A Look At Arabic Music Scales, This is very intresting Options

[bandar]

Hello Mac Musicians.... :-)

I am a new member and this is my first post...

I am a music composer from Saudi Arabia (I have nothing to do with terrorism or politics) and i came to find that most musicians in the western world do not have a good idea about the richness of arabic music...

I am so much in favor of arabic music, because it is very rich in term of scales and styles... as i studied music, i came to find out that western music has two main scales (major and minor) and few other sub scales (as harmonic and jazz and few others i do not recall). On the other hand, Arabic music has over 8 main scales, and a total of 99 (main and sub) scales... not to forget that a new scale was invented (and certified) three years ago, taking the number to a total of one-hundred scales.

Western music is based on the (half tone distance), Arabic music is based on the (quarter tone distance) meaning that between every two notes (next to each other like C and C#) in the western scale, there is an extra note in the arabian scale...( which is C "half sharp" )

One other great thing is that the two main western scales (Major and Minor) are among the eight main scales of arabian music, fitting perfectly with the other ones, and named AJAM for Major and NAHAWAND for Minor...

One good website explaining Arabic scales is : http://www.maqamworld.com/

the word MAQAM is the arabic word for Scale (or Key signature).

this website is listing 40 of the 100 scales with MIDI and Notation samples and i think it is a very good resource for learning about Arabic Music...

Let me know what you guys think......

Enjoy,

[alxonline]

hi everyone!

my name is alx and i'm from romania.
i would have a question..as i assume u do know a lot of arabic songs and singers.

well, back in 1999 i heard an arabic song that was sang by a woman who was dressed up as Cleopatra (the video), laying down on something inside a pyramid and the video also had some war scenes! i saw it a couple of times but I CAN'T remember WHO SANG it!

if someone can help me track it down, write to me at alx-online@go.ro
thank you!
i really appreciate!
alx.

[MacFeegle]

hi everyone!

my name is alx and i'm from romania.
i would have a question..as i assume u do know a lot of arabic songs and singers.

well, back in 1999 i heard an arabic song that was sang by a woman who was dressed up as Cleopatra (the video), laying down on something inside a pyramid and the video also had some war scenes! i saw it a couple of times but I CAN'T remember WHO SANG it!

if someone can help me track it down, write to me at alx-online@go.ro
thank you!
i really appreciate!
alx.

Your description sounds like it could be Natacha Atlas <http://natachaatlas.net>. Ms. Atlas was born in Belgium, but has roots in Egypt, Palestine and Morocco. She ranges from traditional and/or classical to modern and has also worked with a group called Transglobal Underground. I had the pleasure of hearing her in person a few months ago and strongly recommend her music. Even if it turns out that she is not the singer you are thinking of, she's well worth listening to. I am curious to know if, indeed, she is the singer you're thinking of and, if so, what the song was that made such an impression that eight years later, you're still thinking about it. I'd like to hear it.

Thanks to everyone for this thread. I love arabic music and am pleased to see the discussion. Thanks, as well, for all the links.

[alxonline]

Your description sounds like it could be Natacha Atlas <http://natachaatlas.net>. Ms. Atlas was born in Belgium, but has roots in Egypt, Palestine and Morocco. She ranges from traditional and/or classical to modern and has also worked with a group called Transglobal Underground. I had the pleasure of hearing her in person a few months ago and strongly recommend her music. Even if it turns out that she is not the singer you are thinking of, she's well worth listening to. I am curious to know if, indeed, she is the singer you're thinking of and, if so, what the song was that made such an impression that eight years later, you're still thinking about it. I'd like to hear it.

Thanks to everyone for this thread. I love arabic music and am pleased to see the discussion. Thanks, as well, for all the links.

wow, i had posted my question in 2004 lol..
yes, it was natacha atlas! i was quite surprised coz i knew some of her songs already.
anyway i found the video on youtube (praise technology!), can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi6CA_1TGns
it might not look (or sound) like much now, but it was very impressive for the then 14year old me
thanks a lot for your reply!
cheers!