Knowra Arabic music Arabic music Arabic music encompasses diverse musical traditions of Arabic-speaking peoples, linked by Arabic-language song and shared practices such as modal melody while varying widely by region and history.
Maqam : A system of melodic modes that organizes pitches, characteristic phrases, and expressive movement in Middle Eastern music. Maqamat provide Arabic music with melodic frameworks and distinctive regional colors.
Egyptian music : The musical traditions of Egypt, spanning classical, folk, religious, and popular styles. Egyptian performers and recording industries shaped widely influential Arabic song.
Al-Andalus : The parts of the Iberian Peninsula ruled by Muslim dynasties between 711 and 1492. Al-Andalus is linked to musical repertoires later cultivated in North Africa.
Arabic pop music : Popular recorded music made in Arabic, combining regional traditions with changing international styles. It carries Arabic-language song into contemporary commercial and mass-media settings.
Western art music : A written musical tradition associated with European art music institutions and repertories. Its notation, forms, and tuning practices offer a useful comparison with Arabic traditions.
Iqa‘ : A rhythmic cycle in Middle Eastern music, defined by recurring patterns of strong and weak beats. Iqa‘ patterns shape the rhythmic foundation of many Arabic genres.
Andalusian classical music : A family of North African urban traditions descended from music associated with medieval al-Andalus. Its regional forms preserve distinct suites, instruments, and repertoires within Arabic music.
Islamic Golden Age : A period of major intellectual and cultural activity across parts of the Islamic world, roughly from the eighth to thirteenth centuries. Musical theory and practice developed amid the era’s wider cultural exchange.
Tarab : An aesthetic of musical enchantment and emotional elevation associated especially with Arabic performance. Tarab describes the intense, shared emotional response prized in many performances.
Persian classical music : An Iranian art-music tradition organized around the radif repertory and dastgah modal system. Long exchange connects it to Arabic music, while its modal organization differs.
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