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Turkish Makam

Makam Hümâyun on guitar

Also written Hümâyun Makamı, Humayun

A Hicaz tetrachord on Dügâh with a Buselik pentachord on Neva. It is the member of the Hicaz family with the low sixth, Acem, where Hicaz itself has Eviç; on a guitar it is the shape most players know as the Hijaz scale.

Where every pitch lies

Makam Hümâyun, 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♭ +13¢ Dik Kürdî 113.2¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 13¢ higher
3 C# −15¢ Nim Hicaz 384.9¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 15¢ lower
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 Hümâyun.

Seyir

Descending-ascending (inici-çıkıcı), sometimes ascending: it starts around the karar or the güçlü.

  1. Begins around the karar or around the güçlü, Neva.
  2. Moves freely through the flavours of the scale and makes a half cadence on Neva with the Buselik flavour.
  3. Closes on Dügâh with the Hicaz flavour.

Asma kararlar

Example phrase

Starts on the güçlü, Neva, and falls through the Hicaz tetrachord to the karar, climbs back to a half cadence on Neva, shows the Buselik flavour above it with Acem, and closes on Dügâh from Rast 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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