Persian traditional musicPersian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music or Iranian classical music, refers to the classical music of Iran (also known as Persia). It consists of characteristics developed through the country's classical, medieval, and contemporary eras. It also influenced areas and regions that are considered part of Greater Iran. Due to the exchange of musical science throughout history, many of Iran's classical modes are related to those of its neighboring cultures.
SubtonicIn music, the subtonic is the degree of a musical scale which is a whole step below the tonic note. In a major key, it is a lowered, or flattened, seventh scale degree (). It appears as the seventh scale degree in the natural minor and descending melodic minor scales but not in the major scale. In major keys, the subtonic sometimes appears in borrowed chords. In the movable do solfège system, the subtonic note is sung as te (or ta). The subtonic can be contrasted with the leading note, which is a half step below the tonic.
MediantIn music, the mediant (Latin: to be in the middle) is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note is sung as mi. While the fifth scale degree is almost always a perfect fifth, the mediant can be a major or minor third. Schenkerian analysts consider the mediant (third scale degree) as an expansion or extension of the tonic since they are both common tones of the tonic chord.
DastgahDastgāh (دستگاه) is the standard musical system in Persian art music, standardised in the 19th century following the transition of Persian music from the Maqam modal system. A consists of a collection of musical melodies, . In a song played in a given , a musician starts with an introductory , and then meanders through various different , evoking different moods. Many in a given are related to an equivalent musical mode in Western music.
Steps and skipsIn music, a step, or conjunct motion, is the difference in pitch between two consecutive notes of a musical scale. In other words, it is the interval between two consecutive scale degrees. Any larger interval is called a skip (also called a leap), or disjunct motion. In the diatonic scale, a step is either a minor second (sometimes also called half step) or a major second (sometimes also called whole step), with all intervals of a minor third or larger being skips.
PlainsongPlainsong or plainchant (calque from the French plain-chant; cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive form of Christian church music until the ninth century, and the introduction of polyphony. The monophonic chants of plainsong have a non-metric rhythm. Their rhythms are generally freer than the metered rhythm of later Western music, and they are sung without musical accompaniment.
Minor seventh chordIn music, a minor seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a perfect fifth, and a minor seventh (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the minor seventh chord built on C, commonly written as C–7, has pitches C–E–G–B: { \new Staff \with{ \magnifyStaff #1.5 } \relative c' { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f 1 } } A seventh chord with a minor third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh is commonly called a minor seventh chord, but also sometimes a minor/minor seventh chord to distinguish it from the minor/major seventh chord discussed below.
Whole-tone scaleIn music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or hexatonic scales. A single whole-tone scale can also be thought of as a "six-tone equal temperament". { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \time 6/4 c4 d e fis gis ais c } } { \override Score.
Major seventh chordIn music, a major seventh chord is a seventh chord in which the third is a major third above the root and the seventh is a major seventh above the root. The major seventh chord, sometimes also called a Delta chord, can be written as maj7, M7, , 7, etc. The "7" does not have to be superscripted, but if it is, then any alterations, added tones, or omissions are usually also superscripted. For example, the major seventh chord built on C, commonly written as Cmaj7, has pitches C–E–G–B: { \override Score.
Melody typeMelody type or type-melody is a set of melodic formulas, figures, and patterns. "Melody type" is a fundamental notion for understanding a nature of Western and non-Western musical modes, according to Harold Powers' seminal article "Mode" in the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians . Melody types are used in the composition of an enormous variety of music, especially non-Western and early Western music. Such music is generally composed by a process of centonization, either freely (i.
