Harmonic Secrets of Arabic Music Scales: Fine Tuning the Maqams: Fine Tuning the Maqams

The arabic scale system is built on the pythagorean system of intervals which are tuned to accurate physical frequency ratios of 5ths. This is in comparison to the european diatonic system which is used in all western music which uses equal temperament so that all the notes are adjusted slightly to be equally spaced so that all scale notes overlap exactly. To understand this clearly I recommend watching the youtube video: "How Pythagoras Broke Music" by Oliver Lugg. The fact that arabic music is taught even in arabic countries on the european diatonic staff using quarter-tones means that pitches of notes on scales are only an approximation of the actual interval ratios and looked upon relative to the diatonic scale which dilutes arabic music and gives it a western flavor. The obvious solution is to give exact hertz frequency values for each note of the maqams which this book does. What this book does for arabic music is very important, I find it astonishing it has low ratings compared to all the other maqam books on Amazon.

This book is a very comprehensive study on "Just Intonation" and it's role in the music of the Middle East in particular, although other types of world music are given scant mention. I personally had a bit of trouble understanding the concept of "musical ratios", so to speak, and how the math & musical physics of that all works out on a fundamental level until reading the first few chapters of the book. It really helped clear up a lot of confusion on my part, and also supplies much more additional information that I haven't yet encountered.You should be aware that this book does not come with the CD's that are mentioned in the description. That is the only reason this book did not receive a 5 star rating. The CD's can be ordered separately, but the description of the book is a bit misleading at the end where it says it comes with CD's. It doesn't. It's a bummer because when you are dealing with learning music outside of the context of equal temperament, it is really almost necessary (unless extraordinarily gifted) to have audio examples of the scales being described since they all involve what Westerners would call "micro tones".If you aren't familiar with "Just Intonation" or the flaws of equal temperament, I suggest doing some research, especially if you are a musician. I have been playing music for over 10 years and am just now realizing that most musicians, myself included, have really been compromising the integrity of the harmony of the music we play by playing in what is called "Equal Temperament". Virtually all of the notes we play on a piano or guitar or whatever are out of tune. There are other tuning systems based on the harmonic overtone series, and "pure" ratios based on whole numbers, and that's about half of what is in this book. It's a real eye opener.The other half of the book is about the Maqamat, which are Middle Eastern musical scales. I have been fascinated by Middle Eastern sounding music since I began playing music, basically, so I find this kind of thing to be very valuable. If you are interested in Middle Eastern Music, or play the oud, saz, ney, rebab, sitar, sarod (yes, this stuff applies to Hindustani Music as well), or any fretless instrument, then this may be your cup of tea. It's very well written, but like I said, no CD's with the book. I'm going to go ahead and buy them anyway, but it really would have been nice if the description was more clear about it.Note: There is another book out by the same author called "Lost Secrets of Perfect Harmony: Ancient Music of the Indigenous Middle East". It is the same book with a different title. You can peek into the first few pages... They are the same thing. Don't waste your money and buy both. Enjoy!

Der Mann scheint keinerlei Veständnis für Musiktheorie zu haben weder westlich, noch über das was er schreibt. Es werden Tonleitern aufgezeigt jeweils mit einer Tabelle über die Intervalle in "Just Intonation" warum er gerade die gewählt hat bleibt unerwähnt. Da es auch so keinerlei Hintergrundinformationen über diese Tonleitern gibt. Er teilt nur immer wieder seine Hippi-esque Begeisterung über diese tollen Tonleitern mit. Notenbeispiele gibt es keine nur die Skalen. Auch keine Modulationen usw. Mal wird was groß geschrieben, dann ein Satz später wieder klein. Muhayyer schreibt er mal mit einem y mal mit 2. Oft vergisst er hinter einem Komma einen Schritt frei zu lassen. Alles in allem wirkt das Buch ziemlich "hingerotzt". Schreibfehler. Zeilen falsch eingerückt. Pro Seite ein Maqam, der nicht einmal ein Drittel der Seite einnimmt. dann auf der anderen jeweils die sinnlose Tabelle. Man hätte das Buch auch auf die Hälfte der Seitenzahl reduzieren können, ohne irgendetwas zu verlieren. Die Skalen gibt es so auch auf Maqamworld usw. da brauch man dieses Buch nicht für.

Useful if you are a musician.

This book is very useful for someone interested in non-western intonation & temperament. The author tries to prove that these Arabic maqams (scales) fit into just intonation, in which all notes on the scales are related to the root in mathematical ratios. I've heard a scholar saying that this is too much 'purist' approach and that actually our ears can adjust to different intonations easily, whether it is natural or artificial ones. Anyway, it is still a useful resource for learning the maqams. Useful sound recording examples not to be missed. However, they don't come with the book, but you can download them as MP3s on CDBaby website. Layout of the book and poor design makes the book look amateurish though, otherwise it is perfect.