Exposition

Mastering the art of taqsim solo improvisation on quarter tone and fretless guitar in the maqam tradition. (2022)

Jan Wouter Oostenrijk
no media files associated
open exposition

About this exposition

As a young guitarist invited to join a Moroccan band, I discovered there are notes between the notes which weren’t playable on my instrument. That's how I developed an interest in North Africa and the Middle East. This also led me to Codarts 20 years later to study taqsim performances, which are considered the highest form of modal melodic improvisational art in the Arab culture. The research allowed me to explore the beauty and richness of this music, and look beyond the equally tempered Western tonal system into the world of Maqam playing. I transcribed and analysed taqsim recordings of the masters, studied maqam literature and scores of traditional compositions based on maqam repertoire. I used the Arabic 24-tone system and the Turkish comma system (Pythagorean tuning) as theoretical references. By taking ud classes I practiced intonation, phrasing and ornaments that I applied on fretless guitar and quarter tone guitar. Outcome: In addition to my educational background in classical and jazz music where improvisation is often more vertically related to harmonic progressions, the maqam system provides a tool for horizontal modal melodic developments. A way to shape coherent storylines (sayr) with the use of authentic microtonal tetra-chords such as rast, bayat and hijaz, tonicization of scale degrees, sequences and movable pitches that build tension and change modal gravity. The musical embodiment hereof is found in taqsim solo improvisation performances.
typeresearch exposition
date19/04/2021
published16/01/2022
last modified16/01/2022
statuspublished
share statusprivate
affiliationCodarts, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten
copyright(c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk
licenseCC BY-NC-ND
languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1440596/1440597
published inCodarts
portal issueCodarts Artistic Research Reports.
external linkwww.codarts.nl


Simple Media

id name copyright license
1440602 Jan Wouter Oostenrijk - Artistic Research Report (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440628 nahawand kbir taqsim fretless 2 (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440647 nahawand kbir taqsim fretless 2 (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440657 impressions maqam jazz (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440662 Taqsim Segah feedback (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440679 Taqsim Segah elek. (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440798 Taqsim Segah on fretless-firststeps (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440802 Taqsim Segah 1_4 tone guitar-firststeps (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440807 Taqsim Bayat ref1stcycle 1_4 tone live (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440814 Taqsim Bayatcomp re-an 1_4T (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440818 Taqsim bayat re-an fretless (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved
1440826 Taqsim Marrakesh Quartertone Guitar (c) Jan Wouter Oostenrijk All rights reserved

Comments are only available for registered users.