Dictionary

maqam en · NOUN

Etymology

Ultimately from Arabic مَقَام (maqām). Doublet of mugham.

Meanings

1. A modal structure characterizing the art of music of countries in North Africa, West Asia and Central Asia.
   • At 18, late for a professional musician, he took up the oud, studying the mysteries of the Iraqi maqam, the complex system of tonal sequences and improvisation passed from master to student. 2008 May 1, Erica Goode, “A Fabled Iraqi Instrument Thrives in Exile”, in New York Times:
   • But he hesitated when approached to do a project that combined maqam with jazz, even though that had been his pre-quest intention. 2009 April 2, Ashante Infantry, “Baghdad jazz”, in Toronto Star:
   • Elsewhere in the evening the young Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar, who has studied both jazz and traditional Arabic maqam patterns and combines them in modal pieces for improvisers, demonstrated with his sextet (including an oud and a santoor, the Persian hammered dulcimer) how hungry jazz still is for sources older than itself. 2008 January 14, Ben Ratliff, “Jazz Showcase Fever Propels a Mini Marathon”, in New York Times:

Forms

Coordinates

Bayati · Sigah

Synonyms

Nahavand

Translations (13)

kk мұқам (modal structure) · ja マカーム (modal structure) · hi मकाम (modal structure) · ug مۇقام (modal structure) · el μακάμ (modal structure) · ar مَقَام (modal structure) · el μακάμι (modal structure) · hi मुक़ाम (modal structure) · fa پرده (modal structure) · fa مقام (modal structure) · hi मुकाम (modal structure) · tr makam (modal structure) · cmn 木卡姆 (modal structure)