Rast
Rasdt Rast
The “Arabic” major
Rast is a Persian word meaning “right” or “direct”. Like a Western major except the third and seventh are flattened by 30% – 40%, which gives a slight twist to the usual ‘happy’ major. The third in the western tuning is sharp relative to the pythagorean and just tunings, which gives equal tempered major modes a martial strident feel. The quarter tone softens the third, (inbetween a major & minor 3rd) making the feel more dreamlike.
The E 
and B are tuned slightly higher in maqam Rast (-35 cents¿) than bayati – video . The B is usually played natural when descending.This is the same maqam as 3Ajam but drop 3rd and 7th by ¼tone. Rast is the arabic name for the note C3.
CLICK ON A NOTE ABOVE TO HEAR THE MAQAM
THEN USE YOUR COMPUTER KEYBOARD TO PLAY
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DOWNLOAD RAST in C .TUN FILE (for soft synths)
