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Turkish Makam

Makam Rast on guitar

Also written Rast Makamı, Râst

A Rast pentachord on the karar with a Rast tetrachord on Neva. Segâh is written a comma flat and Eviç is a comma short of F#, so both sit just under the fret.

Where every pitch lies

Makam Rast, frets 0 to 12

123456789101112 E A D G B e G A B↓ C D E E F#↓ G A A B↓ C D E F#↓ G A B↓ C D D E F#↓ G G A B↓ C D E F#↓ G A B↓ C D E F#↓ G A B↓ C D E E F#↓

Karar Güçlü Between the frets Tap any note to hear it at its exact pitch.

The notes, one by one

Intervals are counted in Holdrian commas, 53 to the octave (about 22.6 cents each), as in Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek theory. Performance practice differs from the theory in places. Pitches are given in cents above the karar; a fretted semitone is 100 cents.

# Note Perde Above the karar On a standard guitar
1 G Karar Rast 0.0¢ On the fret
2 A Dügâh 203.8¢ On the fret
3 B −15¢ Segâh 384.9¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 15¢ lower
4 C Çargâh 498.1¢ On the fret
5 D Güçlü Neva 701.9¢ On the fret
6 E Hüseynî 905.7¢ On the fret
7 F# −13¢ Eviç 1086.8¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 13¢ lower

Çeşniler

A makam is built from small units of three to five notes, each with its own colour. These are the units of Makam Rast.

Second form: İnici: Acemli Rast

On the way down Acem replaces Eviç, so a Buselik tetrachord sits on Neva instead of the Rast one.

G · A · B −15¢ · C · D · E · F

  • Rast beşlisi: G · A · B −15¢ · C · D
  • Buselik dörtlüsü: D · E · F · G

Seyir

Ascending (çıkıcı): it starts low, around the karar, and works upward.

  1. Begins on the karar, among the notes around it, or in the extended register below it.
  2. Moves up into the middle of the scale and makes a half cadence on Neva.
  3. Shows suspended cadences where the melody calls for them.
  4. Ranges over the whole scale, then closes on Rast with the Rast flavour, approached from Irak, the leading tone below.

Asma kararlar

Example phrase

Rises from the karar to a half cadence on Neva, reaches Gerdaniye through Eviç, comes down through Acem, and closes on Rast from Irak, the leading tone below.

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

Sources

Tuning convention: Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek. Intervals are written as in the source; practice varies by region and player.

How to play maqam on a standard guitar: when to bend, when to use the nearest fret

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