Rhythm in Arabian music
Rhythm in Arabian music is analysed by means of rhythmic units called awzan and iqa'at.
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Wazn and Iqa'
A rhythmic pattern or cycle in Arabian music is called a "wazn" (Arabic: وزن; plural أوزان / awzān), literally a "measure", also called darb, mizan, and usul [1] as is in Ottoman classical music). A Wazn is performed on the goblet drum (tarabuka), frame drum (riqq or tar), and kettle drums (naqqarat).[2]
A wazn is only used in musical genres with a fixed rhythmic-temporal organization including recurring measures, motifs, and meter or pulse.[3] It consists of two or more regularly recurring time segments, each time segment consisting of at least two beats (naqarāt, plural of naqrah). There are approximately one hundred different cycles used in the repertoire of Arab music, most shared with Turkish music. They are recorded and remembered through onomatopoetic syllables and the written symbols O and I.[4] Wazn may be as large as 176 units of time.[5]
Iqa' (Arabic: إيقاع / īqā‘; plural إيقاعات / īqā‘āt) are rhythmic modes or patterns in Arabian music.[6] There are reputed to be over 100 iqa'at,[7] but many of them have fallen out of fashion and are rarely if ever used in performance. The greatest variety of iqa'at (ranging from two to 48 beats) are used in the muwashshah.
List of iqa'at
- A'raj (اعرج)
- Aghar Aqṣāq (آغر اقصاق)
- Aqṣāq (اقصاق)
- Aqsāq Ifrangi (A'raj Ifrangi)
- Aqṣāq Samā'i (اقصاق سماعي)
- Awfar (اوفر)
- 'Awīs (عويص)
- Awsat Turkī
- Ayūb (ايوب)
- Baladī (بلدي)
- Barafshān Turkī
- Billīq Shāmī
- Darb Fath
- Dawr Al-Kabīr (دور الكبير)
- Dawr Hindī (دور هندي); also called Nim Nawākht
- Dawr Kabīr Halabī
- Dawr Kabīr Turkī
- Dharafāt
- Du-Yak
- Fākhit (فاخت)
- Fākhitah
- Fākhitah 'Arabī
- Fākhitah Turkī
- Far'
- Fikra (فكرة)
- Fikratī
- Frankajīn (فرنكجين)
- Hāwī
- Hazaj 'Arabī
- Hazaj Turkī
- Jurjīnah (جرجينه)
- Katākuftī (كتاكفتي)
- Khafīf 'Arabī
- Khafīf Turkī (خفيف تركي)
- Khūsh Rank (خوش رنك)
- Lamā (Raqsān)
- Mālfūf (ملفوف)
- Maqsūm (مقسوم)
- Maṣmūdi Kabīr (مصمودي كبير)
- Maṣmūdi Saghīr (مصمودي صغير)
- Mudawwar (مدوّر)
- Muhajjar (محجّر)
- Mukhammas (مخمّس)
- Mukhammas Turkī (مخمّس تركي)
- Murabba' (مربّع)
- Naqsh (نقش)
- Naqsh in 17/4
- Naqsh in 18/4
- Naqsh in 21/4
- Naqsh in 36/4
- Naqsh in 40/4
- Naqsh in 52/4
- Nawākht (نواخت)
- Nawākht Hindī (نواخت هندي)
- Nīm Oyūn Havāsī (نيم ايون هواسي)
- Nīm Dawr (نيم دور)
- Nīm Hazaj (نيم هزج)
- Nīm Rawān (نيم روان)
- Nīm Thaqīl Turkī
- Nīm Warash
- Qātiqūfti
- Rahaj (رهج)
- Ramal Halabī
- Ramal Turkī
- Rawān (روان)
- Sādah Dūyek (ساده دو يك)
- Sādāyah
- Samā'ī Ṭā'er (سماعي طائر)
- Samā'ī Thaqīl (سماعي ثقيل)
- Shanbar Halabī (شنبر حلبي)
- Shanbar Kabīr (شنبر كبير)
- Sinkīn Samā'ī (سنكين سماعي)
- Sittatu 'Ashar (ستة عشر)
- Sūfiyān
- Taras
- Thaqīl Turkī (ثقيل تركي)
- Turk Zarb
- Ṭurrah (طرّة)
- Wāhda (واحدة)
- Wāhda Mukallafa (واحدة مكلّفة)
- Warash
- Warshān 'Arabī (ورشان عربي)
- Yūruk Samā'ī (يورك سماعي); also called Samā'i Dārij (سماعي دارج)
- Zanjīr Turkī
- Zīr-Afkand
See also
References
Cited sources
- Habib Hassan Touma (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
External links
- Arabic Rhythms page from Maqam World
