Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:57:08.988Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Intervals and scales in contemporary Persian music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Get access

Summary

In the course of the twentieth century, three separate theories on intervals and scales of Persian music have been proposed. The first of these, put forward in the 1920s by Ali Naqi Vaziri, identifies a 24-quarter-tone scale as the basis for Persian music. A second theory was formulated in the 1940s by Mehdi Barkešli according to which Persian music is defined within a 22-tone scale. The third view, arrived at by the present writer, isolates five intervals with which all modes are constructed and no longer recognises a ‘basic scale’ concept. In the following each of these three theories is explained and examined.

The 24-quarter-tone scale

The notion of the division of the scale into intervals of equal size has been the outcome of a western musical orientation. The fact that the European classical tradition, in its pursuit of a versatile technique of harmony, had developed the equal temperament, captured the imagination of those Middle Eastern musicians who came in contact with it. These musicians viewed the absence of harmony in their own music as a sign of its inferiority to western music. The desired musical advancement was thought possible only through the adoption of western harmonic practice. That, in turn, required equidistant tones.

There was a general awareness that the whole-tone and the semi-tone alone were not able to represent eastern music, which contained intervals unmistakably different from these two.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×