Dialogue with a Tradition from an outside perspective. Questions, struggles, strategies - mapping out my path through Arabic Maqam and Taqsim. by Dominika Maria Alkhodari

Playing the oud as a European musician, learning to play taqsim and understanding maqam, is a challenge I face daily. In this research I have set out to find sustainable strategies of how to learn and approach Arabic maqam and taqsim playing coming from an outside perspective. I have used one maqam as a model to experiment with different approaches, compare existing theories and analyse musical material to extract knowledge and find best methods for my future journey. Creating a map of related theoretical concepts has been part of my process, which helped position myself and gaining better understanding. The unseperability of composition and ‚improvisation‘ as expressions of maqam became apparent as well as the central role, that aural learning plays in Arabic music. The need of creating a meaningful connection, which enables constant dialogue and deepening of knowledge, became clear. Learning maqam and taqsim means also ‚living with the music‘ and can not be reduced to a moment in time.

1BACKGROUND:

Polish —> +Germany —> Switzerland —> Italy —> Jordan —> Sweden

- transit, mobility …

Non Native to the Tradition of Arabic/Levantine (focus)/Maqam music2
a childhood (hearing) influence of Jazz (father)
Experience as a classical violinist (native, foundation, education)
- also the way i learned to ‚learn‘ music !!! ☆

gradually interested in Early Music:
- Baroque (violin+viola da gamba), then Medieval and Rennaissancex (bowed)

fascinated and taken by MODAL sounds !!! ☆ (historical LINK)

studied intenesely development of western notation in theoretical&practical terms
in its historical, musical context! (3 years)

learned classical indian (raga) music + attending performances for three years
(another modal tradition, conceptual access to some degree)

in touch with mediterranian traditions, mainly south of Italy (+greece, spain, sephardic, northafrican, turkish) - performing musician

PLAY and LEARN the OUD, perfoming Artist in very different settings. ☆
Playing Style ‚Arabic Oud‘, mostly, but not only Levantine
(historic repertoire, medieval + later, ottoman, arabic modern+traditional, jazz, contemporary, own compositions)
COMPOSER ! ☆

MOTIVATION & PURPOSE:

sense of frustration / feeling stuck / leaving out a big something
a sense of responsibility because of the representative, cultural aspect of the oud
expand my musical possibilities / new territory ? x
need to understand the elements, that ‚move me‘ and potentially being able to implement those in my expression. WHY?

personal joy, satisfaction
my struggles might not be unique - community, context ?
- exemplaric point of reference, potential use to others (students&paedagogues)
being able to deliver, live up to a reality i face as a musician

gaining an understanding by asking those questions …
connecting theory with experience …

Sayr: Mounir Bashir
Sayr: Jamil Bashir
Sayr: Matar Mohammad
Modulation Pivots: Matarx
Sayr: Sunbati
Vocabulary: Sunbati
Ornaments: Sunbati
♫ Samai Bayati Al Aryan
Vocabulary: Samai Bayati al Aryan
♫ Samai Bayati - old
Vocabulary: Samai Bayati - old
♫ Samai Bayati Ahmad
Sayr: Samai Bayati Ahmad
♫ Sabah Fakhri - Ya Ghibli
♫ Bint Al Balaad
♫ Sa’aluni Nas
🔊musiqana.com - Bayati
Sayr : Bayati Taksim - musiqana
🔊Samai Bayati - Marcel Khalife
Lesson 08: Collect Songs

• Bayati Modulations: when? how?
• Taksim Phrases ➨ composition
• Compose ➨ Samai Bayati
• Compose ➨ Bayati - MINE

• PLAYLIST: Bayati

QUESTIONS

Can I learn the language of Maqam/Taqsim as a non native?
HOW? WHY?

- How can I learn and understand by myself without a traditional teacher?
What is Maqam and Taqsim?
Why should I learn it? Considering I do play the Oud?
How do others do it?
can i ‚fake‘ native conditions to a degree? :)
What can it give me? How can it influence, contribute and enrich my own creative musical expression? (Dosage + Emphasis)

I don’t think I will be ‚successfull‘ or ‚effective‘ any time soon, but at least I can lay a fundament for myself.

• HOW DOES MY HEARING and musical experience change?
• How do I act on it / implement / translate it?

- inner transfomration, change of ...

i come to it as an apprentice, a life long apprentice… it is a lot of effort to dive as deep as i am trying to get to it, and there are natives in the thousands, most of whom are not professional musicians, who have abilities i might not reach - as they grew up in the … environment and their ears are built on this… as a foundation…

what in my experience people seem to miss is, that poland, the poland i was growing up in, is not the ‚west‘ in how the term is being used, i do have a German passport as well, so my ‚technical belonging‘ seems to make me … but so does with a Swedish Palestinian Musician… growing up i experienced how it is to be excluded, not having access, being misunderstand and above all: my language, culture, homeland and all that i seemed so much and carried in my heart as an identity (that of a child) - everything that seemed dear and essential to me, seemed nothing and less, to my environment… my sense of loss combined with a sense of being devalued was very real and impacted my life strongly…

we live in a world of islamophobia and capitalism, ???

QUESTIONS

Can I learn the language of Maqam/Taqsim as a non native?
HOW? WHY?

- How can I learn and understand by myself without a traditional teacher?
What is Maqam and Taqsim?
Why should I learn it? Considering I do play the Oud?
How do others do it?
can i ‚fake‘ native conditions to a degree? :)
What can it give me? How can it influence, contribute and enrich my own creative musical expression? (Dosage + Emphasis)

I don’t think I will be ‚successfull‘ or ‚effective‘ any time soon, but at least I can lay a fundament for myself.

Tip

Tip