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Bayati Analyses

Bayati, like Rast, is a tremendously common and important maqam in Arabic music. Used frequently in the Tarab tradition of urban "art" music from Egypt and Greater Syria, as well as in the many folk musics from the region (also popular in Turkish, Kurdish, and Iranian folk musics), Bayati was also used in many popular songs from the mid-20th century. The singer, composer, and oud player Farid el-Atrash (whose hit "Nura Nura" is the first one presented here) had a preference for Bayati, composing possibly the largest share of his songs in this maqam. This page also has some of the most well-known songs in Arabic music, including "Ah Ya Hilu" and the instrumental "Samai Bayati il-3ariyan" which every student learns as their first "Samai"

Because of this frequency and centrality, Bayati, like Rast, is a fairly big maqam, with numerous secondary ajnas making a part of the overall melody. But there are more options for secondary tonics than in Rast, with scale degrees 4, 6, 3 and 7 acting as important secondary tonics, and even 5 and 2 acting as important areas of emphasis (whereas Rast very clearly leans toward its 5th scale degree, with a lesser secondary emphasis on its 3rd).

Below is the list of ajnas incuded within Maqam Bayati which are represented at least once on this page; As part of the Demo site developed in 2010 I have a page with a "pedagogical version" of the Maqam Bayati Shuri network, although I did not develop a page with the full Maqam Bayati network (that site, as mentioned, is incomplete, as this one is). You will see that the network presented there is very close to that presented here.

01

(Taheya)

02

(Taheya)

14

(Taheya)

16

(Taheya)

10

(Taheya)

11

(Taheya)

12

(Taheya)

25

(Taheya)

26

(Taheya)

29

(Taheya)


Nura Nura

[song page with full recording]

01

02

Actually Rast; "Husseini" refers to emphasis on 5--here lower octave

03

including the ascending notes underneath tonic

04

Again, actually Rast 4, but melody stops on 5

05

no longer parsing out Husseini Lazima

06

could also call "Husseini/Nahawand"--emphasis on 5

07

lazima

08

09

ending + chorus, not parsing out lazima (=02 & 04)

10

not parsing out bayati lazima (like 07)

11

12

"Husseini" Nahawand/ not parsing out bayati lawazim

13

14

15

includes start of wahda for mawwal

16

majority of mawwal in Rast 4 (typical for Farid)

17

18

mawwal ends

19

final verse; equivalent to 12-15

20

21

22

+ start of final chorus

23

24

Samai Bayati il-3ariyan

[song page]

01

02

03

04

including notes under tonic; could also parse as Bayati

05

06

could also parse within Bayati 1

07

08

could also call "2nd Ajam 3/6"; tonic is 6, but note span 3-6

09

"Husseini" = emphasis on 5 descent to 4

10

11

a.k.a. "Secondary Ajam 3/6"

12

13

14

emphasis on 5--resolving to 4 in next phrases

15

16

includes baggage underneath 2 & 3

17

18

little bit of bayati at the octave within melody

19

20

21

alternate parse of 08-11: bayati descent from 6

22

23

24

not fully realized until #27--just basically 7 to 8

25

26

27

inclusion of 7 within jins

28

29

30

31

32

33

starts with flat-6 above Nah.; could be parsed as Kurd 8

34

also including Taslim: descent 6 to 1 (like #21)

35

again, an alternate parse--melody contained within #21

36

37

38

descent from 6--a major emphasis in this Samai, and in Bayati

39

Bayati 1 is tonic throughout; melody uses notes from 6 below to 6 above

40

emphasis on 5, tonic is Nahawand 4

41

42

43

44

though it is really only the note "6"

45

includes dip down to 3 under tonic of 4 (also typical)

46

47

48

admittedly, first 3 notes could be parsed as 2nd Ajam 3/6

49

50

51

start of taqsim

52

opening could also be parsed as Ajam 3

53

don't be thrown off by phrase ending a step below tonic

54

55

56

57

bayati octave hinted from start of phrase

58

59

resolution of Husseini within this phrase

60

not very strong--perhaps Nahawand 4 or Ajam 6 are felt more?

61

could make #60 retroactively feel like 2nd Ajam 3/6

62

dips down to 2 & 3

63

"Shuri"--which doesn't appear anywhere in the Samai itself

64

65

66

descent from 6

67

68

69

Taheya

[song page with full recording]

01

goes up to 5 in final phrase

02

Husseini is the unresolved emphasis on 5 starting this melody

03

repeating the last few notes of #02; descent from 6

04

05

06

07

Melody descent, starting with Husseini emphasis (= #02-03)

08

09

full-octave descent through both ajnas

10

including baggage underneath, 7 - 6 - 7 - 8

11

use of raised 6 above Rast to descend

12

13

14

15

16

a.k.a. Ajam 3. Calling it Jiharkah b/c of position in Bayati

17

opening Ajam emphasis; same as #14-15

18

a.k.a. Jiharkah 3; same as #16. intervallically Ajam, not Jiharkah

19

descent from 6

20

starts on 6, although admittedly tonicization not strong

21

22

again, Ajam not very strong here. could parse just as Nahawand

23

24

25

26

27

about to resolve down to Rast 4 in lower octave

28

29

30

a little Sazkar here (raised 2 of Rast)

31

resolution down

32

going up to 5

33

34

Ah Ya Hilu

[song page with full recording]

01

02

03

(or Ajam 6)

04

alternate parsing

05

(or 2nd ajam 3/6)

06

07

08

a.k.a. "Shuri"

09

10

11

condensing 04-06, alternate parse

12

13

Shuri

14

15

16

As above, feeling of Husseini 5 and Ajam 3

17

melody variant, dipping to octave below of Ajam

18

19

20

21

melody variant, using bayati on the octave

22

23

Ba3eed 3annak

[song page with full recording]

01

02

also strong emphasis on Ajam 6, with notes underneath

03

04

strong Ajam 6

05

06

alternate parse of 02-05; typical Nahawand to Bayati descent from 6

07

first real Ajam, even though hinted before

08

this Lazima is easy to confuse with Kurd 1; however, emphasis is on Ajam 6

09

wrapping it all into Ajam

10

prominent inclusion of notes under Nahawand (2 & 3)

11

12

lazima

13

14

prominent emphasis on 7

15

16

ending of first verse, starting instrumental of verse 2

17

prominent 6 & 3 within melody

18

19

20

21

a pity to cut up further this incredibly beautiful melody!

22

23

up to Ajam, then down to Nahawand. A challenging parse.

24

"Shuri"--don't mistake for Nakriz 3 when melody ends on 3!

25

26

up to Ajam, down to Nahawand (prominent 3)

27

Shuri again

28

29

finally, an extended Nahawand treatment

30

prominent modified notes under Rast tonic (2 & 3)

31

lazima in bayati 1 range (1-3-5)

32

emphasis on octave, with a note above

33

verse ending (same as 1st verse 07-09)

34

35

35-36 different parsing of same melody in 11-14,

36

tonicizing 8 from notes underneath.

37

full octave descent Nahawand - Bayati; = 15-16


Maqam Bayati Shuri

In Maqam Bayati Shuri the primary emphasis is on the Jins Hijaz, on the 4th scale degree above the ultimate root tonic of Bayati (which, as you can see in both of these pieces, frequently isn't given much emphasis and usually only occurs at the end of major sections of melody) Maqam Bayati itself also uses the Jins Hijaz on 4, but, as you can hear above, it serves mostly a passing function there.

As described in more detail on the Alternate Pathways page on Bayati Shuri (in section V. of the analysis), the presence of Hijaz on the 4th scale degree opens uo two potentially conflicting options for upward melodic movement--either to the Octave Bayati jins (as in the Muwashshah "Hibbi Da3ani"), or to Jins Nahawand 7, as in "Mihtaar ya Naas"

Hibbi Da3ani lil-Wisaal

[song page with full recording]

01

melody stretches from 3 up to 8

02

6th degree maintains Hijaz tuning

03

tonicizes 3rd degree of Hijaz

04

05

Mihtaar Ya Naas

[song page with full recording]

01

(Doulab intro)

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

start of lazima before verse

11

12

return up to 7; Hijaz as neighbor of Nah.

13

14

15

includes raised 6th degree under nah. (= 5 rel. bayati)

16

return to Hijaz tonicization

17

18

19

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