the company. Female professional musicians were called Alawim (pl) or Al’meh, which means a learned female. These singers were often hired on the occasion of a celebration in the harem of a wealthy person. They were not with the harem, but in an elevated room that was concealed by a screen so as not to be seen by either the harem or the master of the house.]
1970s. Everything was learned face-to-face .
Twentieth century
Early Secular Formation
In the 20th century, Egypt was the first in a series of Arab countries to experience a sudden emergence of nationalism, as it became independent after 2000 years of foreign rule. Turkish music, popular during the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the region, was replaced by national music. Cairo became a center for musical innovation. One of the first female musicians to take a secular approach was Umm Kulthum quickly followed by Fairuz. Both have been extremely popular through the decades that followed and both are considered legends of Arabic music.
Westernization
During the 1950s and the 1960s Arabic music began to take on a more Western tone with such artists as Abdel Halim Hafez paving the way. By the 1970s several other singers had followed suit and a strand of Arabic pop was born. Arabic pop usually consists of Western styled songs with Arabic instruments and lyrics. Melodies are often a mix between Eastern and Western. In the 1990s the several artists have taken up such a style including Amr Diab, Samira Said, Hisham Abbas, Angham, Asalah Nasri, Kadhem Al Saher, Mostafa Amar, Najwa Karam, Nawal Al Zoghbi, Ehab Tawfik, Mohamed Fouad, Diana Haddad, Mohamed Mounir, Latifa, Cheb Khaled, George Wassouf, and Hakim. In 1996,( Amr Diab - Habibi ya Nour El Ain ) was released, becoming a tremendous success not only in the Middle East nor the Arab world but throughout the entire world. The title track, and its English version "Habibi", was an international phenomenon, becoming a massive crossover hit. In this song Amr Diab has mixed three music civilizations in one track. The Spanish music in flamenco music, French music by accordion solo and Arabic which showed in the playing of drums by Duff instrument and tamphits. This song opened the door in front of Arabic music in the way of internationality and to be popular all over the world.
Franco-Arabic
A popular form of West meets East style of music, similar in many respects to modern Arabic Pop. This blend of western and eastern music was popularized as Franco-Arabic music by artists such as Dalida (Egypt), Sammy Clarke (Lebanon). Although Franco-Arabic is a term used to describe many forms of cross-cultural blending between the West and the Middle East, musically the genre crosses over many lines as is seen in songs that incorporate Arabic and Italian, Arabic and French and, of course, Arabic and English styles and or lyrics.
Arabic R&B, Reggae, and Hip
There has also been a rise of R&B, reggae and hip hop influence of Arabic music in the past five years. This usually involves a rapper featured in a song (such as Ishtar in her song 'Habibi Sawah'). The Moroccan singer Elam Jay develop a contemporary version of Gnawa, fusing it with R&B which he named Gnawitone Styla. Another variation of contemporary Gnawa played in Morocco is introduced by Darga. Based in Casablanca, the group fusing the Gnawa with Reggae. However certain artists have taken to using full R&B and reggae beats and styling such as Darine. This has been met with mixed critical and commercial reaction. As of now it is not a widespread genre.
Arabic jazz
Another popular form of West meets East, Arabic Jazz is also popular, with many songs using jazz instruments. Early jazz influences began with the use of the saxophone by musicians like Samir Suroor, in the "oriental" style. The use of the saxophone in that manner can be found in Abdel Halim Hafez's songs, as well as Kadim Al Sahir and Rida Al Abdallah today. The first mainstream jazz elements were incorporated into Arabic music by the Rahbani brothers. Fairuz's later work was almost exclusively made up of jazz songs, composed by her son Ziad Rahbani. Ziad Rahbani also pioneered today's oriental jazz movement, to which singers including Rima Khcheich, Salma El Mosfi. We can also find a lot of jazz music in Mohamed Mounir's songs starting from his first album which it was in 1977, till now he still make some good jazz music.
Arabic rock
Rock music is popular all around the world, and the Arab world is no exception. There are many Arabic rock bands that fuse the sound of hard rock with traditional Arabic instruments. Arabic Rock is gaining a lot of attention in the Middle East, with bands such as Massar Egbari , Sahara, Wyvern and Cartoon Killerz in Egypt, Meen and Mashrou' Leila in Lebanon, and in Jordan with bands such as Jadal. The band Hoba Hoba Spirit from Morocco is also popular, especially in the Maghrebi region. Rachid Taha, an Algerian musician, plays a fusion of Rock and Raï.
Sacred music
Islamic music, including the Tajwid or recitation of Qur'an readings, is structurally equivalent to Arabic secular music, while Christian Arab music has been influenced by Syriac Orthodox, Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Coptic, and Maronite church music. (ibid, p. 152)
Characteristics of Arabic music
Much Arabic music, is characterized by an emphasis on melody and rhythm, as opposed to harmony. There are some genres of Arabic music that are polyphonic, but typically, Arabic music is homophonic.[20]
Habib Hassan Touma (1996, p.xix-xx) submits that there are "five components" that characterize Arabic music:
1.The Arab tone system; that is, a musical tuning system that relies on specific interval structures and was invented by al-Farabi in the 10th century (p. 170)
2.Rhythmic-temporal structures that produce a rich variety of rhythmic patterns, known as awzan or "weight", that are used to accompany metered vocal and instrumental genres, to accent or give them form.
3.A number of musical instruments that are found throughout the Arab world that represent a standardized tone system, are played with generally standardized performance techniques, and display similar details in construction and design.
4.Specific social contexts that produce sub-categories of Arabic music, or musical genres that can be broadly classified as urban (music of the city inhabitants), rural (music of the country inhabitants), or Bedouin (music of the desert inhabitants)..."
5.An Arab musical mentality, "responsible for the esthetic homogeneity of the tonal-spatial and rhythmic-temporal structures throughout the Arab world whether composed or improvised, instrumental or vocal, secular or sacred." Touma describes this musical mentality as being composed of:
The phenomenon of the maqām
The predominance of vocal music
The tendency toward small instrumental ensembles
The arrangement in different combinatory sequences of the small and smallest melodic elements and their repetition, combination, and permutation.”
Maqam system
The basis of Arabic music is the maqam (pl. maqamat), which looks like the mode, but is not quite the same. The tonic note, dominant note, and ending note (unless modulation occurs) are generally determined by the maqam used. Arabic maqam theory as ascribed in literature over the ages names between 90 and 110 maqams, that are grouped into larger categories known as fasilah. Fasilah are groupings of maqams whose first four primary pitches are shared in common.[21]
Vocal tradition
Instruments and ensembles Front and rear views of an oud.
The prototypical Arabic music ensemble in Egypt and Syria is known as the takht, and includes, (or included at different time periods) instruments such as the 'oud, qānūn, rabab, ney, violin (introduced in the 1840s or 50s), riq and dumbek. In Iraq, the traditional ensemble, known as the chalghi, includes only two melodic instruments - the jowza (similar to the rabab but with four strings) and santur- accompanied by the riq and dumbek. The Arab world has incorporated instruments from the West, including the electric guitar, cello, double bass and oboe, and incorporated influences from jazz and other foreign musical styles. The singers remained the stars, however, especially after the development of the recording and film industry in the 1920s in Cairo. These singing celebrities include Abd el-Halim Hafez, Farid Al Attrach, Asmahan, Sayed Darwish, Mohammed Abd el-Wahaab, Warda Al-Jazairia, and possibly the biggest star of modern Arab classical music, Umm Kulthum.
Sources
Shireen Maalouf (2002). History of Arabic Music Theory: Change and Continuity in the Tone Systems, Genres, and Scales. Kaslik, Lebanon: Université Saint-Esprit.
Peter van der Merwe (1989). Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN .
Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 1-57467-081-6.
