This book is mainly concerned with an investigation of the complexities of the dastgāh system and the analysis of the structure of each of the twelve dastgāhs. It is useful, however, to establish an understanding, at the outset, as to what is meant by a dastgāh. Also, in this chapter, other terms and concepts peculiar to Persian music are explained so that reference to them can be made henceforth without the need for scattered explanations and footnotes.

Dastgāh (organisation, system)

A dastgāh has been taken to be the counterpart of the Indian raga and the maqām of the Turko-Arabian musical traditions. It has also been translated as a mode in western musical terminology. None of these describes a dastgāh adequately.

Two separate ideas are, in fact, addressed by the dastgāh concept. It identifies a set of pieces, traditionally grouped together, most of which have their own individual modes. It also stands for the modal identity of the initial piece in the group. This mode has a position of dominance as it is brought back frequently, throughout the performance of the group of pieces, in the guise of cadential melodic patterns.

Accordingly, a dastgāh signifies both the title of a grouping of modes, of which there are twelve, and the initial mode presented in each group. When we say, for example, dastgāh-e Homāyun, we mean a group of pieces under the collective name Homāyun; as a mode, however, Homāyun only identifies the initial piece of that collection.