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Turkish Makam

Makam Uşşak on guitar

Also written Uşşak Makamı, Ussak, Uşşâk

An Uşşak tetrachord on Dügâh with a Buselik pentachord on Neva. Segâh is written one comma flat; players take it a comma or two lower still, especially on the way down.

Where every pitch lies

Makam Uşşak, frets 0 to 12

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

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 A Karar Dügâh 0.0¢ On the fret
2 B −19¢ Segâh 181.1¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 19¢ lower
3 C Çargâh 294.3¢ On the fret
4 D Güçlü Neva 498.1¢ On the fret
5 E Hüseynî 701.9¢ On the fret
6 F Acem 792.5¢ On the fret
7 G Gerdaniye 996.2¢ On the fret

Çeşniler

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

Seyir

Ascending (çıkıcı): it grows from the karar and extends on the low side.

  1. Begins on the karar, among the notes around it, or in the extended register below it.
  2. Stays for a while inside the Uşşak tetrachord on the karar.
  3. Ranges over both halves of the scale and makes a half cadence on Neva.
  4. After the whole scale and the low extension, closes on Dügâh with the Uşşak flavour.

Asma kararlar

Example phrase

Stays inside the Uşşak tetrachord on the karar, rises to a half cadence on Neva, touches the Buselik pentachord above, and closes on Dügâh from Rast, 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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