Lost Secrets of Perfect Harmony: Ancient Music of the Indigenous Middle East

The underlying harmonic structure of the musical scales, or "maqams," of the Arabic music of the Indigenous Middle East is revealed to be at one with "Just Intonation" and the Perfect Harmony of the universal laws of physics. This structure is revealed for the benefit of both the serious student of Arabic music and for the musician seeking to move into microtonal compositions in perfect harmony. Moving from the modern Western equally-tempered scales back to the perfection of ancient musical traditions can be the ultimate musical reward. This book is the guide for those who are drawn to this path. Eighty maqamat are taught and another closely-related sixty maqamat are mentioned and categorized. This book moves beyond the use of the "quartertone" concept. Study of the writings and comments made by musicians raised and trained in the indigenous Middle Eastern music traditions makes it clear that justly intonated harmonic ratios or fractions underly the intervals within maqams. This revelation about Middle Eastern harmonic truths makes refreshing material for study and once understood in its basic principles allows us to admire maqam music for its richness of perfect harmony. It is truly ironic that Westerners characterize Arabic music as being "monophonic" and "disinterested in harmony" when in fact it is filled, unlike the equal-tempered Western scale, with physically perfect harmonic intervals, performed in lively intertwining counterpoints. Students of Indian, Persian, Chinese and other ancient music traditions will also find the conceptual frameworks presented in this book highly useful for their learning process. The concepts of just intonation and perfect harmony are carefully explained in the first pages of this book. Everything needed for a clear and comprehensive understanding is included in its 180 pages.