Maqam Hijaz on guitar

The notes, one by one

Steps are counted in equal quarter tones of 50 cents, the usual written convention for Arabic maqam. Real intonation shifts with region, maqam and player. Pitches are given in cents above the tonic; a fretted semitone is 100 cents.

Ajnas

A maqam is built from small units of three to five notes, each with its own colour. These are the units of Maqam Hijaz.

• Jins Hijaz

  On D, 4 notes

  D · E♭ · F# · G

• Jins Nahawand

  On G, 5 notes

  G · A · B♭ · C · D

Sayr

Jins Hijaz on the tonic, then a second jins from the ghammaz, G, up to the octave.

1. Jins Hijaz establishes the maqam around the tonic, D, with the wide step between its second and third notes.
2. At the ghammaz, G, the melody passes into the second jins.
3. That second jins is either Nahawand or Rast; the choice decides whether the sixth is B flat or B half-flat.

Example phrase

Climbs Jins Hijaz across its wide step to the ghammaz, G, falls back, visits Jins Nahawand above, then closes through the wide step again.

A short outline written for Fretwise that follows the sayr above. It is not a quotation from the repertoire. Press “Play the phrase” on the neck to hear it.

Sources

• MaqamWorld: Maqam Hijaz

Tuning convention: 24-tone equal temperament. Intervals are written as in the source; practice varies by region and player.