4- Maqamat that combine the Pentatonic Scale and the Eastern Maqamat
        
         These kinds of Maqamat are used in Morocco, the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen and the Gulf States.  Principal among them is Maqam El-Theel, where the third and seventh notes are lowered by 20%.  Of its varieties is Mujannab El-Theel, where the third note is completely flat.  This Maqam is similar to Suznak.  Other Maqamat in this group is what is known in Tunis and Libya by Iraq, and in Morocco it's known by Tunisian Isphahaan.  Al-Nawa , Al-Mazmoom and  Moroccan Ushshaq (Raml El-Theel) are also part of this group of Maqamat.

Maqam Al-Theel

     The Fourth group of Maqamat is the one that have Maqamat that combine the Pentatonic Scale with the Eastern Scale that uses Tetra chords.  This Kind of Maqamat is used in Morocco, the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen and the Gulf states.  The principal one of these Maqamat is Maqam “Al-Theel”.  And as the Tunisian proverb goes “when your evening dawns on you, use the sound of “Al-Theel”.  The Tonic of this Maqam is Do and is distinguished by his lowered third and seventh notes by 20% (Scale ).  When descending its scale, it is equivalent to the Turkish “Rahawi” by a “Rast” Tetra chord played below the Tonic (Scale ).  This Maqam appears to sound like the African Pentatonic scale by the stoppage, often, at its second note (Scale ), by avoiding the seventh note according to this example (Oud improvisation ).  Of its examples is the Tunisian Istiftah Nawbat Al-Theel (Nawbah ). 

      In Morocco, the Taqseem is called “Istikhbar” and is used in short sentences to insure that the strings are properly tuned.  It is also known by “Duzaan”, and here is a Moroccan example of “Istikhbar”  

   Maqam Mujannab El-Theel

      “Al-Theel” Maqam has varieties such as “Mujannab Al-Theel” of which the third note is flattened when descending and ending (Scale ).  Here is an example, a Muwashah by Ibraheem Ibn Sahl Al-Ishbili (13^th century) (Liali Al-Souod Tara Hal Taoud ).  And with this we conclude this session. 

      We continue our discussion about Maqam Al-Theel.  However, before we get into talking about its varieties, we will experience its ambience by listening to a few lines of its Nawbah and it’s always the beginning of a singing session. (Nawbah ) 

The second variety of “Mujannab Al-Theel”, known for having the second Tetra chord as Hijaz Tetra chord on the Tonic of Sol (G) (Sample ).  This Maqam is Similar to “Suznak” that is derived from Rast.  And here is an example: (Btahyat Nawbat Al-Theel ). 

The third variety of “Mujannab Al-Theel” has a Hijaz Tetra chord below its Tonic, on Sol (GG).  Here is an old Tunisian Nawbah as an example (Nawbah ). 

Maqam Tunisian Iraq

And now we will change the Tonic from Do, and deal with Maqams that are played on Re.  These are the kinds that belong to the fifth group of Maqamat, in which the African Pentatonic scales are mixed with Eastern scales that use Tetra chords.  The first of these Maqamat is what is called in Tunis and Libya “Iraq”.  The English Scholar Baron de Loungie called it “Iraq Sultan”, and in Morocco it’s known as “Isphahaan”, named after the name of the Old Persian Empire.  This Maqam has in common with Al-Theel, the lowering of Mi and Ti by 20% (Sample ).  And in descending, a Rast Tetra chord on Sol is used below the Tonic of the Maqam (Scale ).  This Maqam is also distinguished by stressing the fourth and the fifth notes , and the avoidance of the second note, specially, at closing or ending (Scale ).  Here is a Barwal of this Maqam called the (Tunisian Nawbat “Al-Iraq” ). 

Another example of Maqam Iraq is this song of the (Libyan musical heritage ().  And now we conclude this session, with a song written by Sheikh Khumeis Ternaan, for the singer Niemat, in Maqam “Iraq”. ()

 ( Oud )  Another example of Maqam Iraq is this Moroccan song from the city of Tetwaan, to illustrate the combined usage of the Pentatonic Scale with the Eastern Scales (Moroccan Song ). 

Maqam Al-Nawa

Now we move on to a new Maqam called “Al-Nawa”. It’s composed of a Nahawand Tetra chord on Re (Sample ), followed by a Bayati Tetra chord on La (Sample ).  We find that this Maqam is similar to the Egyptian “Ushshaq”, which we have previously talked about, however, it’s different from “Ushshaq” by having the character of the Pentatonic Scale, that is avoiding the seventh note of its Scale as can heard in this example (Oud ).  

This Maqam is known in Iraq and Tunisia by “Iraq”, while it’s called “Hijaz Mashrqi” in Morocco.  In Tunisia, this Maqam is used only in short musical pieces, since the name implies estrangement in Arabic.  It was said: that in Tunisia, the over use of this Maqam has created a feeling of depression, and was also said that every time a complete Nawbah was performed, a calamity or tragedy seems to occur.  Here is an example of Maqam Nawa, a song by Khumeis Ternaan ( ).  And here is another example from the Libyan Musical heritage (Song ) 

   Maqam Tunisian Isphahaan

We move on to a new Maqam called “the Tunisian-Libyan Isphahaan”, whose Tonic is Sol (GG).  It’s composed of a Rast Tetra chord on this note (Sample ), followed by a second Rast Tetra chord on Middle Sol (Sample ).  The second Tetra chord can be changed to Nahawand Tetra chord when descending the Scale (Scale ), or can be changed to Hijaz on Re (Scale ).  Now we listen to the complete scale of “Isphahaan” (Scale ) 

   Moroccan Ushshaq

The “Isphahaan” is distinguished by avoiding the third note of its second Tetra chord, which gives it the Pentatonic Character, which is played on Lower Sol.  It’s called “Ushshaq” in Morocco, and of its characters is the closing (or ending) on the fifth note of its scale, and by that it changes name to “Raml Al-Theel”.  And here is an example of this variety (Example  ) 

We are still dealing with the fourth kind of Arab Musical Maqamat that has the Tetra chord system used in conjunction with the African Pentatonic scale.  The last of these Maqamat were the “Isphahaan” and Ushshaq.  And here is an example of these Maqamat, a song from the Tunisian musical heritage (Tunisian Isphahaan 7).  And it was apparent to us, that if we stop at the fifth note of the Isphahaan Scale, it keeps its name in Libya and Tunisia, but it changes to “Raml Al-Theel” in Morocco. This is what was reported in the books of Al-Hayek Al-Tetwani.  Here is a Barwal from the (Tunisian Nawbat Isphahaan ) as an example. 

Maqam Almazmoom

We conclude this lecture of these varieties of Maqamat by going back to Maqam Almazmoom, which we compared to the western Major scale with a Tonic of Fa.  The Pentatonic nature of Al-Mazmoom shows, in avoiding the note La, when descending from flat Ti (Scale ), and also avoiding the note Ti, when descending from Do.  And here is an illustration, a song by the singer Saliha.  If Almazmoom changes Tonic to Sol, the name changes to “Iraq-Ajam” in Morocco, and here is an example (Oud  ). 

A fast review of the fourth kind of Maqamat will conclude this topic.

We have heard “Al-Theel” on Do (Scale )

Maqam “Iraq” or “Isphahaan” on Re (Scale )

“Al-Nawa” or “Hijaz Mashrqi” on Re (Scale )

Moroccan “Ushshaq” on Sol  (Song )

 And finally “Al-Mazmoom” on Fa, or when played in Morocco, on Sol, becomes “Iraq-Ajam” (Scale ).