A New Approach to the

Theory of Persian Art Music:

The Radifand the Modal System
Dariush Talai

The Radif
Twentieth-CenturyTheories of Persian Music
The ModalSystem

The repertoire of Persian art music, together with its traditional order of classification,
is called the rad To understand the concept of the radfwe must first understand
that the radar and the modal system are not identical. The radf is a repertoire of
melodies collected by different people at different times. Unlike Western art music,
which is meant to be played exactly as written, the radTfis made up of traditional
melodies, many of them derived from popul and folk sources, their origins obscured
by the passage of time. I shall call them "flexible melodies" and discuss them at greater
length below. The position of each melody in the radifis determinedby its modal
characteristics. All the modes used in Persian art music can be found in the tariff but
are not derived from it. Thus the discussion here presents the radf as a repertoire
organized by musicians to be used for both performance and instruction. The melodies
of the radfand the modal system are considered separately.

THE
RADiF
'AIi
The radar is the principal emblem and the heart of Persian music. (NOr
BorOmand)
The repertoire of Persian melodies was first organized into the radf in the mid-
nineteenth century. We do not know why Persian musicians formulated the idea of a
radfat this particular time. Even before then, they undoubtedly had their own store
of memorized music, used for both teaching and performance; but perhaps the radTf
aided them in their teaching, or perhaps the idea of a musical repertoire arose from
their contact with Western music (Nettl 1992:4).
We do know that when the Qajars moved the capital to Tehran, and especially
when Nasr al-Din Sh (r. 1848-1896) encouraged and protected artists, the best
musicians migrated from other cities to Tehran, where they were patronized by the
court of the shah and the princes or played at social gatherings. There was often an
implicit but friendly rivalry among musicians who performed at these gatherings. Such
occasions gave them an opportunity to exchange knowledge about music.

Mirzi "AbdollihandAq H.
osein Qoli
The oldest known rad hd come from two masters who were also brothers, Mirz
'Abdoll ih (c.1843-1918) and Aq .HoseinQoli (d. 1913). They spent a lifetime

865
866 MUSIC CULTURES AND REGIONS

teaching their tariff with incredible conviction and rigor, and they educated the best
musicians of the next generation. Their students were supposed to memorize the entire
repertoire; therefore, it was important that the radfbe both complete and brief--as
concise as possible. Since different people played the same melody in different ways,
these two masters selected from among many versions of a melody to create their rad
Mirz 'Abdoll h's radfcontains about 250 pieces (g she-hd) organized into seven
large complexes (dastgdh-hd) and five smaller, simpler ones (dvdz-hd). The same or-
ganization is found in all subsequent rad ha, but the number of gashe-ha as well as
their nomenclature and placement varies somewhat. The twentieth-century vocal mas-
ter Mahmfld Karimi left us a radfwith 145 gv2she-ha.The radfofthe tar and setar-- !,

plucked long-necked lutes has more g12she-habecause it includes all the vocal mel-
odies as well as melodies just for instruments, such as chaharme rab-ha, reng-ha, and
the gvishe-haof Baste Neg r, Majles Afrfiz, and others.
Since the idea of a radifhad originatedwith a family of musicianswho played
the tar and setar, the earliest rad ha are intimately linked to these instruments.
'plectrum' 'index
Moreover, because the precise use of the me, tab or fingernail' was
very important for performance on the tar and setar, the melodies, often derived from
vocal sources, necessarily became more regularized and structured. They also took on
the style of the musicians, who--as artists and scholars of the tradition--
performance
transformed them into elaborate, cerebral art music.
The creation of a tariff to be used as a didactic tool and a basis for performance
was a radical departure for the musicians of mid-nineteenth-century Persia. Most of
the masters were reluctant to teach what they knew: they had gained their knowledge
with difficulty,and each was distinguishedby his individualmasteryof his repertoire.
'Ali
For example, the father of Mirz 'Abdoll and Aq H.osein Qoli, Aq Akbar
Far ani, who was a great tar player, died when his sons were children. Their uncle,
Aq Ghol _m H.osein, who was also a great tar player and became their stepfather,
refused to teach them. To learn his repertoire, they were obliged, in their words, to
"steal the pieces" by listening from outside the door when he practiced.

Sources of g she-h
Each g she has a particular name and a distinct character. The origins of the gv2she-ha
are diverse. Some, like those called daramad, have a primarily modal role and are
'modes'
presumably derived from the principal maqarnat of ancient Persian music.
i
Other kinds ofg 2she-ha are recognized by their specific melodies. Their sources include
folk and popular music; religious occasions (such as the ta'ziye); Sufi poetry and song;
music associated with heroism, in particular descriptions of battle scenes when the
Shah-name (Iran's national epic) is performed in teahouses; and the traditional gym-
nasium z12r-khane,where athletic exercises are accompanied by music.
Our information about the sources and formation of the tariff is not just hypo-
thetical. The process of formation is ongoing: in the twentieth century, several new
g she-ha were added to the repertoire. Abol.hasan .SabOt
(1902-1957)--a master of the
rad a composer, and an influential teacher of Persian classical music--included mel-
odies from the Caspian region in such g she-ha as Deylaman and AmirS, and a melody
from the dervish tradition called S.adr . Mah.mfid Karimi added bayat-e Shiraz, in-
spired by the music of the Azerbaijani rnu am (the Azerbaijani pronunciation of
maqam) of the same name, to the avaz of bayat-e Es.fahan. As a part of his rad
H.asan Kasa'i, a famous master of the hey, played music such as the gashe had vand ,
which he attributed to his native city of Esfah _n. 'Abdollfah Dav -ni, the great master
and transmitter of the rad who was inspired by the radfof the tar and setar, created
a vocal version of the dastgahof r stpanjgah for his rad
¢-28 The original nineteenth-century rad ha were created for players of the tar and
setar. In the twentieth century, partial rad ha were created for other instruments,
867 THE RADIF AND THE MODAL SYSTEM

such as violin, kamAnche 'spike fiddle', sant r 'hammered dulcimer', and ney 'end-
-4 blown flute'. Two complete vocal rad hA were recorded, one by 'AbdollS.h DavSmi
and the other by his pupil Mahmfid Karimi.

Notationof the radTf

When Iranian musicians learned about Western music and musical notation, they
began to notate the rad a valuable part of the heritage of Persian music that had
previously been preserved by memorization. The first notators were Salar Mo'azzez
(the student and successor of a French music instructor in Iran, Alfred Lemaire),
Mehdi Qoli Hedsyat, and 'Ali Naqi Vaziri. The first radfto be published---by the
ministry of culture and arts, in 1963--was the tar radTfof MOsS Ma'rOfi. In the
1970s, the rad hA of several masters were recorded as well. As a result of efforts since
the time of Mirz5 'AbdollSh to preserve and make available the melodies of the rad
we now have access to several versions, both recorded and notated.

Flexiblemelodies
As mentioned above, the melodic parts of the rad are what I call "flexible melodies."
Flexible melody is common in all kinds of music in Iran, especially in the very wide-
spread unmeasured melodies, whose rhythm depends on the meter of the poetry.
When Persian poetry is recited or sung, both long and short syllables are articulated
in flexible units of time; nonetheless, short syllables are always sustained for a shorter
time than long ones. Performances of flexible melodies vary because people have per-
formed them many times under different circumstances. Such variations should be
considered not as improvisation but as an aura infusing a melody; this aura is part of
an ethnic or group collective memory of the melody--a memory that includes the
melody itself, any poetry accompanying it, and its historical context.

TWENTIETH-CENTURY
THEORIES
OFPERSIAN
MUSIC
The main intention of the creators of the radifwas to produce an organized repertoire
for Persian music; they were not necessarily trying to impose an order on the modal
system. Thus the relationship of the modes to this system was not clarified, and its
pedagogy included no theoretical or explicative terms.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Iranians tended to see the West as an
ideal model. Western music had already been taught in Iran for more than three
decades, and a number of Iranians had a thorough education in it. In fact, some of
them questioned the value of Iranian music as a serious, dignified art and doubted
that it should be taught in an institutional program of music study. Others, however,
motivated in part by a spirit of nationalism, tried to revive Persian music and to create
a theory relating it more closely to the perspective of Western classical music, which
they regarded as more progressive.
The first person to develop a theory of Persian music was 'Ali Naqi Vaziri, an
exceptionally energetic leader. He had been a colonel in the army before he became
a "soldier" of Iranian music, studying music in Europe and then returning to establish
the first conservatory of Persian music in Tehran in 1923. Vaziri was an accomplished
tar player and knew the tariff well. In his study of Western music, he encountered the
Western concept of modes. With this background he formulated a theory in which
the tariff represented the Persian modal system. According to his system, each dastgAh
consisted of a scale, for which he used the French word gamme, in turn consisting of two
tetrachords separated by a whole step, as in a Western scale. In each scale, in which
the signs for half-flat (koron) and half-sharp (sor are also used, the modal character
of the g she was determined by the way each note of the melody functioned. For
Vaziri, three scale pitches were especially important: the most frequently repeated pitch
(sMhed), the variablepitch (motaghayyer),
and the pitch ( st) that ended most phases
868 MUSIC CULTURES AND REGIONS
of the whole gashe. Vaziri's theory, in which individual gashe-h, are modal genetic
formulas, remains the basis of Persian modal concepts to this day.
However, the lack of a careful separation between the concept of modes and
melodies immediately led to confusion among both musicians and scholars as to the
nature of Persian music. Later, there was a split between musicians who remained
faithful to the traditionalmelodies of the radif and those who developed a more
and quickly attainable form of musical expression based on modal elements:
personal
these two groups tended not to associate with one another, and they developed a
mutual disregard. The radfplayers used the term 'mot.reb--someone whose musical
is solely entertainment--to describe the others, who for their part considered the
goal
music of the radfplayers scholarly, khoshk 'dry', and lacking in artistic substance.
From the 1970s through the 1990s, both Iranian and Western musicologists were
initiated into Persian music by scholars who believed that the radfwas its only worth-
while manifestation. As a result, musicologists studying Persian art music have often
too much emphasis on the radifas a modal system. For example, musicologists
placed
tried to define the term g she independently of the rest of the descriptive phrase of
"corner,"
which it is usually a part. Its literal meaning is and it has no other sense
than "piece" or "part." For Iranian musicians, what identifies a g she is its particular
name for example, gashe-ye g l ki.
Twentieth-century musicologists have also placed too much emphasis on analyt-
ically distinguishing different Iranian musical styles, such as folk, popular, religious,
and classical or art music. But in reality there has always been tension and interplay
between art music and the less formal genres. As Nayeb Asadoll ih, the great hey master
of the nineteenth century, said of himself, "I brought the hey from the sheep pen to
the court of the shah." What made this interplay particularly vital in the Iranian
context was the hostility of the religious establishment to music during various his-
torical periods. At such times music could survive only as folk, religious, or dervish
music, or as music accompanying storytellingfall of which were tolerated.

THEMODAL
SYSTEM
I wish to propose a new way of understanding modes, combining the living repertoire
of Persian modes both in their complex organization in the rad and in their simpler
and forms such as the tasn Interestingly, we see that although the melodies
popular
have vocal sources and may have a vocal character, their modal framework is closely
related to the technical aspects of stringed instruments such as d, kamdnche, and
setdr. Therefore, in addition to the modes commonly used in folk, popular, and clas-
sical music, we will also consider the instruments used to perform them.
The fretting and tuning of stringed instruments was directly connected to the
development of modes. We can deduce this from the fact that stringed instruments
have been used to study intervals and tetrachords from antiquity, and from the fact
that in the past, musicians were poet-singers first of all, accompanying their poetry
and song with stringed instruments. The tuning of the strings and the frets guided
the modal framework of the vocal phrasing. The purpose of this discussion is to show
that Persian modes are based on a very solid intellectual construct. They can be better
analyzed and understood on their own terms first, before we analyze melody.

Mode and interval

The modal system of Persian art music provides a set of frameworks. The system has
much in common with the modal musics of this part of the world, such as those of
the Turks, the Arabs, and to some extent the Indians. Two main dimensions, each
characterized by intervals, are recognized: time and pitch. This conceptualization of
time and as two distinct phenomena is emphasized more in Persian music than
pitch
in Western music.
 RAD]F AND THE MODAL bX lr_.lw
THE
869 since antiq-
intervals is part of the study of harmonic laws;
The study of musical or fixed.
fifth, and the fourth have been recognized as invariable,
the
uity, the octave, theof intervals and pitches in musical structures is confirmed by
role divided in half,
The primary relationship between pitches when a string is
perfect mathematical important interval
In Persian music, the fourth is the most
into thirds, or into quarters. strings on
invariable interval. The usual tuning of the two melodic
and the smallest the first as a
to a fourth. The third string, when it accompanies
the
the tgtrand setdr is to the octave of the first string, which makes a fifth with
is tuned as follows: when
pedal tone, way these intervals work may be better understood
second string. The is an octave.
it becomes a fifth, and the sum of the two intervals
a fourth is inverted, C), the
the setar one would tune the highest string to C3 (middle
For example, on below middle C), and the third to C2 (the octave below middle
C).
second to G2 (g
D lng and interval t 1037),
such as al-Kindi(d. 874), al-F ffibi (d. 950), Ibn Sin (d.
'Abdolq
For medieval scholars der Mar-
(d. 1293), Qotb al-DZnShir zi (d. 1311), and in
S.afial-Din Urmavi dang-hA)
tetrachord,calledzolarba'in Arabic and dang (plural,
the also cor-
ghi (d. 1435), important mocial structural element. The tetrachord
Persian, was the most area on the neck of instruments such as the d, tar, and setar,
responds to a physical theories !
can reach the notes without changing position. In medieval 'ad
where the fingers neck of the
and the names of the different fingers on the
of
the open string (mot.laq)used to make different sorts of tetrachords. The character
of the
designated the pitches on the size of its two variable pitches (the intervals
the tetrachord depends makeup.
third). Each tetrachord has its own unique genetic
second and the intervals, I
the of Persian music and analyzed its
Having studied performance of dAng-Mr,
all the Persian modes are based on four main kinds
have concluded 1 by the three intervals that separate the four notes of each dAng.
that

shown in figure octave is divided

are in cents (based on a system whereby an
intervals
These proposed and each half tone is equal to 100 cents); each dang, encompassing
into 1,200 cents
the interval of a fourth, is equal to 500 cents. In the
the names of the strings in the four kinds of dang-hA.
Figure 2 shows to its
of modes, I name each of these dAng-hEby reference primary
FXGtn'JZ The four species of dAng-hal.
following discussion h, S for sh r, D
each by the first letter of its name: C for chahdrg
mode and identify for mah r. I borrow the nomenclature used by medieval theorists
for dashff, and M after the fingers that play them: sabbaba, wust.& binsir, and khinsir.
and name the frets
ZaTd is an extra fret not named after a finger. are
when in the first position on a stringed instrument,
These dang-h& played they must
in figure 2; but when they are transposed and interact,
as shown intervals. The
performed because of the limitation imposed by the fixed
somehow be tempered begins on
occurs when the first pitch of the tetrachord
most common transposition strings are tuned
instance, on a two-stringed instrument whose
the sabbaba fret. For beginning with
plays one dang on the lower-pitched string
to a fourth, the performer begins to
and a second on the higher-pitched string. The performer
the open string, him to reach
on the sabbabafret of the higherstring,which allows
dang
play the third

open stringor
FIGIJVz String names of the four kinds of mot.laq za'id bin4.
ir
dAng-ha.
za'id wus.t

sabb ba wusga 220

200 80 zzu
sabb ba bin4ir
 870 MUSIC CULTURES AND REGIONS

the range of an octave. This transposition is an important modal shift that can be
'ascent',
heard in both folk and popular music. The function of this process, called owj
is obvious in simple musical forms whose range is about an octave.
In figure 3, the dang beginning on the G string is G, Al', B , and C. The dang
on the C stringis C, D, EL and F; and the third dang startingfrom the sabbAbaof
the C string is D, El', F, and G. The symbol D stands for koron, a pitch between, for
instance, B and B. In this figure, dasht , one of the most common modes, is shown
on a two-stringed instrument. To complete the octave, the dang of sh r used for the
owj, which is basically the same as the shar dang on the G string, is tempered that
is, the size of all three intervals is changed slightly to conform to the fixed frets.
To indicate all the frets used in one octave of a Persian stringed instrument, figure
4 shows the four main dang-hA and their transpositions to the sabbAba and khinsir
frets. The main dAng-hA--mAh r, chahdrgAh, dashtL and sh r--begin with the open
string. Owj and shoshtarf(the name of a g she)would begin on the sabbAbafret, and
zAbol (another she) begins on the khinsir fret and requires one additional fret not
used in the other dang-hA. Just as owj is the tempered version of the sh r dang,
sh shtar may be seen as the tempered version of chahdrgdh. ZAbol is the same as
chahArgAh.
Figure 5 shows the actual frets on the neck of the tar from which all the above
dang-hA will be derived. The frets on either side of the intervals of 60, 70, and 30
cents (Dl' and D, for instance) are never used in succession in Persian music. The
interval relationships above G on the C string are the same as in the open string G in
the octave below.

Tempered intervals
In practice, the intervals are never precise. They fluctuate between those we have called
the four basic dang-hAin figure 1 and their temperedforms in figure6 (which shows
the tempered form of the intervals in figure 4). The more complex the system and
the greater the transposition and interaction of the dAng-hA, the more the intervals

FIGURE 3 Dashu-mode on a two-stringed I 150 I 150 200 C string

instrument.
I 200 I 80 I 220 C string

I 14o I 14o I o G string

FIGURE4 The four main dAng-hAand their z bol

transpositions to the sabbaba and khinsir frets.

[ ,50 I 23o I '2o I sh htaa
I 150 I 150 I 200 I owi
I140 I140 I 220 I shQr
I 200 Is0 I 20 I dh
I 140 I 240 I 120 ] chahrga
I 2oo I 1o I 12o I m r

FIGURE5 Actual frets on the tar from which c D Eb E F F* G, G

the preceding dAng-ha are derived. I 140 I 60 I 80 I 70 1301 120 I so I 60160 I
G AP Bb BPB C
I 140 I 60 [ 80 I 70 1301 120 ,J

z tbol of
FZGU 6 Tempered form of the intervals
150 I chahirgh
shown in figure 4.
I 150 I 250 ] 100 I shushtari
I 150 I 150 ! ,00 I owi
I 150 I 150 I 200 I shfar
I 2oo I Ioo I 2oo I dh
I 150 ] 250 I100 I chahrgh
I 200 I 200 I I00 ] mh r
 87;{ THE RADIF AND THE MODAL SYSTEM

need to be tempered on fretted stringed instruments. Since the intonation that results
from tempering the intervals bothers the best musicians, the frets on the tar and setdr
have always remained movable, allowing the player to adjust them for each perfor-
mance to achieve the most suitable tuning for each combination of modes. In the
simple modes of folk and popular music, the intervals are closer to those of the basic
dAng-ha. Moreover, the tempered intervals are better tolerated, for example, in the
dang of mdhftrthan in chahdrgdh.

M ye
Here, I use mdye (plural, mdye-ha) in the sense of mode. However, there is no con-
sensus among Persian theorists as to its exact meaning; it can also express such concepts
as tonality and modal melody. The term maqdm can also be used in this sense, inter-
changeably with mdye. Actually, the term mdye does not exist in the radifsystem.
When Persian musicians use this word among themselves, it refers to a unique mode
in the context of Persian art music, whose organization and performance are multi-
modal. However, a Western musician, looking for a Persian equivalent of mode, would
choose mdye.
S I S] shOr ] M MI m .O.r Each mdye is made up of two dang-hd in succession. Usually, the stress of the
melodies in a given mdye is on the note shared by the two dAng-hal.This pitch is most
S I D] nav [ M [ D 'ariq
often the first note of the second dang, but it can also be the second note or, more
nahoft delkash
rarely, the third. Thus several mdye-hd may share the same ddng-hd but be distin-
chah g h ffak guished by their different stressed pitches. All together, I have identified eleven dif-
ferent ways of arranging the dang-hd for the mdye-hd. I have named them after the
S I C .l homyfin owj
most important gushe-hd in which they appear in the radar(figure 7).
[ c l D I .' m All Persian modes are built on bitetrachordal systems, two conjunct tetrachords.
FIGURE 7 Arrangement of dAng-hAin the mdye- However, other factors can also be involved in the distinction and realization of each
hd of Persian art music. mode. The main elements in this process are:

1. Type of bitetrachord
2. Shdhed'wimess'
3. ht'stop'
4. Motaghayyer'variable'

Two secondary elements may be added. In certain situations, such as a free perfor-
..a.
.,. mance of modes, these elements may be considered confining and can be neglected:
L;"
!<,
::b;
117+ 5. Melodic curve
i :;7 6. Melodic types peculiar to each gv2she
q

Dastg h and 8vaz

When Persian, Arabic, and Turkish music is performed, modes are combined. Mas-
tering the art of combining them is one of the most important aspects of performance
of these art musics. In Persian music, when two different mdye-hd share a dAng, this
dang can be used as a bridge to modulate from one mdye to the other. The modal
structure of each dastgdh and dvdz is a combination of several mdye-hd in a special
range and order. Although these combinations are ordered in a traditional manner,
they are defined and taught not by means of any modal terminology but by their
specific melodies (g she-hd), which match each step in the modal progression.

Modal structures
Figures 8 to 20 are charts of the modal structures on which all the dastg h-hd and
avaz-hd in the radTfrely. The dastgdh-hd are sh r, navd, segdh, chahdrgdh, homdyt2n,
"atd,
m h r, and r st panjgdh. The dvdz-hd are ab afihdr , baydt-e tork, dasht , and
esfahdn. Baydt-e kord is also played independently like an avaz, but in the radfit is
 872 MUSIC CULTURES AND REGIONS
m
A S H0 R
G
F
E
m
D
m
C A- D A S H TT BAYAT-E
A
B KORD
G G
A D
F F
G
E S D D E
F
D
--D
E SD D
C C F
D
C
A
B
IS S S A
Iis sl
m
B
--G i G
A
G
SS
F P
E IS E Is
F
D I* D L_
E
C C
D
B B
C 123456 7 8 9 10 11
A A
1. Dar mad ofshfir G G
U.Owj F F
3. Salmak
;E E
....--.
4. Bozorg
5 and 6. 'Ozzal iD ID
7. Dar mad ofshr,r-e pa'in daste IC 1 2 3 4 5 IC 1234
8 and 9. Shahnz, qarache,and razavi
10 and 11. Owj in shahrkshb I, 2, and 3. Dashti 1 and 2. Bay t-e kord
(*Asterisksenclosean octave.) 5 and 6. Owj 3 and 4. Owj

FIGURE8 Modal structure of dastgAhsh r. FIGURE9 Modal structure of Avdz FXGURE

IO Modal structure of bayAt-e
dashti. kord.

m
A B A Y A T - E
G T O R K m A B 0 'A T X
m
A A A F S H A R T
F
G G
E
F F
D
E D{ E
C
D D
B
C
A is
B

I.
G
i [2_sl A
F
E Is
G
F
L_ G
F
i

D I*
C
_7 S E Is
D D
B
C C
A
B B
G
A A
F
G G
I_E F F
ID
E E
IC 1 2 3 4
D
D
1 and 2. Bay t-e tork C 1 2 C 12345
1. Rul. ol-arv .h
2. Mehrab ni 1. Abra'at.. 1, 2, and 3. Afsh i
3 and 4. Shekaste 2. Hej z 4 and 5. ,r q

FIGURE
II Modal structure of dvdz FIGURE i2 Modal structure of Av z FIGURE
I3 Modal structure of avaz
baydt-e tork. abg 'ate. afihAr.

i:
i
 873 THE RADJF AND THE MODAL SYSTEM

AI CHAHXRGAH
-----4
A S E G X H GI
G FI
N A V A F El
E
DA
D Cl
C B C
B
A
AM wC
G
G F
--"
F El c--
E IC cic
i-,,-.---
D
C BI• IC C
AI
A S
k.TI I *
G FI C
D D S S S F El +
A
E D 8
F
D
C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5
E S S
LowerC stringservesprimarilyas a pedaltone
D 1 and 2. Dar.madofseg (vZlkhn), and the two otherstringsarethe
2 3 4 5 6 7 2. Zibol (Stressed
pitchis C.) melodystrings.
2. Mfiye(StressedpitchesareDPand Eb.)
1. Darimad of nav 3 and4. He4.r (C, D from number3 andEl',F,G 1. Dar nad of chaMrgh (Stressed pitch is C.)
I. Bay t-e rije (The stressedpitch is A.) from number4. Stressed pitchis El'.) 1. Z bol (Stressedpitchis E.)
2. Nahoft 2 and4. Mokh lef (C, DPfrom number2 and El',F, 2. He4iris playedone octaveabove(+ 8) andthe G
3. shir n G from number4. The stressedpitchis E) shownasstressedpitchis for thisgusheh.
4. Gavesht 5. MaqlOb 3. Mr,ye
5. Khojaste 5 and6. Rah.b andmasihi 4. Mokh lef andmaghl b
5 and7. H.osein 5, 6, and7. Sh Khat 'i 5. Man fir
8. B0salik (* Asterisksenclosean octave.) (* Asterisksenclosean octave.)

FmURrI4 Modal structure of dastgdh FIGURE I5 Modal structure of dastg4h FIGUREI6 Modal structure of dastgdh
navd. segah. chahArgah.

MAHOR

H O M A Y U N

m
A E S F A H A N
G
F
E
D
C S m
B M M M M
A
G
F B S C
E X M + + M
D G 8 8
C F
B -£-

A D
G C
F 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LowerC stringservesprimarilyas a pedaltone (vakhun),andthe
E
two otherstringsarethemelodystrings.
D
I. Darmadof hom y n 4 5 6
C 1 2 3
i: 2. Ch avak 1. Dar madof m hOr 7. POkandF.4fahnak
2. Bided 2. He4 r m fir (or pasm r) 8 and9. Saflr-er k andashfir
3 and4. Owj of bid .d 4. F4.
fah n 3. Delkash 10. S .clin .me
5 and2. Nowrtz-e'arab 5 and6. Owj 4. Shekaste 11. Koshte
:: 6. ShOshtari 1, 2, and3. For d (Thispartis the sameas4, 5, and6 5. ' .q 12. $fifin me
7 and8. Mav li n an octavelower,usedfor the descentof the avaz.) 6. Rrtk

FI UR 7 Modal structure of dastgAh FmURE 8 Modal structure of dva:z FmURE 9 Modal structure of dastgAhmdhar.
horaay n. es.fahdn.
 874 MUSIC CULTURES AND REGIONS

not counted as an independent avdz; thus, the total number remains twelve: seven
dastgAh-hdand five AvAz-hA.In figures 8 to 20:
R A S T P A N J GA H
1. The vertical keyboard at the left of each chart shows the widest range used
for Persian music, six dang-ha. These charts use the conventional pitches
chosen for notation of the radifof the tar and mar. In practice, the instru-
ments can be tuned as much as a fourth lower (but not higher) than the
conventional pitches.
2. The numbers along the bottom of the charts show the different components
of the dastgAh structure. (The numbers are also used for reference in these
w m comments.)

MM D M
:c 3. Because the position of the mAye-hAand their relation to the open strings is
important, the dastgAh-hAare presented with reference to the position used
B in the oldest rad that of Mirz 'Abdoll ih. The horizontal lines designate
X-
MM the tuning of the open strings of the tar or mar for each dastgAh.Thus the
G
-fi- tuning in sh r, for instance, is f, g, and c.
E 4. On the vertical keyboard, the thicker bottom line of a pitch shows that it is
-6-
M] M
-E- the stressed pitch in one of the sections of the dastgAh.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I1 12 13 14 15 5. Two dang-ha combined to form a mAye have a pitch in common (except for
1 and2. Rist the mAye-hAof delkash and rAk). In the charts this pitch is designated as a
3 and4. krgq(samefunctionasowj)
5. 'Ariq andnahib
square between the two dang-ha. In Persian music, when an instrument does
6. Panjgah andrfihafz not have the high range of a melody, the pitches that are too high would
6 and 4. 'Oshshq
7. Sepehr ordinarily be transposed to the octave below. This means that the position of
8. Bayit-e'ajamandqarache
9. Tarzandabolchap
the two dang-haof the may would be reversed(the higherwould be played
10. Nowruz lrabandmivargol-nahr an octave lower). To better show the relationship of the mAye-hAin the dast-
11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Farang(15 forbid)
(* Asterisksenclosean octave.) gAh, the dang-ha for all the mAye-hAare shown in the position in which they
share a pitch. But dang-ha designated + 8 are played an octave higher in the
FIGURE
20 Modal structure of dastgAhrdst
dastgAhof mAh r in numbers 3 and 6 and in the dastgAhof chahArgAh
in
panjgdh.
number 2.
6. The mAye of owj is shown throughout with the higher dang only one tone
higher than the dang to its left, instead of stacked vertically. In sh,2r, for
instance, owj appears in steps 6 and 11.
7. The names of the g she-hA listed below each chart are not all of the gashe-ha
in any given mAyebut the most important ones, which have a significant and
distinctive modal character.

Note: This article is used with the permission of Mazda Publishers, Cosa Mesa,
California.

REFERENCES
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Barkeshli, Mehdi• 1976. G m-h va Dastg h-h -
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Farhat, Hormoz. 1990. The Dastgah Concept in
PersianMusic. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Hannfineh, Mortezi 1988. Gam-ba-ye Gomsbo-
deh (The Lost Scales).Tehran: Soroush.
Kh leqi, RuhoU . 1954-1956. Sargozasht-e
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Sarvsetah Cultural Institute. Nettl, Bruno. [1987]. 1992. The Radif of Persian
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Ma'rOfi, MOs , ed. 1963. Radfle m ffq -ye ir n.
recorded in 1992.)
Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Art.
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