Song, dance and maqam in Palestinian folk music
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can understand some of the key forms of Palestinian music and can improvise using a maqam.
Key learning points
- Palestinian folk music has many popular forms, many of which are performed for dance.
- Ataaba is a popular song form in Palestine, and dabke is an important traditional form of dance across the region.
- Traditional Palestinian and Arabic music is based on a maqam, which is a set of notes.
- Each maqam is microtonal and includes seven notes. They are usually taught by ear. Bayati is a common maqam.
- Performers improvise using the maqam, including in taqsim at the start of a performance.
Keywords
Ataaba - a traditional form of solo Palestinian love song that is often heard at weddings and other occasions
Dabke - a type of folk dance; it can be performed with different styles of music
Microtonal - music that includes notes between the 12 Western semitones; these small intervals are called microtones
Taqsim - an improvised solo based on a maqam that introduces a piece of music
Maqam - a set of notes, (like a scale) that forms the basis of a composition; it is microtonal and has seven notes
Common misconception
There are only 12 possible notes.
There is an infinite possible number of notes. Imagine that an octave is a cake. We can divide it into 12 equal slices (12 Western notes) or 24 smaller slices (the Arabic system). In theory, we could divide it into any number of slices/notes.
Teacher tip
Where pupils are using instruments that allow it, encourage them to explore microtones by playing notes in between our 12 chromatic notes. This will be possible on bowed string instruments and vocals. Encourage all pupils to explore the sound of other maqamat that use microtones.
Equipment
DAW or live instruments
Licence
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