Introduction
Instead of Western music’s Key Signature, such as C Major, Turkish music often uses
hundreds of modes or scales, called makams. A scale or mode is an ordered series of
intervals. Mode is used in this project to distinguish from Western diatonic scales like
C Major, D minor. Each makam or mode has its own distinct sound and character so is
used for different types of songs and music.
Activity 1. Modes
Kolektif Istanbul uses some of the more common makams in their music, for example
Makam Hicaz and Hüseyni.
This is what Makam Hicaz looks and sounds like (it doesn’t have to start on this note,
but must have these intervals). An interval is the gap between 2 notes.
Makam Hicaz
 







Listen to someone playing the Oud (an Arabic lute, a bit like a guitar) in Makam Hicaz here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJpEJTpnkfM
or on clarinet here: http://vimeo.com/3079201
Each mode is thought to have a certain character and traditionally would be used for
certain context, for example a wedding. Look at this website for an idea of how detailed
these descriptions of each makam go to:
http://www.turkishmusicportal.org/print.php?id=12&cat=article&lang2=en
What character would you say Makam Hicaz has?
© Eve Harrison & Love Music Festival
a.
Composing
Computer, internet access
& headphones / speakers
10 mins
Individual
Secondary
Make your own scale at: http://tones.wolfram.com/generate/advanced.html?generator
Instructions:
Go to PITCH MAPPING and change the pitches selected. (You can change lots of other
things about the music you make too.) If you choose a scale that already exists its name
will appear - if the one you select doesn’t exist already what will you call it?
Did you know?
Many musicians from Eastern Europe divide the octave (C to C) into more than the
12 tones that we are familiar with. Some of the intervals between the notes are even
smaller than our smallest ones.
  



          
5
4
3
2
1
Look how the interval between Bb and B
natural (our smallest interval, the semitone)
is divided into 4 extra notes in Turkish music.
Turkish music generally splits the octave into 17 divisions. Some Arabic systems split it
into as many as 27 divisions. Imagine if on your keyboard, instead of 7 white notes and
5 black notes in each octave, making 12 notes in total, you had 17, or even 27 keys!
Guitarists - Did you know?
This is one of the reasons the Oud in the YouTube videos above doesn’t have any frets.
Frets split the guitar strings into semitones for you. This would make it impossible to get
notes between them so Eastern music wouldn’t work.
            



















  
17 unique pitch classes used in makamsal music
Makamsal Music is music that uses makams. Turkey is one country where makamsal
music is common, can you find any others? There is another group coming to Love
Music Festival that also use makams. Find out who they are by listening to some of the
tracks on the Love Music Festival Jukebox.
ww
w.lo
vemu
sicfest
ival.com
p2
b.
Listening & comparing
• Computer, internet access & speakers
• Love Music Festival Jukebox
30 - 45
mins
Class
Secondary
Instructions:
1. Listen to Sürmeli Feridem by Kolektif Istanbul, which uses the above mode, Makam Hicaz.
2. Listen again to the Kolektif Istanbul track in Makam Hicaz and the Oud playing in the
same makam.
3. Discuss: Would you still describe this mode as having the same character as the Oud or
Clarinet tracks mentioned on page 1? What similarities in sound can you hear? Can you
hear that it is using the same makam?
4. Now listen to the other festival artist who uses Makam Hicaz on the Love Music Festival
Jukebox, Eva Quartet from the Sonic Harmonic festival day. Listen to White Aisha’s
Lament.
5. Discuss: Can you hear any similarities in character or sound here?
6. Discuss: Alongside using interesting modes, Kolektif Istanbul do some remarkable things
to make their music really exciting and make you want to dance… you’ve thought about
the similarities, now describe the differences between Kolektif Istanbul’s track and the
other tracks using makams.
ww
w.lo
vemu
sicfest
ival.com
p3
Activity 2. Using Modes
You may have tried making your own mode online in Activity 1.
Now you can make and play your own mode live!
a. Make your own mode
Practical
• Chime bars (min. 4 each), metallophones,
keyboard instruments (1 per person / pair),
preferably including chromatic notes
• Stickers to select notes if appropriate
60 mins
Individual / Pair
Confident Primary /
Secondary
1. Arrange some chime bars in order from low to high or get your metallophone the right
way up (big notes = low, put them to your left) and try to include some chromatic notes.
2. Choose a selection of your notes that you’d like to be in your mode. If you can, simply
remove the ones you don’t want, or if you can’t remove the keys, use some (removable)
stickers to mark which notes you have chosen for your mode.
3. Play your mode both up and down. Experiment with different combinations of notes until
you are happy. You could swap with others to widen your selection. Aim for between 4 7 notes in your mode.
4. Try out some different rhythms with your mode and make up a tune. Does it sound good
/ unusual / interesting / boring?
5. What kind of character does your mode have? When you were playing, which type of
music suited it best? When do you think it should be used? Can you think of a name for it?
ww
w.lo
vemu
sicfest
ival.com
p4
b. Play your mode
Improvising and composing
• Mode from Activity 2a
• Audio: Kolektif Istanbul Rhythm Samples 1 - 6
30-60
mins
Pair
Secondary
Build a Turkish Riff
1. Listen to the rhythm samples from Kolektif Istanbul’s music.
2. Choose one to practice in your pair, or do this together as a class. Clap it first then play it
on one of your notes each. Can you keep the pulse steady? Can you play it on a loop?
3. Try playing the rhythm on 2 or 3 of your notes and try different orders. The rhythm must
stay the same though!
4. One person is going to keep this riff going on a loop. You can change notes every so
often - listen to what your partner is doing (explained below) and respond.
5. Listen / Context: On the Love Music Festival Jukebox, listen to the tuba doing this for the
improvisers on Romski Çoçek at 1:36 onwards. Can you find another Kolektif Istanbul
track that has tuba laying down a riff for the melody instruments to improvise over?
Improvise your Melody
The other person is going to be the improviser or melody player, like you’ve just heard
the clarinet, saxophone and bagpipes doing in Kolektif Istanbul’s music. Start by playing
around with just a few notes, gradually adding more as you get more confident. Any
rhythms, simple or complex, or really fast or slow, are good. Think about the character of
the music you are making and listen to how the different tones sound against the rhythm
riff your partner is playing.
Play Together
Practice working as a pair so that one person plays their riff and the other improvises.
Swap roles so that you can both be the improvisers and accompaniment at some point
in your piece. Share your piece with the class.
If you can, record your pieces and upload them to our Glow pages where you can hear
what students in other Scottish schools have done too.
Extra Info
Instrumentalists could try using their own instruments following the same steps as
above, for either the riff or the improvising melody. It is probably a good idea to start with
Activity a, making up their own mode using between 3 – 5 notes, then continuing on to
Activity b. This way they can choose notes that are easy for them to play.
ww
w.lo
vemu
sicfest
ival.com
p5
Melodies – Sample List
Activity 2 Sample Rhythms for Building a Riff
Sample 1 from Romski Çoçek - listen to the tuba from 1:37
Sample 2 from Makedonsko - listen from 0:12
Sample 3 from Aǧır Bulgar - listen from 0:00
Sample 4 from Krivoto - listen from 0:00
Sample 5 from Lambada Sisesiz Yanmaz Mi - listen to the tuba from 2:29
ww
w.lo
vemu
sicfest
ival.com
p6