About
Play the Arabic way!
Vision
The guitar is known for its adaptability and is well-represented in virtually all music styles. From nylon acoustic guitars in classic and flamenco styles, to steel string in folk, country and pop to electric guitars in rock, jazz and blues, not to mention all those crossover music around the world.
The Arab music culture is vary varied and reaches by history from to the Middle East to North Africa, all the way to the Near East. Its melodic flavours are not based on the Western tonal system but on the melodic maqam system instead, that also includes microtones. In order to fit these music styles the guitar had to adapt again, that process that has been going on for decades now and is clearly manifesting itself.
Briefly, a ‘Maqam Guitar’ is a collective noun for guitars with modified fretboard, accustomised to add microtonal flavours that are rooted in the melodic maqam system. This includes single added fretlets, fixed fret quarter-tone guitars, fretless guitars, and guitars with movable frets, whether metal or synthetic.
Nowadays we can distinguish a wide range of Maqam related Guitars, produced on a larger scale by manufacturers, including: the Ibanez Oriental series, the Revelation- Marrakech Quarter-tone, the Altamira – N300MT, the Eastwood – Phase 4MT, Adjustable Microtonal Guitars, Fretless guitars and lots of custom made guitars made by private luthiers around the world.
It became the new branch in the tree of the guitar family, connecting the East to the West.
Vision
The guitar is known for its adaptability and is well-represented in virtually all music styles. From nylon acoustic guitars in classic and flamenco styles, to steel string in folk, country and pop to electric guitars in rock, jazz and blues, not to mention all those crossover music around the world.
The Arab music culture is vary varied and reaches by history from to the Middle East to North Africa, all the way to the Near East. Its melodic flavours are not based on the Western tonal system but on the melodic maqam system instead, that also includes microtones.
In order to fit these music styles the guitar had to adapt again, that process that has been going on for decades now and is clearly manifesting itself.
Briefly, a ‘Maqam Guitar’ is a collective noun for guitars with modified fretboard, accustomised to add microtonal flavours that are rooted in the melodic maqam system. This includes single added fretlets, fixed fret quarter-tone guitars, fretless guitars, and guitars with movable frets, whether metal or synthetic.
Maqam Guitar
Nowadays we can distinguish a wide range of Maqam related Guitars, produced on a larger scale by manufacturers, including: the Ibanez Oriental series, the Revelation- Marrakech Quarter-tone, the Altamira – N300MT, the Eastwood – Phase 4MT, Adjustable Microtonal Guitars, Fretless guitars and lots of custom made guitars made by private luthiers around the world.
It became the new branch in the tree of the guitar family, connecting the East to the West.
Mission
Our mission with this platform is to raise the profile of maqam-related guitar music in the broadest sense, the new branch the guitar family tree that connects East and West. We aim to inform, to support, to promote, to educate, to collaborate and to connect. Would you like to contribute in this field with related topics such as: interviews, lectures, demonstrations, projects, concerts, festivals, or other activities in this area? Welcome, feel free to ask, we’ll be happy to cooperate.
The Maqam Guitar platform is an initiative of guitarist Jan Wouter Oostenrijk, who recently published his Maqam Guitar method book.
Jan Wouter obtained his Master’s degree in Middle Eastern improvisation at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam.
Since the 90’s he has been touring in the Middle East and North Africa, solo and with his Sharqi Blues & Maghreb Jazz formation.
Jan Wouter teaches Arabic music and crossovers at the ArtEZ conservatory. www.jwo.nu
Mission
Our mission with this platform is to raise the profile of maqam-related guitar music in the broadest sense, the new branch the guitar family tree that connects East and West. We aim to inform, to support, to promote, to educate, to collaborate and to connect.
Would you like to contribute in this field with related topics such as: interviews, lectures, demonstrations, projects, concerts, festivals, or other activities in this area? Welcome, feel free to ask, we’ll be happy to cooperate.
The Maqam Guitar platform is an initiative of guitarist Jan Wouter Oostenrijk, who recently published his Maqam Guitar method book.
Jan Wouter obtained his Master’s degree in Middle Eastern improvisation at the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam.
Since the 90’s he has been touring in the Middle East and North Africa, solo and with his Sharqi Blues & Maghreb Jazz formation.
Jan Wouter teaches Arabic music and crossovers at the ArtEZ conservatory.
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