Uşşak (Turkish makam)

Uşşak

Durak	Dügâh
Güçlü	Neva
Yeden	Rast
Seyir	Ascending
Lower Çeşni	Uşşak tetrachord
Higher Çeşni	Buselik pentachord

Uşşak is the implementation of the Bayati scale in Turkish makam music. It is in 53 Tone Equal Temperament.

Uşşak in 53-TET

Breakdown of the Uşşak Makam^[1]

Components	Note Name		Western Note	Steps to following note	Cents from Durak note	Function
Uşşak tetrachord	Dügâh		A	K (8)	0	Durak
	Segâh		B	S (5)	181.13
	Çargah		C	T (9)	294.33
	Neva		D	T (9)	498.11	Güçlü
Buselik pentachord
	Hüseynî		E	B (4)	701.89
	Acem		F	T (9)	792.45
	Gerdaniye		G	T (9)	996.226
	Muhayyer		A	-	1200.00	Tiz Durak

Comparison with Western scales

Since the makam is based on 53-TET, it is impossible to directly tie it to 12-TET Western scales. However, using the 48-TET model, while worse than many other models in approximation,^[2] allows for such comparisons.^{[Note 1]}

The approximation of Rast ascending within 48-TET would be:^{[Note 2]}

• Aeolian (2)

Related makams

• Hüseynî, same notes as Uşşak, has the güçlü on the 5th note instead of the 4th.
• Rast, functions as a mode of Uşşak, when Uşşak's yeden (leading tone) is treated as a durak (tonic note). There can be a geçki (modulation) between the makams.
• Beyati

Notes

1. This is because 48 is divisible by 12.
2. denotes a quarter flat, 25 cents in this case. (One Holdrian Comma in 53-TET)

References

1. "UŞŞAK". TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-04-06.
2. Bozkurt, Barış; Yarman, Ozan; Karaosmanoğlu, M. Kemal; Akkoç, Can (March 2009). "Weighing Diverse Theoretical Models on Turkish Maqam Music Against Pitch Measurements: A Comparison of Peaks Automatically Derived from Frequency Histograms with Proposed Scale Tones". Journal of New Music Research. 38 (1): 45–70. doi:10.1080/09298210903147673. hdl:11147/2853. ISSN 0929-8215.