The Melodicism of Azerbaijani Folk Songs

Abstract

Azerbaijani folk songs, presenting one of the basic genres of traditional music, possess an
abundant melodic style. These works of art, created back in early historical times, have also
exerted considerable influence on the melodic development of other musical genres: the mugam’s
dyastgyakh, the zerbi-mugam, the small-form mugams, the tesnifs, the ryangs and Ashug music.
While researching and discerning several types of melodicism in the songs, we have discovered
various examples of melodic motion: singing around a central pitch, sequences, anticipations and
repetitions. The basis of folk songs is formed by descending melodic motions in which the most
significant role is played by the conclusion of the phrase. Upon analysis of folk songs, a type
of sequence is revealed which may label as “a sequence within a sequence.” One of the types
of melody is a manifold repetition, in which the following types may be encountered: precise,
variational, sequenced, sequenced-variational and ornamental.
The melodic style and types of melodies in Azerbaijani folk songs depend directly on the
foundations of the national modes. The tonic and the basic stable scale steps of the seven Azerbaijani
modes (rast, shur, segyakh, shyushter, bayaty-shiraz and humayun) with the help of singing around
the stable pitch find their complete realization. The frequently used type of melodic development –
the melodic anticipation, also depends on the intonational particularity of one of the national modes
(the segyakh).

Keywords: Azerbaijani folk songs, traditional music, types of melody and sequence in
Azerbaijani song.