Jins

Ajnas (the equivalent of modern-day modes) in old Persian traditional music. Originally by Abd al-Qadir Maraghi, as published in the book by Farhad Fakhreddini.

In traditionalArabic musictheory, ajins(Arabic:جنس,pl.أجناس,ajnās) is a set of three, four, or five stepwise pitches used to build anArabicmaqam,or melodic mode. They correspond to the English termstrichord,tetrachord,andpentachord.Amaqamis made up of two or moreajnas.

Etymology[edit]

The Arabic wordجنس(jins) probably derives from the Greek wordγένος(génos) or else from the related Latin wordgenus,either way from the sameProto-Indo-Europeanroot. The basic meaning is that of a kind, family, or race. The same Arabic word is also used to meangenusin biology, andgender.

Meaning of a jins[edit]

Traditional music theory texts tend to describe a jins as a concrete set of pitches (in many cases a set of exactlyfourpitches, i.e. a tetrachord), and they are often quick to give mathematically precise intervals for the ideal version of each jins. Their authors were probably influenced by the writings of ancient Greek music theorists going back toPythagoras(seeTetrachordandGenus (music)), and their intention had more to do with deriving ideal musical scales from basic mathematical principles rather than simply using mathematical tools to describe scales that are basically products of human culture.^[1]^: 199

A more modern approach is to accept performance practice as the arbiter of truth, and to use the concept of ajnas to describe that practice as naturally and faithfully as possible. This results in several deviations from the traditional concept of a jins that are useful:

A jins need not contain exactly 4 pitches, but could contain 3, 5, or even greater numbers of pitches (depending on how membership in the jins is defined).^[1]^: 196
The intervals with a jins are not mathematically fixed to one ideal form, because different regional styles and even different individual performers can usedifferently tuned intervalsas part of their artistic expression.^[1]^: 161
A jins is not only a set of pitches, but can include at least two kinds of special, distinguished pitches: thetonic(the "home" or "resting place" of melodic phrases),^[1]^: 194and theghammaz(an intermediate resting point and also often a point of modulation to other ajnas).^[1]^: 195Traditionally the tonic is always considered to be the lowest pitch in the jins, but there is no convincing reason for this and sometimes a clearer analysis can be made in terms of ajnas that go below the tonic as well.
The realm of melodic influence of a jins often extends above or below the proper notes of the jins, especially to the "leading tone"or pitch immediately below the tonic, which is commonly used in melodies and lies a particular interval below the tonic for each jins.^[1]^: 195
In addition to all that, each jins has certain melodic fragments that are more expected or traditional in the idiom of Arabic music, and substantially deviating from them results in melodies that are rarer or more experimental. In other words, each jins comes with its own "vocabulary" of phrases that musicians draw from to build idiomatic melodies.^[1]^: 192

Standard tonics and transposition[edit]

A jins is defined and recognized by itsintervals,so it can betransposedto a different absolute pitch and still be considered the same jins. Unlike Westernmajorandminor scales,however, ajnas are not (in practice) transposed to more than a handful of appropriate tonic pitches. The reason for this is partly tradition and partly because of the ergonomics and mechanical capabilities of different instruments. For example, players of stringed instruments such as theoudorviolingenerally prefer the tonic andghammazof a jins to be on open strings. An even more obvious example is the "Arabized"accordion,which may be equipped with only a limited set of quarter-tone notes, such as E half-flat, A half-flat, and B half-flat — this greatly restricts the keys in which the non-semitonal ajnas can be played.^[1]^: 201

The ajnas below are presented on their "standard" tonics, which are the traditional versions first taught to music students. In some cases the jins actually shares its name with the name of the pitch in the historic 24-toneArab tone system,for example "Rast" is both the name of a jins and the name of the note C, which is its standard tonic (jins Rast also frequently starts on F or G, but those are considered alternative tonics).^[1]^: 200

Most common ajnas[edit]

Amnemonicdevice used by some music students to remember the names of the eight most common ajnas (or corresponding maqamat) is the Arabic phraseصنع بسحرك(ṣuniʿa bi-siḥirka) which means "made with your magic" and has eight Arabic letters, one for each jins. In this order they areṢabā(صبا),Nahāwand(نهاوند),ʿAjam(عجم),Bayātī(بياتي),Sīkāh(سيكاه),Rāst(راست),Ḥijāz(حجاز), andKurd(كرد).^[1]^: 204

ʿAjam[edit]

Jins ʿAjam is a pentachord spanning aperfect fifthand is similar to the bottom part of amajor scale.

Bayati[edit]

Jins Bayati is a tetrachord spanning aperfect fourth.There are twoneutral secondsabove the tonic, so this jins is not playable in12 equal temperament,even approximately.

Hijaz[edit]

Jins Hijaz is a tetrachord spanning a perfect fourth. It has a distinctive large step (anaugmented second) between the second and third pitches. Though a version of jins Hijaz exists in equal temperament, many sources claim this is an inferior rendering and give it the disparaging name "Piano Hijaz". In particular, the D-E♭ and F♯-G intervals are usually larger than equal-temperedsemitones,making the E♭-F♯ augmented second significantly smaller than a minor third.

Kurd[edit]

Jins Kurd is a tetrachord spanning a perfect fourth. It resembles the bottom half of thePhrygian modein Western music.

Nahawand[edit]

Jins Nahawand is a tetrachord spanning a perfect fourth. It resembles the bottom half of aminor scale.

Saba[edit]

Jins Saba is usually defined as a tetrachord spanning an interval significantly less than a perfect fourth. It is similar to Bayati with a flattened fourth pitch. Unlike many other ajnas, there is broad agreement about the emotional character of jins Saba: its mood is one of intense distress or yearning.^[1]^: 221

Sikah[edit]

Jins Sikah is a trichord spanning aneutral third.Sikah is unique in that its tonic is a "quarter-tone" pitch (this distinction between "quarter-tone" vs "semitonal" pitches is not merely an artifact of equal-temperament hegemony; one practical difference between them is that a "quarter-tone" pitch will never be found on an open string of a stringed instrument such as theoudorviolin). This jins can also start on A half-flat or B half-flat, but it will never start on a semitonal or open-string note such as C, D, F, G, A...^[1]^: 223

Rast[edit]

Jins Rast is a pentachord spanning a perfect fifth. The third pitch is a neutral third above the tonic, and its specific tuning varies among different regional traditions. In much of the Arab world its tuning is somewhere generally near an actual quarter-tone (350 cents) - with local variations - while in the correspondingTurkishscales also called "rast" it is much closer to a major third (e.g. 380 cents).

References[edit]

^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^lFarraj, Johnny; Abu Shumays, Sami (2019).Inside Arabic Music.Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0190658359.

External links[edit]

Jinspagefrom Maqamworld site
Maqam Lessons introductionwhich definesjins

[Inside-1] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^lFarraj, Johnny; Abu Shumays, Sami (2019).Inside Arabic Music.Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0190658359.

[1]