The Art of Strings

Interactive fretboards for guitar, bouzouki, bağlama and bass, with quarter tones

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Maqam Kurd on guitar, bouzouki and bağlama

Kurd is a maqam with a dark, minor character, and in its basic form it has the same notes as the Phrygian scale. It has no quarter tones, so it can be played on any instrument with regular frets.

Choose an instrument and a root above to see Kurd on the fretboard.

RootQuarter tone (half-flat ↓)Other notes (including regular flats and sharps)

Note: a regular flat (like E♭) is a semitone, so it is blue. Only a half-flat (↓, e.g. E↓ or B↓) is a quarter tone, shown in yellow. Each quarter tone is drawn inside the fret box above it, and if that box also holds a regular note, both are shown side by side. Play it by bending the string or on a fretless guitar.

Structure and notes

Degrees: 1 - b2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - b7

Notes on D: D E♭ F G A B♭ C

Notes on C: C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭

In terms of notes, Kurd in its basic form is identical to the Phrygian scale.

Quarter tones

Maqam Kurd has no quarter tones, so it can be played on instruments with regular frets without any change.

How to practice

Instrument sounds are based on open-source recorded samples (Karoryfer Samples: Black And Green Guitars and Black And Blue Basses; University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios; tonejs-instruments).