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Turkish Makam

Makam Kürdî on guitar

Also written Kürdî Makamı, Kurdi, Kürdi

A Kürdî tetrachord on Dügâh with a Buselik pentachord on Neva. The Kürdî pitch sits about nine cents under B flat; every other note lands on its fret.

Where every pitch lies

Makam Kürdî, 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♭ −9¢ Kürdî 90.6¢ Nearest fret; the real pitch is 9¢ 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 Kürdî.

Seyir

Ascending (çıkıcı), at times ascending then descending: it starts around the karar or the güçlü.

  1. Begins around the karar or around the güçlü, Neva.
  2. Moves freely through the units of the scale and makes a half cadence on Neva with the Buselik flavour.
  3. Shows suspended cadences and the extended registers along the way.
  4. Closes on Dügâh with a full cadence.

Asma kararlar

Example phrase

Rises through the Kürdî tetrachord to a half cadence on Neva, shows the Buselik pentachord above it, 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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