# Arab tone system

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The modern **Arab tone system**, or system of [musical tuning](/source/Musical_tuning), is based upon the theoretical division of the [octave](/source/Octave) into twenty-four equal divisions or [24-tone equal temperament](/source/Quarter_tone), the distance between each successive [note](/source/Note_(music)) being a [quarter tone](/source/Quarter_tone) (50 [cents](/source/Cent_(music))). Each [tone](/source/Note_(music)) has its own name not repeated in different octaves, unlike systems featuring [octave equivalency](/source/Octave_equivalency). The lowest tone is named *yakah* and is determined by the lowest [pitch](/source/Pitch_(music)) in the [range](/source/Vocal_range) of the singer. The next higher octave is *nawa* and the second *tuti*.[1] However, from these twenty-four tones, seven are selected to produce a [scale](/source/Scale_(music)) and thus the interval of a quarter tone is never used and the three-quarter tone or [neutral second](/source/Neutral_second) should be considered the characteristic interval.[2]

By contrast, in the European [equally tempered scale](/source/Equal_temperament), the octave is divided into twelve equal divisions, or exactly half as many as the Arab system. Thus, when Arabic music is written in European [musical notation](/source/Musical_notation), a slashed or reversed flat sign is used to indicate a quarter-tone flat, a standard flat symbol for a half-tone [flat](/source/Flat_(music)), and a flat sign combined with a slashed or reversed flat sign for a three-quarter-tone flat, sharp with one vertical line for quarter sharps, standard sharp symbol (♯) for a half-step [sharp](/source/Sharp_(music)), and a sharp with three vertical lines for a three-quarter-tone sharp. A two octave range starting with *yakah* arbitrarily on the G below middle C is used.[3]

In practice, much fewer than twenty-four tones are used in a single performance. All twenty-four tones are individual pitches differentiated into a [hierarchy](/source/Hierarchy) of important pitches—pillars—which occur more frequently in the [tone rows](/source/Tone_row) of traditional music and most often begin tone rows, and scattered less important or rarely occurring pitches (see [tonality](/source/Tonality)).[4]

The specific notes used in a piece will be part of one of more than seventy [modes](/source/Musical_mode) or [maqam](/source/Arabic_maqam) rows named after characteristic tones that are rarely the first tone (unlike in European-influenced music theory where the [tonic](/source/Tonic_(music)) is listed first). The rows are [heptatonic](/source/Heptatonic) and constructed from [augmented](/source/Augmented_second), [major](/source/Major_second), [neutral](/source/Neutral_second), and [minor seconds](/source/Minor_second). Many different but similar ratios are proposed for the frequency ratios of the tones of each row and performance practice, as of 1996, has not been investigated using electronic measurements.[5]

The current tone system is derived from the work of [Farabi](/source/Farabi) (d. 950 CE) (heptatonic scales constructed from seconds), who used a 25-tone unequal scale (see [tetrachord](/source/Tetrachord)), and [Mikha'il Mishaqah](/source/Mikha'il_Mishaqah) (1800–1888) who first presented the 24-tone equal-tempered division.[6] Some strict traditionalists and musicians also use a [17-tone set](/source/17_equal_temperament), rejecting the 24-tone division as commercial.[7]

## See also

- [Jins](/source/Jins)
- [Arabic maqam](/source/Arabic_maqam)

## References

1. [Touma, Habib Hassan](/source/Habib_Hassan_Touma) (1996). *The Music of the Arabs*, p.17-18, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.

1. Touma (1996), p.23.

1. Touma (1996), p.24.

1. Touma (1996), p.24-25

1. Touma (1996), p.18.

1. Touma (1996), p.19.

1. Haluska, Jan (2003). *The Mathematical Theory of Tone Systems*. CRC PRess. p. 102.

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