Maqam in Music as a Concept, Scale and Phenomenon

Abstract

Maqam is a melodic material of the Near East, Middle East and Anatolian traditional musics as one of the musical modes in the World. There have been many theoretical studies on maqam-s and maqam music for centuries. Although the manuscript studies until the 20th century examined the maqam-s according to performance in musical works, the studies in the 20th century evaluated and classified them according to Western music theory. However, there is confusion and dilemma between performance and the theory of maqam in these studies. Therefore, this article examined and discussed the features of maqam as a concept, scale and phenomenon within the framework of systematic musicology.