Talk Islam

willow

  • 12:57:13 pm on May 30, 2008 | # | |
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    Question: in your opinion, how important are the musical scales in which the Qur’an is typically recited? (They’re quite ancient, and like most Middle Eastern music use a lot of quarter notes not found in modern Western music. My musical scholar husband thinks some of them may have originally been Coptic, an in turn ancient Egyptian.) I’ve been experimenting with reciting Quran in scales used for Irish and Benedictine chants, which feel less culturally alien to me. (I’ve also noticed that when I recite Fatiha in a Benedictine scale, the rhyme ‘pops’ more in my ears.)

    What think you? Halal? Haram? Shall we consult Sheikh ul Nice Cars of the Unbelievers?

     

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  • razib 1:41 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    I’ve also noticed that when I recite Fatiha in a Benedictine scale, the rhyme ‘pops’ more in my ears

    there’s some evidence that people who grow up with tonal languages are less likely to be tone deaf in music. don’t know about the specific mapping of melodies, but the language you were raised with and speak probably affects these sorts of perceptions.

  • Muse 3:38 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    razib, you know something about everything, dont you :)

    willow, i have no answer your question, except to say i wonder what Fatiha recited in Benedictine chants scale sounds like. i say we call on Sheikh ul Nice Cars of the Unbelievers (Sheikh NCU) for his wisdom and our general amusement.

  • razib 3:56 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    muse, there’s a genetic angle to that data which i can’t divulge right now, so that’s the main reason i know….

  • Willow 5:59 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    To my ears it sounds very serene, but of course that’s a cultural perception.

    Razib is waiting for the right time to reveal that he genetically engineered every single one of us in his secret underground laboratory.

  • Ali Eteraz 8:12 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    actually razib is dexter

  • razib 10:00 pm on May 30, 2008 | #

    LOL. OMG. well…no comment.

  • null 10:47 pm on June 1, 2008 | #

    razib, you know something about everything, dont you

    Unfortunately for him - he does not know the most important thing - Allah SWT

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