Arabic Music Workshop

This workshop is aimed at musicians who play an instrument well and are eager to learn one of the oldest, most important and most influential musical languages of the world: we will learn traditional Middle Eastern melodies (from Arabic countries, Iran and Turkey) and the modes (Maqamat) to which they belong.

Many of the Maqamat contain tones other than those belong to the 12-tone, chromatic scale, and we will explore how these can be played on Western instruments.

The four workshop leaders will demonstrate interpretations and improvisations on their own, traditional instruments – kanun, clarinet, violin, percussion. Lecture/demonstrations in music theory, history and culture of the Middle East complement the hands-on music instruction.

Faculty

kanun & theorie: Youssef Nassif
percussion: Elias Aboud
violin: Rami Faisal
clarinet: Yazan Alsabbagh