The Jazz of Maqam -- The Maqam of Jazz

Iraqi Maqam is a genre of music in Iraq that encompasses the culture’s traditional, classical music. It consists of improvisation that follows a generic structure. This allows for a distinctive style that can be altered to fit each musician’s tastes and preferences. Every Maqam song I’ve heard is unique in its own way, while still being reminiscent of other Maqam songs. It often sounds playful to me, making me want to dance along to the complex melodies of the strings and rhythms of the percussion. However, many songs are still able to convey emotions of sadness, anger, and pain, even while remaining somewhat playful.

Iraq’s Maqam reminds me somewhat of America’s jazz and blues genres. Structured improvisation is a key component of all three genres. The aforementioned ability to be playful while still conveying emotion is prevalent throughout jazz and blues, however the instruments used to do so are very different. Maqam uses the oud (a type of mandolin), violin, and/or a qanun, which is type of stringed instrument played sitting down. On the other hand, American  jazz and blues uses instruments like the guitar, piano, trumpet, trombone, and saxophone.

To test their similarity, I listened to a Maqam song and then quickly transitioned to a jazz song. I found that while they have very different sounds and techniques, the emotions conveyed and general rhythm were very similar. My foot tapped to the same count in each song, despite the very different styles. I must say, being a blues improvisation pianist, I preferred the jazz. However, I am certainly intrigued by the Maqam music and will continue to listen to it with hopes of finding more similarities (or differences) to American jazz music.