Contemporary TurkishMakam PracticeKarl Signell

The Abstract Level: Makam TheoryThe Empirical Level: Alernative ExplanationsIndividualityRelated MusicsExtramusical Meaning

To the outsider, the Turkish makam is a mystery: is it a scale, a mode, or a melody?

But the Turkish theorist defines it, the Turkish performer hears it with the inner ear,

and the Turkish music lover often takes it for granted.

A musician playing classical Turkish music at the beginning of the twenty-first

century usually reads from a score. At the top of its first page, there is almost invariably

the name of a makam (figure 1). Names distinguish one makam, or classical Turkish

melody classification, from another. We should not compare modal systems indiscrim-

inately; but solely with regard to its use of names for types of melodies, the Turkish

makam (plural, makamlar) system resembles European medieval modes (Aeolian,

Phrygian), Indian raga (Bhairavi, Todi), and Javanese pater (Nem, Sanga). Historical

records list hundreds of makamlar, some known only by their names, since no com-

positions in these modes survive. The best modern performers can improvise in about

fifty makamlar, and even more if a performer has had a chance to study compositions

in an unfamiliar makam.

The precisely defined characteristics of the Turkish makam hold true for classical

compositions and improvisations performed by elite groups of instrumentalists and

singers, such as those in government and conservatory'ensembles and at radio stations

in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. Turks call this genre Turkish classical music (klasikTiirk miizi i, or klasik Tiirk musikisi) or sometimes art music or learned music (sanat

musikisi) .

The Turkish makam can be understood on two levels: an abstract level that pro-

vides theoretical knowledge, and an empirical level that provides knowledge based on

performance. The astute student will learn abstract theory but will approach it with

a healthy skepticism until practice bears it out.

FIGURE 1" Makam name--beyati--at the top of

a score. (For the complete score, see figure 16.)Bey tf Beste

Devr-i Keb' r Zek Dede

0 • .L C JLO ... N GO . . I. Ztt

47

48 UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

THE ABSTRACT LEVEL: MAKAM THEORYAccording to the early twentieth-century Turkish theorist RaufYekta and his colleague

H. Saadettin Arel, a makam has six elements: (1) tetrachord and pentachord (scale

types), (2) ambitus, (3) beginning, (4) dominant, (5) tonic (finalis), and (6) movement

(seyir).One might reformulate twentieth-century Turkish theory and modify it from a

performer's point of view by defining makam in terms of five elements, not very

different from Yekta's (Signell 1986):

!

1. Scale

2. Melodic unfolding3. Modulation

4. Stereotyped motives

5. Tessitura

Any one of these elements might indicate the difference between two makamlar, but

most of them are needed to identify a makam clearly, even at the abstract level.

Scale

Segah Kfirdi

,,0,.,., o . L- L- ,,%,,.3

3 Puselik Dik ktirdi Dtigah

o L- o";3"

B B-flat A

FIGURE 2. Turkish and Western notes between

whole tones.

IntervalsWestern music commonly uses seven notes (do, re, mi, and so on) with five auxiliary

notes (sharps and flats), so that twelve notes per octave are available: these are the

white keys and black keys in an octave on the piano. Theoretically, any two successive

notes are separated by the same interval, 100 cents. A cent is one-hundredth of a

Western tempered semitone; a perfect octave contains 1,200 cents. Every musical

interval, in all musics, can be represented in cents.

Classical Turkish music, which is monophonic, has developed subtleties of into-

nation; thus one finds three named pitches between whole tones where Western music

has only one (figure 2). In their classical music, Turks recognize and name at least

twenty-four notes per octave (Signell 1986:28-29). Often, a pitch has the same name

as a makam in which it plays an important role (for instance, the pitch segah is

important in makam segah). Turkish theorists use the Pythagorean comma (koma),

equal to 23.46 cents, as the unit of measure for intervals. However, different methods

are used to calculate some intervals, and figures may be rounded to whole numbers;

as a result, there can be discrepancies in totals.

Turkish theory recognizes five intervals (figure 3), and classical Turkish music

notation, for the most part, uses three flats and three sharps (figure 4). Figure 5

compares commas and cents in a widely used makam, beyati. As figure 6 shows, the

same notation represents different intervals, depending on Turkish and Western

conventions.

I=ZGVRU 3 The five intervals recognized inTurkish theory.

Scale: ExamplesNote that for all the scales discussed here, the tones are represented hierarchically: the

finalis as a whole note, secondary tonal centers such as the dominant and the upper

tonic as half notes, and the other tones of the scale as stemless black heads. Note also

Turkish name

bakiye

kii¢iik miicennep

biiyiik miicennep

tanini

artk ikili

English translation

small half-tone

large half-tone

small whole-tone

whole-tone

augmented second

Comma value

4

58

912

Cents value

90

114

180

204

271

t

I

]l

/

]

49 CONTEMPORARY TURKISH MAKAM PRACTICE

FIGUVa4 The three flats and three sharps ofclassical Turkish music notation. Accidental Turkish notation

lowers 23 cents

(1 comma)

Western tempered

notation Example

Figure 5, 9:A-B4 = 180 cents(small whole tone)

raises 23 cents

(1 comma)

raises 90 cents

(4 commas

raises 114 cents(5 commas)

lowers 100 cents

raises 100 cents

lowers 114 cents(5 commas)

lowers 90 cents(4 commas)

Figures 8, 9:A-B4 = 114(large half-tone)

Figures 6, 7: A-B = 90(small half-tone)

Figure 8: E-F$ = 114(large half-tone)

Figure 11: E-F# = 180(small whole tone)

F:GURE 5and cents.

Intervals in makam beyati in commas cents: 180 114 204 204 90 204 204

[ r.)(r°unded)r

O' m

,Jcommas: 8 5 9 9 4 9 9

I

FIGURE 6 Acema4iran: Western tempered

intervals versus Turkish intervals.Tempered: 100 200 200 200 100 200

0 p o _

";3' ITurkish: 90 204 204 204 90 204

200 cents

-- ¢./

204 cents

that Turkish notation is a fifth higher than Arab notation; for instance, the Turkish

makam acemafiran ends on f whereas the Arab 'ajam 'ushayrdn

ends on B-flat.

Common practice in Western classical music relies on two scales, major and

minor. The scale of the Turkish makam acema4iran is close to the Western major scale

(again, see figure 6). Makam acema4iran is a "descending" scale, cadencing an octave

below the starting point; Turkish theory represents it as descending from left to right.

The scale of makam nihavent is close to the Western minor scale (figure 7).

The augmented-second intervals of makam ¢ehnaz (figure 8) resemble scales fa-

miliar to Western listeners from pseudo-Near Eastern music such as the "Bacchanale"

from Saint-Sa ns's Samson and Delilah; the augmented-second interval is found in

various positions in other makamlar. To non-Turkish ears, makam saba (figure 9) is

one of the more exotic scales, with its diminished-fourth interval from its finalis to its

fourth scalar degree.

HGURE 7 Nihavent: Western temperedintervals versus Turkish intervals.

Tempered: 200 100 200

o .

Turkish: 204 90 204

200 100 200 200 cents

- ° r

204 90 204 204 cents

FIGURE 8 ehnaz: Western tempered intervalsversus Turkish intervals.

Tempered: 100 300 100 200 100

Z ¢, k- . -- o%.k\l Jt)

300 100 cents4i,.

• , [

Turkish: 114 271 114 204

.%11t3

114 271 114 cents

/

UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Saba: intervalsFIGU 9

Theory: 180 114 114 271 114 204 180 271 114 cents

The scale of makam rast differs more perceptibly than makam acema¢iran from

the Western major scale because the third degree of rast is clearly flatter than the

comparable Western interval. In major scales, the first two intervals add up to 400

(200 + 200) cents; in acemafiran, they add up to 408 (204 + 204); in rast, theyadd up to only 384 (204 + 180; figure 10). The scale of makam beyati overlaps thatof makam rast, beginning on the second degree of rast, except for a consistent f-natural

in beyati (figure 11). To the Western ear, beyati sounds similar tO the descending

melodic minor scale except for the slighdy lower pitch segah, its second degree.

Comparison of major, acema4iran,

FIGURE I0and rast pentachords.

700200 204 2O4

6OO

500

4O0

300 --

2O0

100

Major Acema iran

(Tempered)

m interval 4

m interval 3 interval 2

Rast

interval 1

x=I vv- II Overlap between rast and

beyati. Makam rast

• °

°

° " ° r Itonic dominant

Makam beyati

tonic dominant

I

51

FIGUmIz Extended saba scale and jump tooctave.

CONTEMPORARY TURKISH MAKAM PRACTICE

nonrepeating extension: ,4-t,.-j_ o-b ,1. • r [--

o ,,- I

t

to o0tov0: fL-

i,"e_3

-2

Western tempered scale intervals repeat exactly in every octave. By contrast, a

Turkish makam often has different intervals in different octaves. Rast repeats the same

intervals starting an octave above the finalis, but makam saba, for example, does not,

except when a performer deliberately jumps up an octave after establishing the makam

to present it in a higher range (figure 12). Beyati commonly uses B-flat (a note called

siinbiile) in the upper octave instead of B-comma-flat (called tiz segah; see figure 16

below, m. 17).

Melodic unfolding

Tonal centersA scale is an abstract set of pitches that becomes music only when the musician brings

it to life. For example: A melody might begin by repeating, holding, or circling around

d (neva), showing the importance of this note as a backbone or tonal center of the

makam. As the melody descends and begins to emphasize a (diigah), the scale, melodic

motives, and tonal centers gradually suggest that makam beyati might be taking shape.

Returning to d for a cadence makes it clear that d is the secondary tonal center, or

the dominant (gii;1ii). A final cadence on a reveals that a is the primary tonal center,

or tonic-finalis (karar), and confirms that the makam is beyati (figure 13). Otherimportant tones in beyati include f (acem) and c (;argah).

In Western music, the dominant is always a fifth higher than the tonic, but the

Turkish dominant can be found on the third, fourth, or fifth degree above the tonic.

In makam rast, the dominant is a fifth above the tonic, but the third degree strongly

shapes its melodies. Makam beyati uses basically the same scale as rast and has the

same dominant, but in beyati the tonic is the note that was the second degree in rast

(refer back to figure 11).

DirectionIf we travel in one direction on a street and then in the opposite direction, we almost

seem to be moving along two different streets. Makam hiiseyni begins in the middle

of the octave, like beyati, but around e (hiiseyni), a fifth above the tonic (rather than

at d, as in beyati). A hiiseyni melody will next descend to establish the tonic, then

explore the upper range to the octave and above. Makam muhayyer uses the same scale

FIGU 13 Beyatiseyir (Yekta 1920-1931:3003). Yekta'snotation, unlikemodern notation,

assumes B-comma-

flat (that is, one-comma flat) withoutuse of an accidental.

0 ;] o ; I ; I" ', , .... ' ', I" ? 1. 11" ;- - ', ;r r, I I ./ I....... tt I I| IF IF I I tl I II I } IIt) ' ' / /

I" ; I F ........ I I I I r• " 1 I ,, t Ir I Irl r ,Ul , ,--, , F ,I F'

25/ I - - , • " , i l ,..v t r I r" r I c ," , ¢- ., _ I I F I ; t"" , , o . , I t,. ' , I , I I/ I It I r I', l I/ t II r I° ÷ I

UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

as hi2seyni but begins an octave above the finalis and works its way gradually down to

the tonic. These different melodic journeys give the listener an impression of different

makamlar. Musicians and theorists recognize this difference by giving these makamlar

different names.

SeyirWestern music theory simplifies sonata-allegro form for students. In Turkish music

theory, seyir (plural, seyirler) is a melody that attempts to capture the essentials of a

makam for students. Besides the scale and melodic direction, a seyir might reveal

typical melodic patterns, ranges to be exploited, and notes to be emphasized. The

repertoire of all compositions in a makam shows the full range of possibilities, but the

seyir should give the essential features in brief.

Yekta provides a seyir for beyati (figure 13) and twenty-nine other makamlar. The

seyirler by Yekta and M. N. Beken (figure 14) show a melodic progression basicallythe same as the exposition (up to meyan) of a beyati composition (see below, figure

16). Since classical Turkish music typically requires modulation within the expositionof the makam, a realistic seyir would include modulation. Beken's seyir includes a

modulation typical of beyati, to hicaz on d.

Modulation

DefinitionIn Western music, modulation establishes a new tonal center, as in the first movement

of Eine kleine Nachtmusik, in which Mozart establishes his first theme in G major,

then modulates to the dominant (D major) to introduce his second theme. Turks use

the word gecki 'modulation' for a shift to another makam, which could mean a shift

of scale, tonal center or centers, and seyir. A modulation can be short and transitory--

a cins 'taste' of another makam--or longer and even permanent (Signell 1986). Except

for the simplest improvisation or composition, Turkish music requires modulation.

Obligatory modulationAlthough we expect Mozart to modulate to another key for his second theme, we also

expect him to return to the home key by the end of the first movement. We can say

that his first movement is in G major although it modulates to other keys; indeed,

modulations strengthen the sense of G major by providing a contrast. For most mak-

amlar, the seyir would include an expected temporary modulation to another makam.

Makam acema4iran often modulates temporarily to saba, using a tonal center common

to both, c (¢argah; figure 15).Among other possibilities, makam beyati often includes short modulations to

hicaz on d and a taste of other makamlar, and sometimes a more substantial modu-

lation to saba before returning to and cadencing in beyati (figure 16).

Fzcuz z4 Beyatiseyir by Yekta andM. N. Beken.

hicaz on d[

53 CONTEMPORARY TURKISH MAKAM PRACTICE

FIGUV.E 15 Temporarymodulation to makam sabawithin makam acema4iran.

modulation to sabaI I

'. ' "- " d. J / , J) , . "rl 1 F /;--A t ! [3 i!lJ -u - I I ' / ' ' I€

I Icadence in acemasiran

FIGUF.E i6

Modulations in abeyati composition.(This is the samecomposition as infigure 1.)

5

lf I" r i1 114 i.. ............... It " l V " /1 I ' I 13/r I i,-J ii 1 ? "" • LJl iii

9 •0 , . . ,- ,. _ ? ? ,= .,= ......... , . _t ....- i li-i i i,-,ii r-" ! I I1 I l\ "

,,,, 4 rl rI I l.J Ir , L, IA LI. UL-.41 Iw i', v "/

fJ I,,.t., L.. , iI ----i, r--

taste of

z,,, ,:r:", - ---, ", t;r_rfz,

' '""t"-.1 I [.J

L...'iF"

III li r ff t,," L,' !lI i

hicaz on d

'7o, . _ Fb r, ,- . ........ ....

--a L-I I _l I_J le L' 'J I I V I p I

'o r- - h' .....

L$ r i" i

7,r

Ltaste of makam hiizzam

24 t . , .. (Meyan) 4ai l "I "l i ..... il l # .. -- . " II "" .m m .. -- I

(2" :"-"1 L. F- -'

.....J ' - . " ÷ t II I 2 [/ I p IFin

taste of makam saba

t ,-4 4 il, i i . i i i - i -- l ,, i I ll[t'('% " l I ¢r F i I I| I f'5 .. ...... . . d J .I J K ,,I .I Ikki2 i / h¢ I It I '1 I I I -- • -- I t'-- -- " I,3 ' ' F =::1==t:==i

I Ltaste of makam puselik

- , t ¢ r r r i r f" ' I.-Z I

, '

taste of makam hiiseyn[

II

33O, . -

" t , € - , .; - . ,r .

' i L I i7 v i.;3, . ,.-- I I, L.__ , ,

ttaste of makam saba

I I I I I I / I II/ I L 5==.J I J I I I

36 i0 I , ,h_ m -

(%', .... ' e " ' '1 • . .... , o"; L'='t [J II t I I f_l rJ If __1 Itaste of makam puselik

- IJ

Compound makamlarWhen a horticulturist grafts a cutting of a domesticated rose onto a wild stock, the

two parts form a new, complex whole. Turkish composers, instead of inventing new

makamlar, sometimes graft together two makamlar by starting a composition in one

makam, modulating to another, and staying in the second until the end of the piece,

creating a new tonal structure and a new ethos. Makam beyati-araban ends with beyati

54

Hcuv.u z7 The two components of makam

beyati-araban.

UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

begins with araban

÷ends with beya

but begins with a different tessitura and different tonal materials (figure 17). Whereas

beyati establishes its first tonal center a fourth above the finalis on d (neva), beyati-

araban establishes its first tonal center an octave above the finalis on a (the pitch

muhayyer). The araban tonal materials in the upper range are related to the

augmented-second family of hicaz and ¢ehnaz (refer back to figure 8).

Stereotyped motivesWe often infer a person's nationality from his or her accent; people have many other,

more complex characteristics, but an accent is something we can quickly hear and

recognize. Similarly, one immediately recognizes some makamlar from a single motive

that captures important structural notes. Stereotyped motives appear at the beginning

or end of a composition or an improvisation. Some are universal; others are associated

with a particular composer or performer (Signell 1986:125ff). When such motives

appear, they are a kind of musical shorthand that quickly suggests the makam (figures

18 and 19). However, one should not expect to find a stereotyped motive in every

composition or improvisation, and one should not jump to a conclusion about the

intended makam before the performer sounds the finalis.

TessituraTessitura can refer to the range of a makam. To bring order to a vast accumulation of

makamlar, twentieth-century Turkish theorists organized some makamlar by scales

that seemed to be the same, grouping them under the rubric of ¢ed 'transposed'

makamlar. Theorists considered makamlar acema¢iran and mahur as makam ¢argah

transposed up a fourth and fifth, respectively. Hicazkar and evcara were considered

zirgiileli hicaz transposed down a second and a minor third, respectively. In modern

theory these transposed modes differ only in name, but performers recognize subtle

differences. Suzidil and ¢edaraban are both described as descending zirgiileli hicaz

transposed to different pitches, but each has its own seyir.Tessitura could also refer to the ambitus of a makam. For example, beyati and

u¢¢ak have the same basic scale, but beyati quickly rises to the fourth degree and rarely

descends below the finalis. U¢¢ak begins--unlike beyati--by dwelling in the area of

the finalis and often descends one or two degrees below the finalis. Violating this rule

runs the danger of violating the boundary between beyati and u¢¢ak.

A listener familiar with these five criteria--scale, melodic unfolding, modulation, ste-

reotyped motives, and tessitura--should be able to identify a makam with the reason-

FZCURE z8 Personal beyati motive byNeyzen Niyazi Saym.

Beyati

.i

i

FZCURE 19 Generalstereotyped motives

in makamlar segah,ehnaz, and karct ar.

Segah sqehnaz Karcl ar

CONTEMPORARY TURKISH MAKAM PRACTICE

able certainty that most Turkish musicians and theorists would agree. These rules hold

within the narrow circle of elite performers in major centers of music in Turkey.

Theory: 114

Practice: 143

FIGUV, U ZO Saba interval: theory versus practice

(Signell 1977:158).

THE EMPIRICAL LEVEL: ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONSPerformers often find traditional theory puzzling. The makamlar they play and hear

show more flexibility than traditional theory would imply. It is common knowledge

among performers that pitches in performance vary from the theoretical pitches. Pre-

cise measurements confirm that performed intervals vary from one musical context to

another and sometimes depart consistently and substafidally from theoretical intervals

(Signell 1986: app. A). In makam saba, for example, the fourth degree consistently

measures an average of 29 cents higher in practice than in theory (figure 20).

Performers and many listeners also know that certain pitches are variable (oynak),

depending on melodic context. In makamlar beyati and u ¢ak, for example, the per-

former will lower the b-one-comma-fiat (the pitch segah) in a descending melodic

line. When descending toward a final cadence, the performer will lower it even more,

usually sliding toward the tonic (figure 21). Performers call this "warming" the pitch.

One leading performer, Tanburi Necdet Ya#ar, proposed names for three more

pitches--making five in all---known to performers but not recognized in theory (Sig-

nell 1986:41). Further measurements are likely to show other differences between

theory and practice. For exarnple, the concept of a "transposed" makam simplifies

subtle changes of tessitura, pitch, seyir, tonal color, and instrumental idiosyncracies

when one finds a scale rendered at another pitch (Signell 1986: ch. 8).

A different paradigm: For larger questions of scale and seyir, an empirical meth-

odology might help us understand the dynamic nature of the makam. Ignoring

traditional theory, one could analyze data from performances, using the array of

notes in each phrase as a building block of melodic development. A sequence of

such arrays would make up the seyir of one performance. One could then observe

the extent to which the artist uses tonal materials of the theoretical scale, and the

extent to which the melodic line behaves in accordance with ideas presented in

theory books.

Comparing performances, one will find some similar arrays, some different ar-

rays, and some arrays that, although similar, appear at different places in the se-

quence. Such a comparison offers a transparent basis for determining which elements

are required to establish a nominal makam, which are misleading or playful, and

which are conclusive in nailing down the identity of the makam. This methodology

allows researchers to test one another's conclusions. Anyone can gather and analyze

data from other performances in the same makam, or from other makamlar. This

type of analysis may offer a more persuasive explanation of Turkish makam than a

rigid theory, by showing the relationship between personal choices of individual

performers within commonly accepted boundaries (Beken and Signell, in press). A

more complete understanding of the word makam and its context in Turkish music

requires a deeper and fuller explanation of the relationship between the dynamic

variability of each makam realization and the relatively static limits accepted by most

musicians over time.

INDIVIDUALITYNo two speakers of English use the language in exactly the same way. Aside from gross

differences between British, American, Indian, and other varieties of English, every

FIGUR zz Lowered second degree in makam

beyati in descending melody.lower at cadence

12.. _, .... bll

t2'l pl L.J-F

56 UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

Each improvisation by a master musician shows hisknowledge and understanding of the makam and itsrepertoire, his mood at the moment of creation, hispersonality, his virtuosity, and his musicalintelligence.

speaker has a different understanding of words and syntax, based on personal history.

Even for one individual, linguistic "performance" varies depending on the day, the

year, the context, and the person's mood. No two performers of Turkish classical music

understand makam in exactly the same way; nor does a single performer realize makam

the same way from one day to the next or from one context to another. Makam exists

only in its realization by individual composers and performers at specific times and in

specific places.

In jazz, the personality and style of the interpreter are all-important. In Turkish

music also, peers and listeners judge how well a performer brings the rnakam to life,

touching the right bases while putting a personal stamp on it. This tension between

the shared and the personal contributes greatly to the vitality of Turkish music.

A competent but unimaginative musician will observe all the rules of a makam,

with correct intonation, expected modulations, and stereotyped motives at the right

places. This musician does the job required, like a bureaucrat. A master musician

might create a personal rift for a given makam, a motive that identifies the makam

and the player (Signell 1986:125ff). More subtly, each improvisation by a mastermusician shows his knowledge and understanding of the makam and its repertoire,

his mood at the moment of creation, his personality, his virtuosity, and his musical

intelligence. No one can copy this type of performance; like jazz, it is personal and

therefore all the more precious.

RELATED MUSICSThe nature of makam in contemporary elite Turkish musical circles becomes clearer

in comparison with closely related musics. One cannot easily draw a line defining the

limits of Turkish classical music. To varying degrees, performers of other kinds of

music also participate in the classical tradition. Their interpretation of makam varies

from that of the elite in ways that give us a fuller understanding of the contemporary

realization of Turkish makam.

Historic repertoire

If we examine the classical repertoire in history, we find (as mentioned at the beginning

of the article) that some makamlar have survived in name only, with no compositions

to tell us what music these names represent. When contemporary performers approach

the compositions that have survived from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (the

early, anonymous Mevlevi compositions and pieces from the Cantemir and Ufld col-

lections), they can grasp the makam structures intellectually, but the melodic move-

ment may be awkward for someone accustomed to the eighteenth-, nineteenth-, and

twentieth-century repertoire. When they are called on to improvise in a makam found

only in early compositions, musicians feel that they are on shaky ground. A performer

can neither draw on a large and familiar repertoire in the makam nor create a taksim'improvisation'

by analogy to known makamlar. This is like asking a modern actor to

improvise in the style of seventeenth-century commedia dell'arte.

57 CONTEMPORARY TURKISH MAKAM PRACTICE

smaller interval

0 i ,,'

"higher lower

FZCTOVaZ ZZ Smaller augmented second intervalin makam hicaz in Gypsy intonation.

Gypsy musicGypsies and Gypsy style dominate Turkish nightclub (gazino, orfasd) music--a con-

text in which light compositions from the classical repertoire are often played in a

lively style with plenty of improvisation and Gypsy intonation.Gypsy intonation often differs from classical intonation. With the augmented-

second interval between the second and the third degrees in makam hicaz, for example,

Gypsies typically place the second degree a little higher and the third degree a littlelower, making the augmented interval smaller than the classical one (figure 22). In

any makam, for example beyati, a Gypsy will usually place the pitch segah lower than

a classical musician would, approximately one comma flatter, more like the corre-

sponding Arab pitch sfkd.

Turkish folk musicMustafa Kemal Atatiirk, founder of the modern republic in the 1920s, exalted Turkishfolk music as purely Turkish, even Central Asian. He suppressed Turkish classical music

as alien--as Middle Eastern. This policy led twentieth-century Turkish theorists to

seek ways to make Turkish classical music seem more Turkish by drawing parallels to

folk music. They looked for makam in folk music, matching classical scales with similar

scales in folk song. However, they ignored the specifics of microtonal intonation,

modulations, seyir, and even tonal centers so minutely prescribed by classical rules.

This exercise reminds us that the borders of makam are permeable and that defining

terms remains a crucial aspect of making comparisons.

EXTRAMUSICAL MEANINGDo not look for extramusical meanings of Turkish makamlar in the secular classical

tradition in modern times. Vestiges linger in makam names such as saba (a light zephyr

from the east) and hicaz (the H. ijiz, formerly a kingdom, now a region of Saudi

Arabia), but one would be hard-pressed to find a Turkish musician or theorist who

would say that these makamlar still have any meaning associated with breezes or with

Arabs. Twentieth-century treatises on makam mention no extramusical meanings. In

1972, an informal survey of musicians regarding extramusical meanings for makamlar

received no consistent responses. Nor did secular classical performance practice in the

last decades of the twentieth century prescribe any makam for times of the day, days

of the week, or special occasions. However, the mosque and Turkish Jews represent

an exception with regard to extramusical meaning.

MosqueTurkish mosque music has preserved extramusical meanings that have disappeared

from classical music. According to the noted liturgical singer Khai Karaca, the first

call to prayer (ezan, Arabic adhan) of the day should be sung in makam saba, and theother four ezan throughout the day should each be sung in specific makamlar (Signell

1970-1972: interview). This statement may apply only to an elite group, however,

since no general agreement with it has been found. Professionally trained reciters seem

to conform to published descriptions of specific makamlar for specific chapters of the

Mevlit 'Nativity Poem' and Miraciye 'Ascension Poem' (Signell 1986:120-121).

Turkish JewsIn addition to the evidence from mosque music, there is indirect historical evidence

from other ethnic groups in Turkey suggesting that there were stronger extramusical

associations with makam in the past. Jewish cantors (hazanim) in urban centers such

as Istanbul, Izmir, and Edirne were intimately familiar with Turkish classical music

for centuries: they include Isak Fresko Romano ("Tanburi isak"), a noted composer

of the eighteenth and nineteenth century; Isak Algazi, one of the greatest singers of

early twentieth-century Turkish classical music; and Jewish emigrants from Turkey to

UNDERSTANDING MUSICS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

the United States in the late twentieth century. Like their coreligionists in many other

parts of the world, Turkish Jews adopted local music practice for their liturgy.

The Jewish liturgy in Istanbul prescribed specific makamlar for specific times ofday, for specific days, and for specific texts. Tradition prescribed a different makam

for each of the Ten Commandments. A cantor who had been trained in Izmir and

had studied with Algazi said, "As a matter of course, Sephardic Jewry recited all thepassages of the Sabbath prayer in the specific maqam adapted to each particular Sab-

bath" (Seroussi 1989b). This small subset of contemporary Turkish makam practice

preserved extramusical meanings that possibly link the history of Turkish music to

that of Indian and Iranian classical music.

Makam is a word, like music, Turkish, love, or God. The meaning of words is elusive,

ever-changing with time, place, context, and personal interpretation. To define such

a word is to deny the very nature of words as representations--dynamic, rich markers

of complex phenomena. When we talk of "Turkish music," then, we must say whether

we mean music of the Ottoman Empire (which century?) or the Turkish Republic(which decade?), and what kind of music we mean--classical (in which circles?), folk,

religious, Gypsy, military, arabesk, Turkish pop, Euro-pop, and so on. We can discuss

makam in terms of well-documented theory and well-known practices that apply to

a small cadre of elite musicians, but we must take into account a wide array of related

musics, some as far apart as medieval Europe and contemporary India.

REFERENCESArel, H. Saadettin. 1968. Tiirk Musikisi Nazari-yatz Dersleri (Lessons in Turkish Music Theory).Istanbul: Hiisniitabiat Matbaasl.

Beken, Miinir Nurettin, and Karl Signell. Inpress. "Confirming, Delaying, and Deceptive Ele-

ments in Turkish Improvisations." In The Maqam

Traditions of the Turkic Peoples. ICTM StudyGroup "Maqam, " Proceedings of the Fourth Meet-

ing, Istanbul, 18-24 October 1998, ed. JtirgenEisner and Yal m Tura. Istanbul: IstanbulTechnical University. (Complete transcriptionsand audio recordings can be accessed at

<http:llresearch.umbc.eduleollmakam>.)

Cemil Bey, Tanburi. c. 1910-1914. TanburiCemil Bey. Crossroads/Rounder TCRO426.(Compact disk. Early twentieth century: makam-

lar saba and nihavent.)

Ezgi, Subhi. 1933-1953. Nazar ve Amel TiirkM ik si (Theory and Practice of Turkish Music).5 vols. Istanbul: Hiisniitabiat.

Feldman, Walter. 1990. "Jewish Liturgical Musicin Turkey." Turkish Music Quarterly 3(1):10-13.

Masters of Turkish Music. 1990. Rounder Records1051. (Compact disk. Early twentieth century:

makamlar rast, beyati, hicaz, saba, and beyati-

araban.)

Masters of Turkish Music, Vol. 2. 1996. RounderRecords 1111. (Compact disk. Early twentiethcentury: makamlar rast, hicaz, nihavent, saba,

¢ehnaz, beyati, segah.)

Miinir Nurettin Beken: The Art of the Turkish Ud.1997. Rounder Records 1135. (Compact disk.

Makamlar rast and hiiseyni.)

Necdet Ya ar Ensemble. 1989. Music of the WorldCDT-128. ( Makamlar nihavent, acema4iran,

segah, and saba.)

Ozkan, lsmail Haldo. 1987. Tiirk M siksi Naza-riyatz ve Ussllleri/Kudiim VelveMeri (TurkishMusic Theory and Rhythmic Cycles/DrumOrnamentations). Istanbul: Otiiken Ne riyat.

Seroussi, Edwin. 1989a. Mizimrat Qedem: TheLife and Music of R Isaac Algazi J om Turkey.Jerusalem: Renanot-Institute for Jewish Music.

. 1989b. "The Turkish Makam in theMusical Culture of the Ottoman Jews: Sources

and Examples." Israeli Studies in Musicology 5:55-

68.

. 1991. "The PeFrev as a Vocal Genre in

Ottoman Hebrew Sources." Turkish Music Quar-

terly 4(3):1-9.

Shiloah, Amnon. 1992. Jewish Musical Traditions.Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press.

Signell, Karl. 1970-1972. Turkish tape record-ings. Signell collection, Archive of Folk Culture,Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Record-

ings include concerts, interviews, mosque and

Sufi musics, and many examples of taksim, seyir,

and other genres. Index and copies available to

qualified scholars.)

. 1973. "Turkish Makam System in Con-

temporary Theory and Practice." Ph.D.

dissertation, University of Washington. Ann

Arbor, Mich.: UMI Research Press.

. 1977. Makam: Modal Practice in TurkishArt Music. Seattle, Wash.: Asian Music

Publications.

. 1986. Makam: Modal Practice in Turkish

Art Music. New York: Da Capo.

Yekta Bey, Raouf. 1920-1931. "La musique

turque." In Encyclopedic de la musique, ed. Albert

Lavignac, Part 1, 5:2945-3064. Paris: C.

Delagrave.