Makam

A makam is a system used in Turkish classical music and related traditions to organize melody. It governs not only the scale but also melodic development, mood, and cadence. A makam centers on a tonic note and a final note, with a characteristic collection of pitch intervals that often include microtones. Each makam prescribes a range of permissible notes and a set of typical melodic phrases called seyir that guide improvisation and composition.

While several makams share scales, the mood, typical phrase sequences, and cadences distinguish them. Makams can be associated with rhythmic cycles (usul), but the makam itself is a melodic framework that shapes how a melody unfolds over time.

In performance, musicians improvise within the makam’s rules, using ornamentation and a progression through the seyir to develop a melody. Performances typically move within the makam’s defined range, exploring its characteristic phrases and returning to a cadence that establishes the final note. It is also common to modulate to related makams to vary color while remaining within a broader melodic system.

Historically, the makam system developed in the Ottoman court and earlier Anatolian musical practices. It remains central to Turkish classical music and is used in related repertoires in Azerbaijan and other regions influenced by Turkish musical traditions. The concept is analogous, though not identical, to maqam in Arabic music or dastgah in Persian music, reflecting a shared idea of scale, mood, and melodic development with tradition-specific rules. Common makams include Rast, Hüseyni, Segah, Nihavend (Nihavent), Hicaz, and Uşşak.