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Miras-ı Saz

Lesson 16 / 19 · New makams

Saba

A makam with Dügah (A) as its tonic and Çargah (C) as its dominant, known for its sorrowful, moving color and also used in the call to prayer (ezan).

  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 Saba tetrachord (K S S) on Dügah and the Hicaz tetrachord on Çargah. The fourth pitch of the Saba tetrachord is not Neva but Hicaz (D flat), so the scale does not quite complete an octave.

Melodic progression (seyir)

It follows an ascending melodic path (seyir): the melody moves around Çargah, emphasizes Segah and comes to rest on Dügah.

In the dictionary

A makam with karar Dügah and güçlü Çargah. The opening pattern formed by the pitches Dügah–Segah–Çargah–Hicaz, narrower than a tetrachord, gives it its sorrowful, poignant color. Dictionary entry

Example pieces from the archive (29 in total)

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

Related concepts

  • Çargah: The main pitch a tetrachord (22 commas) above Rast; written as C in Western notation. It is the güçlü (dominant) pitch in the makams Saba and Kürdilihicazkar.