Arabesque

Arabesque 


Arabesque Band Video

Genre: Rock / World music influences (Middle East).

As the name implies, the inspiration for this composition is the middle east. My intention in writing the piece was to introduce students to melodic and percussive influences that are not intrinsically familiar to Western ears. My method to achieve this aspiration was twofold: 

1. Melodically, to use a scale that featured unusual intervallic combinations: the Altered Phrygian scale or Freygish scale 

2. In terms of instrumentation, to augment regular band instruments with a ‘Doumbek’, a hand drum of Middle Eastern origin.

1. The scale – Altered Phrygian 

Beginning on C, the scale is as follows: C - D♭ - E - F - G - A♭ - B♭ - C

The sound of this scale is ineluctably middle eastern and is commonly found in Arabic, Greek, Jewish, Turkish and even Flamenco music. ‘Hava Nagila’ is a good example of a popular instance of the scale. Other names for this scale include: Ahava Rabbah or Freygish (in Jewish music) Hijaz-Nahawand Maqam (in Turkish or Arabic music) as well as the Spanish Phrygian scale or Spanish gypsy scale.

The second note of the scale, a minor second is instantly recognizable as non-Western but where the scale differs from the standard Phrygian mode is the presence of a major 3^rd rather than the minor.

2. Instrumentation - The Doumbek. This type of hand or goblet drum is found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Traditionally it would have been made from clay or wood but the Doumbek used here is made from metal. The sound of the drum is very distinctive with two predominant tones, the Duom - bass tones and the Bek - bright / crisp tones generated particularly near the top rim of the drum head.

The drum is played using a finger based technique that creates the opportunity for a highly flexible range of rhythms that can even include drum rolls as featured in Arabesque.

The piece features 2 sections, A and B.  

The A section is 8 bars long with three repeating chords: D, Eb and F Major that support and underpin the haunting melodic line.

The melody comprises a three note motif followed by differing answering phrases. The occurs three times over the 8 bars with the Middle Eastern tones occurring in the answering phrases. The final phrase resolves to the root.  

There is also a contrasting B section also 8 Bars long, which modulates. There is a new melodic idea with an unexpected final note and this is performed over chords of G Minor 7^th, F Major and E Major.  

The last two bars of the B section cadence back to the A section again.

Key elements for learning: Non diatonic scale tones, Middle Eastern influences, unexpected modulations, constructional elements within an extended melody.