Super explanation, I really enjoyed your baglama solo as well!

This is a seriously underrated video.

Even within India we have two Classical Music, The Hindustani Classical and Carnatic Classical Music . Thanks Aaron for Educating us , Appreciate ur Work .

Greetings from Iraq. I play music as a hobby (not professionally), but I know enough and I believe that you illustrated the characteristics of the Eastern vs Western music very clearly and very successfully. Keep up the good work.

An american who calls it football :') Its a wonderful day

A highly skilled Musician giving a very knowledgable explanation of Western and Eastern music the difference in their intervals, the individual versus the group, etc.EXCELLENT

Absolute peach of a video. Got the answers for almost all the questions I had. Great Job Aaron!

As somebody whose roots are in the middle east and grew up in Germany, I am very very thankful for this video and for your accuracy! I wish more people would recognize the beauty in the different music styles over the world and yet how music connects us as an universal language. Well done ❤️

Thanks so much for making this! I have a Western classical background and am starting to play Middle Eastern music, so this was SO HELPFUL!

This is a really great video! Thank you so much! I learned more about music theory in this one video than I have in many, many others. So many videos talk about music theory solely from a Western perspective, that western concepts are taken for granted by the people teaching them, and so they never talk about the background, and the wider picture about why it's done that way in the first place. This video really helps give a wider, and broader view of music, that also helps one understand western music theory as well. Thank you!

I just watched this video man and my mind is racing - SO GOOD! Thanks so much for making this! I'm a Bangladeshi-American who's super into western classical music and theory, and to be able to learn like this was so enlightening! I especially enjoyed the Balkan part - such a sweet, mellow medium. What fascinated me too, was how the Balkans/Spanish are sort of like that middle between the East and West too - both musically and culturally to an extent too. It's beautiful, everything's beautiful. Thank you for this!

Aaron! You are adorable, and knowledgable, and thank you for making this and sharing!! Love to you

This was amayzing I was shearching for where are there 12 notes in music for hours and coulden't find a clear discripive video until I came to you. You should be a teacher, great value my man. Thank you

Absolutely excellent explanation for somebody who is trying to make sense of a new music system they've probably just started listening to. I'm really glad I stumbled upon this video of yours. I tend to pretty much like diverse kinds of music, but don't necessarily understand or connect with all of them. You video is surely gonna help me understand some new stuff better. Thank you so much.

Very well explained, thanks for this content. I have minimal knowledge of music theory, was just curious, and yet your examples worked great.

Great video lecture! Just what I was looking for! Thanks!

Wow. This is the most fantastic presentation on the history, development and distribution of world music that I have ever seen. Come to think of it, it's the only one I've ever seen. I'm a lifelong musician only recently wading into music theory. This video really helps explain a lot of fundamental questions. Thank you for a truly unique and valuable educational experience.

Thank you for this video. I've been trying to understand the differences between western and eastern music and this is a wonderful explanation that gives respect to both systems.

brilliant video. I hardly ever leave comments but this one blew me away!

You have broadened my perspective on looking at music. Respect your multicultural knowledge. Thank you!

26:56 that is literally Greek bouzouki music, you would be an amazing bouzouki player

This blew my mind and explains so much. Thank you!!

Thank you! A very interesting video with clear explanations and great analogies with sports!

Very interesting video, thank you very much for the time you've put into transmitting this. It has helped me very much in seeing foundational distinctions. In my humble opinion, I think where the two specifically meet is within the realm of harmonizing a melody. That's where you start to get into a whole new realm of creative possibilities and music theory can be visualized as an infinite expanse never ending.. but it feels very difficult to grasp practically and somewhat out of reach. So baby steps. But I also I think that real practice and dedication can be a ferry to bring one to that level of capability and understanding to where it's not overly intellectual killing the 'spirit' of the music so to speak. The first step is always to enjoy it, have fun, and connect, if you ask me that is.. Anyways, I enjoyed this much.Thank you again!

This is fantastic! Thanks! I play slide in open tunings . Now I understand why drones and power chords work best for accompaniment when I am improvising microtonally all over the place!

For me, it is a very interesting subject and your video put more into what I know about what music is. It started, when I wanted to understand why there are 12 notes in western music. And other questions came: there is a gipsy in the underground playing solo on violin improvising for hours, and you can explain how he changes the tonal centre etc. but he goes through from very eastern sounding music to gipsy and to Vivaldi. He doesn't need a backtrack. I started improvising solo on my guitar ( only one rule - play what you hear in your head) interesting. I also read about that scientists think we could be better with 19 step or (31 that's too much to handle) and to my understanindg this 12 step comes from hour major scale - with compormises in pich.

So glad I found this video! Excellent explanation. Greets from Poland :)

Very interesting, liked and shared my dude. Keep it up. Love this

I really needed this video, thank you

To be honest I wasn't sure where the sports analogy was going but by the end of the video I realised just how well you laid out your explanation and how clear and understandable it was. Well done!

I'm an eastren singer and I'm so proud of you .... and this video is so helpful .. good job 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Brilliantly explained and really interesting! Great vid man!

This is Great! This Helps a lot! We would like to see more demonstrations! Great!

Thanks for this Great Knowledge..! Keep it up..!

Very simple yet accurate explanation ... and you are not rusty on oud as you think ;) You played a very clear and beautiful turkish-style oud improvisation. I was always telling my western friend is that westerners tend to simplify ideas for the sake of harmony, while the eastern culture is beyond simplification.

Great video, you explained really well about this subject. Personally, I tend to listen arabic music more, and sometimes I listen western classical and pop music too, and I can feel there's a lot of difference yet I cannot explain it except for the usage of microtonal notes.

Aaron you should come out with a book, with a Companion Dvd it would be wonderful!, teaching Arabic, Indian, Balkan corresponding to Western music...

Very helpful! Thanks a lot!!

Aaron:Plays the best oud ever Also Aaron: I'm a little rusty on the oud

Dude you are a monster at the saz and as a Turk with English background, it's so good to get the theoretical background behind the type of music I am trying to learn with limited English resources. Props to you my man!

Really nice explanation! Thanks!

Would love to hear more about similarities between Eastern maqam and Western bebop/jazz!

awesome! thank you for this perspective

God dude You are a divine source of analogy. Very sportive 🙂

Amazing video thank you

excellent presentation very educational

25:56 It doesn't sound "off". There is an Indian song called "Saare Jahan Se Acha" which sounds like this. The National Anthem of Afghanistan also sounds like that. It's correct in a different context. 26:43 True dat, Balkan music also does a lot of that East/West mixture that many people find strange. Even Balkan beats/rhythm sounds "off" to people. Btw didn't watch your entire video. Just scrubbing through to hear examples.

This is gold. Thank you man

Thanks for the video aaron ;)

Thanks for making this :)

Your content is great thanks for sharing your knowledge! could you also write some the makams you use with time tags? I recognized some ussak, rast, (mahur?), segah, hicaz movements etc. also do you have some 'sources' for understanding balkan music (bands/styles per country, theory, folk songs, ...)

Are you going to put out a CD of these improv and pieces you've written??? So much God-given talent!!!!

Your Oud playing is very good !

You’ve tried to explain it from a very understandable point of view, and which I think is pretty solid way to do so.

25:00 I understand the point being made about dissonance but tbh I personally liked how it turned out. (context: I listen to King Gizzard)

Really enjoy this video.

thanks guy for this super explanation :)

Great video!

wow, great demo! :-)

Playing the minor third, in fact the minor pentatonic scale, over a major chord is completely fine. It's actually quite common in the blues. I know that the blues uses dominant 7th chords but they are still major.

I found the same difference in approach explained this way: western Music is more focused on structure (symphonies n stuff) whereas eastern Music is more of a loop. The paradox to me is that in the latter there is more space for improvisation. Btw thanks a lot for your insightful take on the subject!!!

This is fantastic info- you've given me hints of so many threads to explore by discussing music from so many different parts of the world. Thanks so much. Can I ask where you're based?

Amazing Aaron

Hi ! Thank you very much for the video. Do you know about the 22 shrutis discovered by Dr. Oke ? He is an Hindustani classical musician (harmonium maestro) and he has conducted research on music for the past 20 years. He discoverd the 22 musical "notes" or "points" that exist in an octave starting from Shadja. As you know Sa and Pa are fixed. The other 10 have 2 variant each, an entry and an exit, and he explaines very well how our ET scale is "out of tune" when compared to the natural "in tune" and he has explained everything on his website with 50 small articles with all the mathematical explanations. I am studying it, it is very interesting. Explains how some cultures have sharper or flatter notes (frequencies actually) in their scale.

Wonderful and very clear explanation with solid analogies comparing modal vs. harmonic music, combined with a talent for playing. Much also has to do with society and religion. The Christian and Muslim cultures tend very much towards a follow-the rule-books approach, with the main book being the Bible or the Koran. The Hindu perspective is totally different, where it is up to the individual to dig deep within themselves to find a lot of the answers. Therefore, Indian music tends to be more individualistic and the pure modal form of music suits it much better.

Wonderful!!!!

The Arabic Oud part was enchanting!

you should definately do more vids!

Just got a sub. I feel there is something to learn.

This is the first time actually I heard the sound of Bağlama with the Western notes.

This is a knowledge bomb!!

wow. these compromises.... after trying to use oud for metal-style playing, I decided to fully quartertone fret a stratocaster. it completely changed my style. now, i only play 2-string chords, and always bend one string or the other to make the intervals Just. ie: G+/B, B/D+. I tune all fourths and the quartertone frets are almost only used for cutting minor thirds in half. It's almost too hard to arpeggiate and play diminished scales. I need to slow down a bit when playing even diatonic scales. I end up staying within about a fourth (tetrachords). when i listen to umm kulthum daret el ayam... it opens up with a surf-rock toned guitar. just the existence of guitars and pianos constrain the rest of the band; preventing prominent quartertones. usually quartertones only show after they drop out completely or go to pentatonic scales behind bayati, etc.

Wow, I wish I can play as much instruments as you! 😊 You know so much. I only play piano, trumpet, and clarinet.

This is so divine ❤️

This is a really great teaching video. I'm curious where u bought your oud, also what effects pedal did u use for the sustain drone?

nice what you play on uod was the maqam alajam originally from the Parisian gulf these maqam also the hijaz maqam dos not need the quarter ton and going from maqam to another maqam we call it tahwel there is so many way for changing from maqam to maqam i will gladly help you if you need more info

My mind is blown. I....don't even know what this guy is doing. Or saying for that matter. Replayed several portions. Played organ and piano for a cpl decades, never gave tones and steps much thought. Trying to follow his hands, dizzying. I have a whole new respect for music theory! This dude is seriously talented!

Hey! This is bağlama :) I like it very much

you nailed Manele music. nice job

cool video :D

Amazing! Btw.. are those guitar strings on the oud?

That music at 26:55 was really cool sounding

"I'm a little rusty on the oud" hahaha

I like to have the dissonance of mixing "Western" and "Eastern" music by adding some "Western" / jazz chord progressions onto Middle Eastern maqams incl some 3/4 note interval maqams. Not everyone likes it though. In fact, I also meet similar opposition from changing the standard "trad" guitar (usually DADGAd tuning) to jazz/rock chord progressions sometimes [eg changing an Am - G- Am- G- prgoression to an Am- G- F- E- progression in Aeolian mode jigs and reels

27:00 Dan Ciotoi - Generic

awesome video

is there any application out there to write note for Arabic or Persian musical instruments?

Thanks

great

I want an oud but I don't know where to buy a good one in USA

I agree about most of what you said however, I do not agree that monophonic vs Polyphonic is somehow Arpeggios vs Chords Arpeggios suggest they come from harmony. In arabic music for instance most of the time we follow maqams tetrachords We do not really use the whole scale in one musical phrase (or rarely) so seldom you hear an arpeggios in a real traditional arabic music. We don t also really jump from tonic to fifth to seventh of the scale..This is probably the difference between a maqam and scale and why we need to use a distinct term.

This video should when an Oscar.

To clarify the difference between; it is that there is no theory (till now at least) able to harmonize quarter tones. So when you say that eastern music is monophonic it is not totally correct because eastern has also modes like major, minor, harmonic and phrygian, additionally to the ukrainian dorian (dorian 4). Because the western could not with its theory harmonize the modes with quarter tones like rast, beyati, saba, sika... they said it is unharmonizable so monophonic. At the same time, I heard some arab compositions with quarter tones and include harmony composition with a very consonant and beautiful tonality to hear.

Is that guitar scalloped? Is that an effective guitar modification if you want to play microtonal music on the guitar?

But when it comes to Indian Classical Music (Eastern Music) the scenario changes gradually. Three basic differences between Indian (Eastern) and Western Classical music: 1. There is absolutely no concept of harmony (in the musical sense) in Indian classical music. There are no chords...only notes and the 'spaces between' them (or microtones, known as sruti) with each note played one at a time to maintain clarity and purity. 2. Indian classical music is largely an oral tradition, facilitating continuity by being sung and played the same way by succeeding generations. But because it is also an improvised art, it means that each musician of succeeding generations can not only add a great deal of creativity but also set a distinct personal style. The raag/raga (melodic structure) itself may be carved in stone and confined to strict rules but because there is no written score, there is no culture of producing an accurate and faithful copy of that score. So, it's a strange mixture...purity combined with full freedom for improvisation and innovation. 3. Western music generally attempts to create a mood as it progresses, Indian music concentrates on exploring a mood from every possible standpoint, plummeting to the very depths of the emotions it creates, but always remaining at the periphery rather than jumping into the centre. Hence, the chosen raag/raga is unfolded very enticingly, note by note and only gradually building up in rhythmic intensity to a fast tempo. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/r8x9e8yFrtORqpc.html

What are you playing around 18:00? i love the riffing around the Maj7 harmony

13:56 - 14:04 Anatolian rock

That sharp 'flat sixth' does need to be treated as a dissonant interval.

the part where he was saying he couldnt play the minor key because of the major key was one of the best parts - that minor three sounded hella moody. you could easily write sad music with that method no problem. didnt sound off to me at all.

genius