Turkish makam
The Turkish makam is a system of melody types used in Turkish classical music and Turkish folk music. It provides a complex set of rules for composing and performance. Each makam specifies a unique intervalic structure and melodic development. Whether a fixed composition or a spontaneous composition, all attempt to follow the melody type. The rhythmic counterpart of makam in Turkish music is usul.
Comparison in use in Turkish classical to folk music
Turkish Folk Music and Turkish Classical Music are both based on the modal systems; Makam is the name of scale in one of them, Ayak is the name of scale in another. Ayak and Makam are similar, some samples:Yahyalı Kerem Ayağı : Hüseyni Makamı
Garip Ayağı : Hicaz Makamı
Düz Kerem Ayağı : Karciğar Makamı
Yanık Kerem Ayağı : Nikriz Makamı
Muhalif Ayağı : Segâh Makamı
Tatyan Kerem Ayağı : Hüzzam Makamı
Misket Ayağı : Eviç Makamı
Bozlak Ayağı : Kürdî Makamı
Kalenderi Ayağı : Sabâ Makamı
Müstezat veya Beşirî Ayağı : Mahur Makamı
Rhythms show some similarities in Turkish Folk Music and Turkish Classical Music about their forms, classification and rhythmic pattern.
Geographic and cultural relations
The Turkish makam system has some corresponding relationships to maqams in Arabic music and echos in Byzantine music. Each of these systems were derived from ancient Greek texts and musical works, translated and developed by Arabs from the musical theory of the Greeks. Some theories suggest the origin of the makam to be the city of Mosul in Iraq. "Mula Othman Al-Musili," in reference to his city of origin, is said to have served in the Ottoman Palace in Istanbul and influenced Turkish Ottoman music. More distant modal relatives include those of Central Asian Turkic musics such as Uyghur “muqam” and Uzbek shashmakom. North and South Indian classical raga-based music employs similar modal principles. Some scholars find echoes of Turkish makam in former Ottoman provinces of the Balkans. All of these concepts roughly correspond to mode in Western music, although their compositional rules vary.Makam building blocks
Commas and accidentals
In Turkish music theory, the octave is divided into 53 equal intervals known as commas. Each whole tone is an interval equivalent to nine commas. The following figure gives the comma values of Turkish accidentals. In the context of the Arab maqam, this system is not of equal temperament. In fact, in the Western system of temperament, C-sharp and D-flat—which are functionally the same tone—are equivalent to 4.5 commas in the Turkish system; thus, they fall directly in the center of the line depicted above.Intervals
The names and symbols of the different intervals is shown in the table below:| Interval Name | Value in terms of commas | Symbol |
| koma or fazla | 1 | F |
| eksik bakiye | 3 | E |
| bakiye | 4 | B |
| kücük mücenneb | 5 | S |
| büyük mücenneb | 8 | K |
| tanîni | 9 | T |
| artık ikili | 12 - 13 | A |
Tetrachords (''dörtlüler'') and pentachords (''beşliler'')
Similar to the construction of maqamat noted above, a makam in Turkish music is built of a tetrachord built atop a pentachord, or vice versa. Additionally, most makams have what is known as a "development" either above or below, or both, the tonic and/or the highest note.There are 6 basic tetrachords, named sometimes according to their tonic note and sometimes according to the tetrachord's most distinctive note:
- Çârgâh
- Bûselik
- Kürdî
- Uşşâk
- Hicaz and
- Rast
It is worth keeping in mind that these patterns can be transposed to any note in the scale, so that the tonic A of the Hicaz tetrachord, for example, can be moved up a major second/9 commas to B, or in fact to any other note. The other notes of the tetrachord, of course, are also transposed along with the tonic, allowing the pattern to preserve its character.
Basic makam theory
A makam, more than simply a selection of notes and intervals, is essentially a guide to compositional structure: any composition in a given makam will move through the notes of that makam in a more or less ordered way. This pattern is known in Turkish as seyir, and there are three types of seyir:- rising ;
- falling ;
- falling-rising
- the durak, which is the initial note of the first tetrachord or pentachord and which always concludes any piece written in the makam;
- the güçlü, which is the first note of the second tetrachord or pentachord, and which is used as a temporary tonic in the middle of a piece. This use of the term "dominant" is not to be confused with the Western dominant; while the güçlü is often the fifth scale degree, it can just as often be the fourth, and occasionally the third;
- the yeden, which is most often the penultimate note of any piece and which resolves into the tonic; this is sometimes an actual Western leading tone and sometimes a Western subtonic.
- simple makams, almost all of which have a rising seyir;
- transposed makams, which as the name implies are the simple makams transposed to a different tonic;
- compound makams, which are a joining of differing makams and number in the hundreds
Simple makams
Çârgâh makam
This makam is thought to be identical to the Western C-major scale, but actually it is misleading to conceptualize a makam through Western music scales. Çârgâh makam consists of a çârgâh pentachord and a çârgâh tetrachord starting on the note gerdâniye. Thus, the tonic is C, the dominant is G, and the leading tone is B.The çârgâh makam though is very little used in Turkish music, and in fact has at certain points of history been attacked for being a clumsy and unpleasant makam that can inspire those hearing it to engage in delinquency of various kinds.
Bûselik makam
This makam has two basic forms: in the first basic form, it consists of a Bûselik pentachord plus a Kürdî tetrachord on the note Hüseynî and is essentially the same as the Western A-minor; in the second, it consists of a Bûselik pentachord plus a Hicaz tetrachord on Hüseynî and is identical to A-harmonic minor. The tonic is A, the dominant Hüseynî, and the leading tone G-sharp. Additionally, when descending from the octave towards the tonic, the sixth is sometimes sharpened to become F-sharp, and the dominant flattened four commas to the note Hisar. All these alternatives are shown below:1)
2)
1A)
Rast makam
This much-used makam—which is said to bring happiness and tranquility to the hearer—consists of a Rast pentachord plus a Rast tetrachord on the note Neva ; this is labeled below. The tonic is G, the dominant D, and the leading tone F-sharp. However, when descending from the octave towards the tonic, the leading tone is always flattened 4 commas to the note Acem, and thus a Bûselik tetrachord replaces the Rast tetrachord; this is labeled below. Additionally, there is a development in the makam's lower register, below the tonic, which consists of a Rast tetrachord on the note D ; this is labeled below.1)
1A)
2)
In Turkey, the particular Muslim call to prayer which occurs generally in early afternoon and is called ikindi, as well as the day's final call to prayer called yatsı, is often recited using the Rast makam.
Uşşâk makam
This makam consists of an Uşşâk tetrachord plus a Bûselik pentachord on the note Neva ; this is labelled below. The tonic is A, the dominant—here actually a subdominant—is D, and the leading tone—here actually a subtonic—is G. Additionally, there is a development in the makam's lower register, which consists of a Rast pentachord on the note D ; this is labeled below.1)
1A)
In Turkey, the particular call to prayer which occurs around noon and is called öğle is most often recited using the Uşşak makam.