Difference between revisions of "MofA Week 3: Music in theory, theory in practice"
| Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
* Theory: consider the relation among | * Theory: consider the relation among | ||
| − | ** formal theory | + | ** formal (music) theory |
| − | ** informal discourse | + | ** informal discourse (about music) |
| − | ** practice | + | ** (musical) practice (composition, improvisation) |
* Arabic theory of music (science, metaphysics) | * Arabic theory of music (science, metaphysics) | ||
Revision as of 01:35, 23 January 2008
Bird's eye view of the history of music in the Arab world
- Film: Dananeer (1940). Three levels of reading:
- ...as a representation of 9th c Abbasid culture
- ...as a representation of perceptions of "Arab history" in 1940
- ...as a representation of Egyptian music in 1940
- Theory: consider the relation among
- formal (music) theory
- informal discourse (about music)
- (musical) practice (composition, improvisation)
- Arabic theory of music (science, metaphysics)
- Caliph Ma'mun (r. 813-33) and Bayt al-Hikma
- Influence of Greek philosophical treatises on Arab music theory
- Music as part of quadrivium (music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy)
- Word "musiqi" ("musiqa") enters Arabic from Greek, comes to imply theory
- Key figures: philosophers
- al-Kindi (d. 870)
- al-Farabi (d. 950)
- Ikhwan al-Safa (late 10th c)
- Ibn Sina (d. 1037)
- Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (d. 1294)
- Two kinds of theory:
- Metaphysical
- Sonic
- We'll talk about the latter today
- Influence of Greek treatises:
- Pythagorean tuning
- Double octave system
- Tetrachords
- General notion of systematic exposition
- Difficulties in interpreting medieval theory
- Relation of theory and practice? Theory may be prescriptive, descriptive, or independent.
- Theory of earlier period is filtered by later ideologies
- Many works and all sound is lost
- Components of theory of sound
- Tonal theory
- Pitches and scales
- Modes
- Rhythmic theory
- Tonal theory
- Ud as reference
- 5 strings: bam - mathlath - mathna - zir - hadd
- 4 frets: sababa - wusta - binsir - khinsir
- 5 notes per string (but some are variable)
- Each string provides tetrachord (jins)
- Jins species (anwa`)
- First degree fixed (mutlaq)
- Fourth degree fixed (binsir) - major 3rd
- fifth degree fixed (khinsir) - perfect 4th
- Second and third degrees are variable (sababa and wusta)
- Jins combine to form scales, basis for modes
- Old Arabian (Hijazi, with retroactive Greek and prescriptive influence)
- al-Farabi (Greek influence, ethnographic approach)
- Safi al-Din al-Urmawi (prescriptive systematizer)
