Music of Miles Apart
By Brett Byles
What does traditional Middle Eastern music have to do with today’s popular music?
What does traditional Middle Eastern music have to do with today’s popular music?
On a
stage in Madison Square Garden, New York City, stands Jay-Z, iconic rapper,
businessman and celebrity. As the crowd
roars and the lights flash, he launches into his hit song “Bounce,” and the very
foundation of the arena shakes with the music and the fans.
On a bench in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, sits a man holding an oud, a type of stringed instrument principally used in Arabic music. The hot sun is setting on the horizon, but there’s still plenty light to see the skill with which he strums a traditional Arabic composition.
These two men seem to lead completely different lives; the only connection they hold is both being musicians. However, both share a striking similarity that anyone can hear, but not many people recognize.
Two vastly different genres, today’s
popular music and Middle Eastern music are quite literally thousands of miles
apart. They incorporate different
languages, types of instruments, rhythm, meter, and countless other musical
elements to form their own unique identities.
However, often times modern popular music will borrow musical and
compositional ideas from traditional Middle Eastern music in ways that are
subtle, yet colorful and impactful.
Whenever Middle Eastern sounds appear in modern popular music, most
people can identify its unique sound, yet are unaware of that sound’s origin,
and why it sounds so uniquely the way it does.
The reason behind this “Middle
Eastern” sound can be found in a brief musical analysis of its composition and
theory. Most, if not all, of Middle Eastern
music written in minor keys, utilizes a particular scale in the minor mode
called the harmonic minor. It is
identical to a natural minor scale, except for the seventh and final tone,
which is raised a half step, as it is in the major mode. Additionally, Middle Eastern music makes
frequent use of the half step between the fifth of the minor scale and the
minor sixth of the scale, creating high anticipation and a sense of suspense in
the music that is often sustained to engage the listener. This technique of variation and melody,
coupled with intricate, fast and high melodies and harmonies on various
instruments, leads to what many people label as “stereotypical Middle Eastern
sound.” Though countless other sounds
and expressions exist in Middle Eastern music, this traditional type of sound
has had the heaviest influence on what the Western world hears in modern
popular music.
Hundreds of examples exist of how
modern popular music has borrowed Middle Eastern ideas, in multiple different
genres ranging from rock to reggae to hip-hop to rap to jazz to electronica. Musical artists, composers and producers
often weave the abovementioned elements of Middle Eastern music into their recordings in an attempt
to create what is often perceived as an “exotic” sound, different from the typical
Western soundscape. Below are YouTube
links to some of the most obvious, popular Middle Eastern-influenced music.
R. Kelly- Snake https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9-B3XRCCN4
Jay Z- Big Pimpin’ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=big+pimpin+jay+z
Missy Elliot- Get Ur Freak On https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPoKiGQzbSQ
Sting- Desert Rose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3lWwBslWqg
The Beatles- Love You To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnTkokskMHU
The Rolling Stones- Paint it Black https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg
The Allman Brothers- In Memory of
Elizabeth Reed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rQWh62VUHE
David Bowie- The Secret Life of Arabia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI_aBgcLHZE
The similarities are remarkable, and almost uncanny, between the two songs. With a few tweaks and tricks I have learned from being a DJ, the two songs almost sound like one recorded song. The intonations, timbres and tonalities of "Snake," along with countless other Western popular songs, are clearly influenced and borrowed from traditional Middle Eastern music.
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