Efrén López – Modal Music Group 13-17/04/2022

For more than fifteen years, Efrén López has been offering this kind of gatherings in several music centers in Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Germany and Portugal.

The objective of these workshops is the experimentation within the field of the so-called “modal music”, which does not use harmony and bases its structure on certain scales, norms and aesthetics of very specific and well-defined movements and ornamentation.

With these premises, we analyze works belonging to the traditions that use these systems:

Greek, Turkish, Iranian, Arabic, Azeri, Armenian, Kurdish, Indian, Afghan music … both in their melodic and rhythmic aspects.

After the analysis of all this material we can create our own compositions, arrangements and improvisations, using intervals, odd rhythmic patterns  and other elements not common in Western European traditions.

The basic elements we work with are the following: Introduction to Turkish makam, closely related to Arabic maqam, and Persian dastgah, analyzing some of their modes.

Introduction to raga, a modal system used mainly in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Rhythmology: notions of the Ottoman rhythmic patterns usüller, Arabic iqaat, and aksak or odd time signatures of the Balkans, Turkey and Greece (5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 10/8, 11/16, 13/16, 15/16…).

Introduction to the Indian rhythmic concept, tala.

To participate in this workshop it is helpful, although not essential, to have basic notions of music theory. You can attend it with any rhythmic or melodic instrument, including the voice. With enough time, we will send the registered students the material on which we will work, so that you can previously analyze it individually.