Note cards for Islam Project

By amelia

Music- Important Terms Source 9Q 4-5

• Adhan: Call to prayer– Made my muezzin– From a minaret: “rooftop or simply the door of a place of prayer”– Made 15 minutes before prayer time– Muezzin chants this:

• “God is most greatI witness that there is no god but AllahI witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of GodRise up for prayerRise up for salvationGod is most greatThere is on god but God.”

• Minaret: tower where muezzin stands to call Muslims to prayer

Music-Important terms Source 9S/Q 5

• Qira’ah: “Chanting of the sacred text.”– Sounds like singing, really considered chanting because singing religiously would be

blasphemous

• Tahlil: “A pilgrimage chant; uttering of ‘there is no god but God.’”– Same as above for why it’s not music

This one is just an Amelia source – I was thinking that you might not understand the micro-tonal scale (I didn’t at first) and it’s important because it’s what distinguishes Arab music from Western music! Okay, so micro-tonal means that when we have our notes (A, B, C, D, etc.) there is only

half an whole steps (sharps, flats, and naturals) However, in Arab music, they have very precise intervals in between notes that can be

up to a 32nd of a note (so like, it’s a 32nd of a way between an A and a B on the scale) This micro-tonal thingy is important because we don’t use it at all in Western music and

it’s very difficult for singers and musicians to hear a preform

Music-Golden Age of Islam Music Source 7S/Q

• From 8th to 10th century• Music developed & theory eventually was similar to 17th century Venice,

18th century Vienna• Spanish-Arab music influenced by Baghdad & Visigoth & Berber music

idioms• Modern adaptations of old music not quite complete: marred by other

influences of the years• Not many instruments played in an orchestra at the same time• All music learned by ear-never written

– All we now know are from written descriptions paintings

Music-Instruments Source 7S

• Each performer played same melody – improvised• Important instruments: lute, zither, flute• Rabab= fiddle (bowed not plucked) instrument moved to play; not bow• Sitar= long necked flute – important in Indian music• Bagpipes= became Scottish bagpipes• Rhythm = cymbals, drums, castanets, clappers• Voice preferred instrument

Music-Songs Source 6S/Q 182

• Most songs love songs, songs of nostalgia, or religious songs• Some dance songs

• About when orchestra plays during a vocal concert: “Gives the singer a rest by playing a refrain after each long vocal recitative.”

Music-History Source 6S/Q 181

• Quote: “Loneliness and tribal mobility made ensemble music an impossibility.”

• Nomadic lifestyle led to a soloist b/c songs had to be mobile and could not depend on a lot of people– This also helped develop light instruments

• Work songs for enjoyment & rhythm– Bedouin had caravan song “Huda”– Meter of Huda was 6 metric feet (Two long, one short, one extra long) that mimicked camel steps

• This was the prototype for all Arabic meters

Music-History Source 6S 181

• No major or minor scales – just modes (“maqams”)• The maqams are tone intervals in quarter, 8th, 16th, and 32nd of a note• No harmonies• Music influences include Mesopotamian culture• At all public & private ceremonies music is played• Music played at night in hospitals to sooth patients in medieval times• Musicians were also often mathematicians and philosophers

– Better for learning rhythms, music theory

• Famous musicians:– Al-Kindi– Al-Farabi– Ibn-Sina (Avicenna)

Music-Voice Source 6S 182

• Most music vocal only• Typical song structure:

– Taqsim (improv on oud) in maqam (as prelude to set up scale of song)– Orchestral prelude (includes every instrument used in piece) no harmony!– Singer improv on “Ya layl” (“Oh night!”) where the singer uses on these words

• For audience to gauge singer’s voice• Singer uses microtonal scale- very difficult and precise

– Song (“qasida”-ode, “muwasha”-poetic song, or “dawr”- lyrical song)• Other instruments come in

• Language includes “laryngeal” & “Pharyngeal” throat constricting sounds– Sounds difficult for western ear

Music-Instruments Source 6S 182

• Nay- (also called shebabab) one of the oldest arabic instruments– Made of sugarcane (hollow) 6-7 holes (like a “vertical flute”)– Other Arabic flutes: “Yarghoul,” “Mijwiz,” “Mizmar”

• Percussion – important because of difficult and defining rhythmic structure of songs– Daff (tambourine) can be up to 20” in diameter– Durbekkah (drum, also called “tableh”) hourglass shaped, clay or

metal

Music-Instruments Source 6S 181-2

• Oud (most significant Islamic instrument)– Half pear shaped, striped w/ wood, 10-12 strings, unfretted– Played with a quill– Became the lute in Europe

• Qanun- trapezoidal, stringed– Played sitting down with it on lap– Played w/ two small plectra (on each first finger)– Three strings per note (24 notes, 72 strings)– Sounds like harpsichord, plays melody

Music-Instruments Source 6S 181-2

• Drum• Shawn (double-reed like an oboe)• Lute (precursor to guitar)• Rebec (also called rebab)• Flute (From Egypt)• Bagpipe (developed after Christian era in Syria, Egypt)

Music-Classical/New Music Source 7S/Q

• New Music = Form of music “in which the human voice asserted its primacy.”– Language & poetry fusion

• Classical – early Islam– Got ideas from conquered traditions– Studied foreign music

• Originally Arabs used Greek music theory, then developed own theory• Knowledge of music considered “essential cultural equipment in any

educated man”• Musicians well respected

Music-General Source 7S/Q

• Koran doesn’t say whether music is good or bad• For religious, church associated “music”- never instruments• Muezzin – Special honor, must have good voice

– Now often recordings-not real people singing every time

• Koran “readings” are recitations; “sung” by men only• Fold songs regionally different, but all:

– Are “predominantly vocal”– Focus on words, not music– Repetitive melody – “narrow tonal range”– Variation by rhythm & antiphony– Limited instruments & hand clapping

Music-General Source 1S

• Songs came from poems meant to be sung• Musicians at court by Umayyad• Music passed down orally• Accompany + stringed instruments (plucked and bowed) and flute,

percussion• Female dancers accompanied songs• Lower class people had drums, reed pipes, 1 string fiddels• Koran can only be chanted, not officially “sung”• “Music” is never used during religious ceremonies

Music-General Source 9S/Q 1-2

• Poem from Jalal al-Din Rumi:– “Inanimate wood, inanimate string, inanimate skin,

(describing a Persian tar, or sitar) From where cometh, then, this song of the Friend?”

• Islam has trouble deciding whether music is legitimate or illicit • The word “music” refers only to certain music – sounding

things – confusing for Arabic people– Religious readings and Koran related things never

considered “music”

Music-Non-Musiqa (music) Source 9S 2

• Qira’ah = chanting of sacred text– Chanting patterns considered divinely inspired, not created

by humans• Adhan = call to prayer– Sounds like singing, but considered chanting

• Tahlil = caravan songs sung on Hajj• Madih = eulogies– Also for weddings, births, big ceremonies

• Chanting poetry

Music-Musiqa allowed vs. not allowed Source 9S 3

• The prophet encouraged music at weddings– Also applies to music for family occasions such as lullabies,

funerals, ect• Occupational music (work songs)• Military music (influenced western military music today)• Music is okay as long as it isn’t lascivious or sensuous,

according to “Ulama” a set of rules for Muslims to follow

Music-Hadith Vs. Muhammed Source 10S/Q 184

• Qur’an doesn’t really mention music• Hadith (story of Muhammad's life, but not the Qur’an, and

used as a behavioral guide for Muslims) disapproves of music• Muhammad is thought to have accepted music as “war

marches, pilgrimage chants, and festival songs.”– Some Muslims believe in only playing music for these reasons– Most Muslims just use this part Hadith as a caution against using music “for

pleasure”– Many Muslims “View music as a means of connecting with God or of

promoting religious values.”

Sources• “The Rise and Spread of Islam, 570-1258.” DISCovering World History. Online ed.

Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – Silver. Thomson Gale. Dover-Sherborn High School. 31 Oct. 2007. http://find.galegroup.com

• Shabbas, Audrey. “Music.” Arab World Notebook. Eds. Audrey Shabbas and Ayad Al-Qazzaz, Berkeley, CA: Najda: Women Concerned About the Middle East, 1989. 181-2, Print.

• Sabini, John. "The World of Islam: Its Music." Saudi Aramco World. Saudi Aramco World, May-June 1976. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197603/the.world.of.islam-its.music.htm>.

• “Music of the Arab and Islamic World.” Middle East Resources Dec. 1994: 1-9. Print.

• Esposito, John L., Abdulaziz Abdulhussein Sachedina, Tamara Sonn, and John O. Voll, eds.The Islamic World: Past and Present. Oxford [etc.]: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.