Basic Concepts

To say Makams are the scales used in Middle Eastern music is to tell only part of the story. They are, of course scales, but additionally they are “rules” of composition and improvisation.
First let’s consider how the “scale” part of the Makams is formed. In Middle Eastern music an octave is thought of as being formed by a tetrachord and a pentachord. Not all possible tetrachords and pentachords are used, as some are considered dissonant. Additionally even among the consonant ones, the most commonly used ones are a select few. The joining of the tetrachords and pentachords is what gives a makam its intervals and its characteristic tones, such as the tonic, the dominant, the rest…..etc.
Some of the most common Makams and their corresponding tetrachords and pentachords are:

Makam	Lower Range	Upper Range	Progression
Kurdi	Kurdi Tet.	Buselik Pent.	UP
Buselik	Buselik Pent.	Kurdi Tet.	UP-DOWN
Rast	Buselik Pent.	Rast or Buselik Tet.	UP
Ushshak	Ushshak Tet.	Buselik Pent.	UP
Hijaz	Hijaz Tet.	Rast Pent.	UP-DOWN
Uzzal	Hijaz Pent.	Ushshak Tet.	UP-DOWN
Zirguleli	Hijaz Pent.	Hijaz Tet.	UP-DOWN
Husseyni	Husseyni Pent.	Ushshak Tet.	UP-DOWN

In the above table you see the right most column for each makam showing an UP, DOWN, or UP-DOWN designation. This refers to the rules of melodic progression of each makam. A makam with an UP designation will have its melodies start at the tonic and progress upward through the scale. A makam with a DOWN designation will progress in the reverse order. An UP-DOWN designation indicates that melodies begin at or near the dominant and progress up and down until their final resolution at the “rest note.”
There are three kinds of Makams. These are the Simple Makams, the Transposed Makams, and the Compound Makams. The Simple Makams are formed by the combination of tetrachord and pentachords as described above. The Transposed Makams are, as their name implies, makams that are transposed to a note other than their theoretical tonic, for example makam Nihavaent that is a tarnsposition of the Buselik makam (This is mostly a Turkish concept). Finally the Compound Makams are the ones that are made up of combination of two or more other makams.
A complete list of makams would have hundreds of entries; some of the most commonly used makams are listed below:

Basic Makams

1. Chargah

2. Buselik

3. Rast

4. Ushshak

5. Hijaz

6. Humayun

7. Uzzal

8. Zirguleli Hijaz

9. Neva

10. Husseyni

11. Karchigar

12. Suz-nak

13. Kurdi

14. Bayati

15. Muhayyer

16. Tahir

17. Shahnaz

Transposed Makams

1. Ajem Ashiran

2. Mahur

3. Sultaniyegah

4. Nihavend

5. Kurdili Hijazkar

6. Zirguleli Suz-nak

7. Sedaraban

8. Evjara

9. Hijazkar

10. Suz-i Dil

Compound Makams

1. Ferahfeza

2. Irak

3. Evij

4. Bestenigar

5. Ferahnak

6. Shevk-Efza

7. Nikriz

8. Nev'eser

9. Suz-i Dilara

10. Sazkar

11. Zavil

12. Ajem

13. Muhayyer Kurdi

14. Acem Kurdi

15. Gerdaniye

16. Hisar Buselik

17. Saba

18. Saba Zemzeme

19. Nishburak

20. Isfahan

21. Bayati Araban

22. Tahir Buselik

23. Dugah

24. Huzzam

25. Segah

26. Mustear

 

 

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