I miss our local Syrian restaurant that closed up last year. They were always playing interesting middle-eastern music.

 

Love it. What I would like to know is that the particular mode with the flat second and sixth (and sometimes 7th) is how authentic actually? It's pretty synonymous with Arabian music in popular media.

 

Like I said, I’m not a professional musician, but I’ve noticed that Western media often uses only what’s called Maqam Hijaz. It is indeed an authentic part of Arabic music, but not the only one. There are about 7 or 8 main maqamat (such as Rast, Bayati, Nahawand, etc.), and from these come many branches and variants — dozens, even hundreds depending on how detailed you go. So Hijaz is just one authentic color among many in Arabic music.

I couldn’t find a similar clip in English, but this one is by an Arab oud player. Even if the explanation is in Arabic, you can still hear the sound of the eight main maqamat clearly. He plays them in this order: Saba, Nahawand, Ajam, Bayati, Sikah, Hijaz, Rast, and Kurd.

then i'll put some arabic song again

This song has an original version with a full orchestra "or full ensemble ", but I shared the oud-only jalsa (informal session) because I love this setting and how the singer’s voice shines here. If you’d like, I can also share the full orchestral version.

this one is egyption, they really has a great musicians and beautiful music

This short clip is enough to prove it, take a look

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i will keep add some arabic song here if it's OK

 

I like it quite a lot whenever I hear it, but I have never actively sought it out.

 

I occasionally play oud and study Arabic maqam. My interest is mostly in the music of al Andalus - being a retired flamenco guitarist.

 

My interest is mostly in the music of al Andalus

Now that I do know. But isn't al Andalus music quite mixed in origin (Spanish, Arabian and Jewish)?

 

Just a note: a lot of modern Arabic songs lean more toward global pop/romantic styles than traditional Arabic maqam music.

 

I'm not expert but I have enjoyed Arab melodies. I don't know whether it's Gulf Arab or North Africa Arab music. Possibly North African as Gulf Arabs have no personality. Anyway isn't music banned in Saudi Arabia as they follow Al-Queda / Taliban distortion of Islam.

 

Anyway isn't music banned in Saudi Arabia as they follow Al-Queda / Taliban distortion of Islam.

Interesting sentence. You know that Al-Qaeda and Taliban were founded in the 80s, right?

 

It is not Saudi but Arabic English

 

This song was on a stage called 'Television Theater,' and it aired on Saudi TV, probably in the late 1960s.

This is a concert by the same singer in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in 1986

Another Saudi singer performing at the same 'Saudi Television Theater,' also probably in the late 1960s

This is a concert by the same artist in southern Saudi Arabia in 2000. He passed away on stage that night, and the broadcast was cut. Since then, recordings of that concert have not been easy to find, except from a few lucky people who taped it on VHS.

 

A Lebanese song, not the original version and not the original singer, but a good cover

An Egyptian song, a shortened version since the original one is 38:36 long, and this is it

And check this out

Umm Kulthum is the greatest singer in the history of Arabic music. Many consider this song the greatest Arabic song ever, or at least containing the greatest passage in Arabic music history, starting around 20:00. Note: The composer is Riad Al Sunbati, who, like the singer, is Egyptian

 

Last year I was staying with friends and they played a piece by a female singer, but I can't remember the details. Apparently she was(?) very well known. The piece was very much long form and orchestral. Any ideas? Names of who that is likely to be.

 

Maybe it was Umm Kulthum, or a younger singer covering one of her songs — her songs, and most from that time, were really long, like an hour or even longer.