Note cards for Islam Project

1. Note cards for Islam Project By amelia

2. Music- Important Terms Source 9Q4-5 • Adhan: Call to prayer • Made my muezzin • From a minaret: “rooftop or simply the door of a place of prayer” • Made 15 minutes before prayer time • Muezzin chants this: • “God is most great I witness that there is no god but Allah I witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God Rise up for prayer Rise up for salvation God is most great There is on god but God.” • Minaret: tower where muezzin stands to call Muslims to prayer

3. Music-Important terms Source 9S/Q5 • Qira’ah: “Chanting of the sacred text.” • Sounds like singing, really considered chanting because singing religiously would be blasphemous • Tahlil: “A pilgrimage chant; uttering of ‘there is no god but God.’” • Same as above for why it’s not music • This one is just an Amelia source – I was thinking that you might not understand the micro-tonal scale (I didn’t at first) and it’s important because it’s what distinguishes Arab music from Western music! • Okay, so micro-tonal means that when we have our notes (A, B, C, D, etc.) there is only half an whole steps (sharps, flats, and naturals) • However, in Arab music, they have very precise intervals in between notes that can be up to a 32nd of a note (so like, it’s a 32nd of a way between an A and a B on the scale) • This micro-tonal thingy is important because we don’t use it at all in Western music and it’s very difficult for singers and musicians to hear a preform

4. Music-Golden Age of Islam Music Source 7S/Q • From 8th to 10th century • Music developed & theory eventually was similar to 17th century Venice, 18th century Vienna • Spanish-Arab music influenced by Baghdad & Visigoth & Berber music idioms • Modern adaptations of old music not quite complete: marred by other influences of the years • Not many instruments played in an orchestra at the same time • All music learned by ear-never written • All we now know are from written descriptions paintings

5. Music-Instruments Source 7S • Each performer played same melody – improvised • Important instruments: lute, zither, flute • Rabab= fiddle (bowed not plucked) instrument moved to play; not bow • Sitar= long necked flute – important in Indian music • Bagpipes= became Scottish bagpipes • Rhythm = cymbals, drums, castanets, clappers • Voice preferred instrument

6. Music-Songs Source 6S/Q 182 • Most songs love songs, songs of nostalgia, or religious songs • Some dance songs • About when orchestra plays during a vocal concert: “Gives the singer a rest by playing a refrain after each long vocal recitative.”

7. Music-History Source 6S/Q 181 • Quote: “Loneliness and tribal mobility made ensemble music an impossibility.” • Nomadic lifestyle led to a soloist b/c songs had to be mobile and could not depend on a lot of people • This also helped develop light instruments • Work songs for enjoyment & rhythm • Bedouin had caravan song “Huda” • Meter of Huda was 6 metric feet (Two long, one short, one extra long) that mimicked camel steps • This was the prototype for all Arabic meters

8. Music-History Source 6S 181 • No major or minor scales – just modes (“maqams”) • The maqams are tone intervals in quarter, 8th, 16th, and 32ndof a note • No harmonies • Music influences include Mesopotamian culture • At all public & private ceremonies music is played • Music played at night in hospitals to sooth patients in medieval times • Musicians were also often mathematicians and philosophers • Better for learning rhythms, music theory • Famous musicians: • Al-Kindi • Al-Farabi • Ibn-Sina (Avicenna)

9. Music-Voice Source 6S 182 • Most music vocal only • Typical song structure: • Taqsim (improv on oud) in maqam (as prelude to set up scale of song) • Orchestral prelude (includes every instrument used in piece) no harmony! • Singer improv on “Yalayl” (“Oh night!”) where the singer uses on these words • For audience to gauge singer’s voice • Singer uses microtonal scale- very difficult and precise • Song (“qasida”-ode, “muwasha”-poetic song, or “dawr”- lyrical song) • Other instruments come in • Language includes “laryngeal” & “Pharyngeal” throat constricting sounds • Sounds difficult for western ear

10. Music-Instruments Source 6S 182 • Nay- (also called shebabab) one of the oldest arabic instruments • Made of sugarcane (hollow) 6-7 holes (like a “vertical flute”) • Other Arabic flutes: “Yarghoul,” “Mijwiz,” “Mizmar” • Percussion – important because of difficult and defining rhythmic structure of songs • Daff (tambourine) can be up to 20” in diameter • Durbekkah (drum, also called “tableh”) hourglass shaped, clay or metal

11. Music-Instruments Source 6S 181-2 • Oud (most significant Islamic instrument) • Half pear shaped, striped w/ wood, 10-12 strings, unfretted • Played with a quill • Became the lute in Europe • Qanun- trapezoidal, stringed • Played sitting down with it on lap • Played w/ two small plectra (on each first finger) • Three strings per note (24 notes, 72 strings) • Sounds like harpsichord, plays melody

12. Music-Instruments Source 6S 181-2 • Drum • Shawn (double-reed like an oboe) • Lute (precursor to guitar) • Rebec (also called rebab) • Flute (From Egypt) • Bagpipe (developed after Christian era in Syria, Egypt)

13. Music-Classical/New Music Source 7S/Q • New Music = Form of music “in which the human voice asserted its primacy.” • Language & poetry fusion • Classical – early Islam • Got ideas from conquered traditions • Studied foreign music • Originally Arabs used Greek music theory, then developed own theory • Knowledge of music considered “essential cultural equipment in any educated man” • Musicians well respected

14. Music-General Source 7S/Q • Koran doesn’t say whether music is good or bad • For religious, church associated “music”- never instruments • Muezzin – Special honor, must have good voice • Now often recordings-not real people singing every time • Koran “readings” are recitations; “sung” by men only • Fold songs regionally different, but all: • Are “predominantly vocal” • Focus on words, not music • Repetitive melody – “narrow tonal range” • Variation by rhythm & antiphony • Limited instruments & hand clapping

15. Music-General Source 1S • Songs came from poems meant to be sung • Musicians at court by Umayyad • Music passed down orally • Accompany + stringed instruments (plucked and bowed) and flute, percussion • Female dancers accompanied songs • Lower class people had drums, reed pipes, 1 string fiddels • Koran can only be chanted, not officially “sung” • “Music” is never used during religious ceremonies

16. Music-General Source 9S/Q 1-2 • Poem from Jalal al-Din Rumi: • “Inanimate wood, inanimate string, inanimate skin, (describing a Persian tar, or sitar) From where cometh, then, this song of the Friend?” • Islam has trouble deciding whether music is legitimate or illicit • The word “music” refers only to certain music – sounding things – confusing for Arabic people • Religious readings and Koran related things never considered “music”

17. Music-Non-Musiqa (music) Source 9S 2 • Qira’ah = chanting of sacred text • Chanting patterns considered divinely inspired, not created by humans • Adhan = call to prayer • Sounds like singing, but considered chanting • Tahlil = caravan songs sung on Hajj • Madih = eulogies • Also for weddings, births, big ceremonies • Chanting poetry

18. Music-Musiqa allowed vs. not allowed Source 9S 3 • The prophet encouraged music at weddings • Also applies to music for family occasions such as lullabies, funerals, ect • Occupational music (work songs) • Military music (influenced western military music today) • Music is okay as long as it isn’t lascivious or sensuous, according to “Ulama” a set of rules for Muslims to follow

19. Music-Hadith Vs. Muhammed Source 10S/Q184 • Qur’an doesn’t really mention music • Hadith (story of Muhammad's life, but not the Qur’an, and used as a behavioral guide for Muslims) disapproves of music • Muhammad is thought to have accepted music as “war marches, pilgrimage chants, and festival songs.” • Some Muslims believe in only playing music for these reasons • Most Muslims just use this part Hadith as a caution against using music “for pleasure” • Many Muslims “View music as a means of connecting with God or of promoting religious values.”

20. Sources • “The Rise and Spread of Islam, 570-1258.” DISCovering World History. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – Silver. Thomson Gale. Dover-Sherborn High School. 31 Oct. 2007. http://find.galegroup.com • Shabbas, Audrey. “Music.” Arab World Notebook. Eds. Audrey Shabbas and Ayad Al-Qazzaz, Berkeley, CA: Najda: Women Concerned About the Middle East, 1989. 181-2, Print. • Sabini, John. "The World of Islam: Its Music." Saudi Aramco World. Saudi Aramco World, May-June 1976. Web. 28 Oct. 2010. <http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197603/the.world.of.islam-its.music.htm>. • “Music of the Arab and Islamic World.” Middle East Resources Dec. 1994: 1-9. Print. • Esposito, John L., AbdulazizAbdulhusseinSachedina, Tamara Sonn, and John O. Voll, eds.The Islamic World: Past and Present. Oxford [etc.]: Oxford UP, 2004. Print.