The Music of Medieval Iran : An Introduction to Middle-Eastern Music Theory

DISCLAIMER: Like an idiot I kept saying Safi-ad-din Ardabili but I meant to say Safi-ad-din Urmawi, who is the music theorist, whilst the former was a Sufi mystic, sorry about that! This is an introductory overview of the most general aspects of Medieval Iranian music; it also serves as an insight into Middle-Eastern, Near-Eastern, and most historical Greek musical traditions as a whole, so even though the concepts here are described using a Medieval Iranian lens and terminology, they also apply broadly to much of the Arab world, the Turks, Greeks, etc, both their medieval music as well as much of the current music. Sources: The Modal System of pre-Dastgāh music, Arya Kabiri The Modal System of Arabian and Persian Music, 1250 - 1500: An interpretation of Contemporary Texts, Owen Wright Music Theory in the Safavid Era: The Taqsim-al-Nagāmat, Owen Wright Theory and Practice in the Music of the Islamic World: Essays in Honour of Owen Wright, multiple authors 00:00 Intro 04:06 The Road to the Middle-Ages 08:50 The Octave Division 15:35 The Maqām 24:00 The Dāng - Tetrachordal Conscience 30:17 The Notation System 40:40 Conclusion

Also just a general thank you for giving us content on Iranian history. It's so hard to find any information on Iranian history in general so this channel is truly a gem

As a 48 year-old white dude from podunk USA (but a lifelong musician and historian, semi-pro on both), I am absolutely loving your channel. You've answered a lot of questions old professors couldn't (as best as you could), you've simplified a bit of stuff that I always wondered about, and you isolate and destroy the bullshit a lot of us "trained" and semi-trained Euro-theory-oriented musicians grew up with about musical traditions from Central Eurasia. I especially love your mythbusting of the "pedants;" It was a battle I fought with instructors a number of times regarding music from non-Euro cultures, and glad to see my my old efforts being vindicated.

Iran is a world in and of itself that I will eventually explore culturally, anthropologically, musically and linguistically, someday. Great talk, as always. Kheyli mamnūn!

Thank you very much I would like to add these hints and insights: 1. The Arabic word for tethrachord is Jins (جنس) , etymoligically derived from the greek word Genus . Its plural is Ajnas (أجناس). 2. To say Maqam, Safiyuddin used the word Dawr (دور) which means rotation or loop. 3. Using the word Maqam was the idea of Abu Is'haq al-Shirazi, a physicist and friend of Safiyddin, both studied in Baghdad under Nassiruddin al-Tussi. 4. Abu Is'haq al-Shirazi was also a Sufi, he got the name Maqam (spiritual state) from Sufism literature 5. The names of the Maqams are also from Abu Is'haq al-Shirazi: He used ethnical and geographical references such as Ajam (Persians), Koord, Nahawand (Kurds), Bayati (a Turkic tribe that inhabited west Iraq), Hijaz (to no say Arabs) 6. Abu Is'haq kept some technical Persian words such as Ségah (third place) and Rast (Right, equal) 7. Since the Arab Music Congres of Cairo 1932, Arabs from Iraq to Morocco use the 25 intervals divided Octave system, developped by Dr. Mikhaeil Petraki (died in 1888), aka Mikhaeil Meshaqa (ميخائيل مشاقة), a doctor, polymath, diplomat, politician and free-masson born in Tripoli Lebanon to a greek catholic christian family in 1800, studied medicine in Egypt, converted to Anglicanism and worked as consul for the US in Damascus. He revived the system of Abu Nasr al-Farabi dividing the octave into 25 equal sounds.

22:38 Love the paradox between your emotional reaction in Farsi and your rational explanation in the subtitles 🤣

Chad Farya is in the house. Very informative, as always, man.

As a person knowing Persian language I can assure you the translation is very accurate.

I just love the fact that you're showing Iranian culture like this! your channel isn't only focused on Iran, it's very international and I think that's what makes it so great! Keep doing the grand work.

Respect for all Persian and Iranian people from Italy 🇮🇷❤🇮🇹

Farya you’re the best content creator on YouTube. It’s actually stunning the quality and frequency of your videos.

I had to jump in and say i really appreciate your frustration in trying to have these conversations! I grew up hearing bouzouki and lyra music, my grandparents are from greek villages, but in school (new york city in the united states) i was taught that "music" is western european music. I remember trying to ask "music teachers" where the rest of the sounds were, hahaha. I found the "important" scales really unfulfilling, and i found the descriptions of music "theory" really odd and unable to help me build what my ears wanted. I was a kid being told by authorities that "This Is Music Theory" and i was completely at a loss to get anywhere with them. Invariably would say "well these are the notes on the piano and - " , i would say "NO WHERE ARE THE REST OF THE SOUNDS and why dont you play them in the PRETTY patterns" ... and i was not allowed to take music class anymore. Now im 30 and finally it clicked that i live in western european music land but my ears grew up with a totally different tradition

Just wanted to let you know that as a Gilani Iranian who lives in Montréal and shares the same passion for music as you, it always puts a bright smile on my face whenever you make these kinds of informative videos or create wonderful music of variety of different cultures. Keep it up Farya!

I just love being taught about medieval persian music by Darius himself on Youtube. Truly best time to be alive

Thank you for the explanation on Iranian/Persian and the differences between the two. I look forward to watching the rest of the video tomorrow. (Also I do love the long-form content you do, explaining the history of regional music. It's doesn't make the most sense to me because I'm not the most musically inclined, but it's really fascinating. Can't wait for more!)

Always a pleasure to watch your musical lectures. Informative and entertaining! Take care brother

Bro, holy shit! Firstly, as a long time re-enactor and student of history, let me say your outfit and backgound setting are amazing! I honesty think it added a great deal to the video, so thank you for that. Of course, the content of the video was extremely informative . You have given me a great deal of info to use as starting points for deeper dives into middle eastern music, as well, of course, as presenting a ton of information that most of us brought up solely in western music traditions were not aware of. You also provided no shortage of laughs, well done, good sir! Please keep up the great work! And thank you again!

I'm so glad polymathy recommended your channel, I'm loving it, I always learn something, thank you very much for the content

Came for the tutorial and got a whole documentary. This was probably the best explanation of Iranian music and you look so good in the traditional outfit. Great job!

Thanks so much for that clarification about Persian vs. Iranian -- I've frequently heard them used interchangeably, and I also assumed Persia was the "older" civilization and Iran the state was newer. Learning so much from your channel: music, culture, history, logical fallacies. You're fantastic!