Category Archives: Persian music

Dastgah Segah – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on March 21, 2014, no comments

  Dastgah Segah is very interesting… It is very exotic to the Western ear particularly because it begins on a note that is never often heard as a tonic. It begins on E quarter flat. This creates an interesting sound because it is out of phase with the pitches that are used as the open […]

Bayat-e Kord – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on March 7, 2014, no comments

Welcome to the first podcast of Majnuun Music and Dance. This is a new avenue that I wanted to try. I think it will be easier for people to grasp what I’m talking about when they listen and hear the melodies right away.   This podcast is all about another sub-dastgah of Shur called Bayat-e […]

Bayat e Tork – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on January 24, 2014, one comment

In Persian music, Bayat e Tork is the next sub-dastgah after Abu Ata. Bayat e Tork is very different in feeling from the mother Dastgah Shur which it belongs to. Bayat e Tork can be treated as an independent Dastgah as you will see it differs a lot in melody and quality from Shur, and […]

Dastgah Shur – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on December 28, 2013, no comments

If we want to adequately learn Persian music and the traditional Radif, learning Dastgah Shur is of fundamental importance. Shur is at the beginning of the Radif. Radif, as we have discussed means order, or line. Shur is one of the most common Dastgah you will hear in Iran. It is sometimes the first scale […]

Dastgah Homayoun & Esfahan – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on December 10, 2013, 2 comments

  In continuing our discussion about Persian Dastgah system and Radif, I will now discuss the next “scale” that is most familiar to Western ears. This is our equivalent to any harmonic minor scale, except with the ABSENCE of equal temperament and the ADDITION of a few quartertones.   In the last article, I discussed […]

Dastgah Mahur – Persian Music Continued

by Navid Goldrick on December 2, 2013, no comments

Back to Persian music and the Persian musical tradition called the “Radif”. I want to begin by introducing you to a Persian Dastgah called Mahur. Mahur sounds very familiar to Western ears because it includes a theme that is almost exactly the Western major scale BUT with the ABSENCE of equal temperament.

Maqam Daad o Bidaad – Understanding Persian Music

by Navid Goldrick on October 25, 2013, no comments

To introduce the topic of the Radif of Persian music and the Dastgah system we will look at a scale that was introduced into Persian music quite recently by one of the most renowned Iranian Tar players Hossein Alizadeh. His scale is his own creation. It is the combination of two preexisting melodic niches of […]