For this post, I was inspired by an accumulation of the various forms of sound art utilized throughout the Islamic tradition, as well as the documentary clip we watched in class about The Rock Star and the Mullahs. I knew that I wanted to construct a piece which emulated the essence of the sounds and rhythms of the Islamic tradition with which I had become familiar — a sort of freedom and lack of confinement to a particular structure in the treble clef and a sort of rigidity in the bass clef. I felt that this combination would showcase the spiritual dance which occurs between the individual’s relationship with Allah as they move freely and independently through life (the treble clef), while offering respite from the uncertainty of this freedom in terms of the solidity of the chords in the bass clef.

In terms of tone, I situated the piece within a harmonic A minor scale. The harmonic minor scale is a derivative/rearrangement of the typical minor scale and is known colloquially as the “Arabian scale” because of the prevalence of this scale in music of the Orient (to use a useful yet antiquated term for the region). Played through without artistic/musical rearrangement,  this scale reads: “A, B, C, D, E, F, G#, A.” I used intervals of thirds to progress the piece (A, C, E, respectively), kept to a traditional bi-octave chord in the bass clef, repeated a derivative of the harmonic A minor scale in the treble clef before “falling” down the scale, and concluded with a repetition of a solitary B note in multiple octaves.

For me, this arrangement of notes really demonstrates a spiritual journey. The way in which the scales fit together suggest a sort of continuous progression forward, which then falls backward into uncertainty, and then catches itself — with the final B — repeating itself in various octaves as if to repeat the name of God, either among various people or among oneself. This sort of repetition is representative to me of the way in which all muslims must come together in their ultimate submission to God.

Hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed creating! And please don’t mind the very serious face I am making while playing!