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Miras-ı Saz

Lesson 7 / 19 · First makams

Hicaz

A makam known for its characteristic augmented second, with Dügah (A) as its tonic and Neva (D) as its dominant.

  1. Read the makam page

    Its scale, tonic and dominant pitches, structure and seyir.

  2. Listen to the scale

    Ascending and descending scale: keep the tonic in your ear.

  3. Test your ear

    Five questions: which makam does the scale being played belong to? Get at least four right.

  4. Play and get scored

    Turn on the microphone and slowly play or sing the scale from tonic to tonic. We measure how many commas each pitch deviates; 70% or more passes.

  5. Play a piece in this makam

    Play a piece from the sheet music archive and follow the score.

Lesson notes

Structure

It is formed by the Hicaz tetrachord (S A S) on Dügah and the Rast pentachord (T K S T) on Neva. When descending, the Buselik pentachord on Neva, i.e. the pitch Acem, is used; the site's preset plays this descending form.

Melodic progression (seyir)

It follows an ascending melodic path (seyir): the melody moves around Neva and comes to rest on Dügah through the Hicaz tetrachord.

In the dictionary

A makam with karar Dügah (A) and güçlü Neva (D), recognized by the augmented second in the Hicaz tetrachord. Together with Hümayun, Uzzal and Zirgüleli Hicaz, it forms the Hicaz family. Dictionary entry

Example pieces from the archive (57 in total)

The Hicaz makam page: scale, seyir and all its pieces

Related concepts

  • Hicaz tetrachord: A tetrachord made of a küçük mücenneb, an augmented second and a küçük mücenneb (S A S: 5 + 12 + 5 commas); built on Dügah it gives the pitches Dügah–Dik kürdi–Nim hicaz–Neva.
  • Artık ikili (augmented second): An interval wider than a whole tone, of 12 or 13 commas; abbreviated A. It is the middle interval of the Hicaz tetrachord and gives makams the character known as the “Hicaz color.”