Maqam World is a non-commercial, educational web site dedicated to helping musicians understand the maqam or modal system used in classical Arabic music. Maqam World attempts to simplify the subject for the Arabic music beginner, while trying hard to remain correct and not exclude any essential information. As this is a very rich subject, this web site is a work in progress which relies on the contribution of musicians and the feedback of its reader community.

The Arabic Maqam   Ajnas (Sets)   Modulation   Maqam Index   Musical Forms   Rhythms

Instruments   References   Discography   About   Links   Podcasts

Interactive Notes Notes in this web site play a sound when you click on them with the mouse. To find out if this is working, click on the C note above. (Note: This feature does not work with Netscape browsers and or Macintosh computers.)

Recording Samples Samai Bayati Al Aryan Each maqam page includes sound clips of the maqam scale, and recording samples of pieces in that maqam, in RealAudio format. The source of each recording sample can be seen by hovering the mouse over the [i] icon next to each sample name.

Pronunciation Guides Maqam Bayati These are provided for all maqam and ajnas (sets) names, and most foreign words. They can be heard by clicking on the speaker icon next to the word.