Taqsim taksim, taksimi (plural Taqasim)

A melodic improvisation style that could be metric or non-metric, which usually precedes a composition in Arabic, Turkish, Greek, and other Middle Eastern music. The taqsim is usually performed by a solo instrument, yet sometimes the soloist can be backed by a percussionist or an instrumentalist playing a drone on the tonic of the maqam. In vocal music, a similar style is called layali.

The taqsim is an impromptu musical composition where the soloist extemporized a piece using the maqam as a vehicle while abiding by a certain set of rules particular to that maqam. A taqsim usually includes a number of modulations to other related maqamat.

Taqsim traditionally follows a certain melodic progression. Starting from the tonic of the maqam, the first few measures of the improvisation remains in the lower ajnas of the maqam, by that introducing the maqam to the ear of the listener. Following the introduction, the improviser is free to move anywhere in the maqam and even modulate to other maqams, as long as he returns to the original. Taqsim is considered by many to be a connection to the spiritual world.

In Arabic music, the basics of a piece are notated, while ornamentation and embellishments are left to the performer. This is where we find a greater freedom of expression being afforded to the musician and we see him/her adding their own touches and interpretation to the composer’s ideas. Therefore, the piece is a sort of tandem work between the composer and whatever musician happens to be playing the piece at the time. These embellishments and additions are either improvised by the instrumentalist during the performance or are prepared prior to it. However these embellishments are not fixed and change according to the mood of the performer. We can therefore say that Taqasim and improvisation enters all forms of Arabic music in varying degrees. Improvisation does not feature the prepared musical themes and depends on the creation in the course of playing, but the Taqasim features the prepared musical themes mostly plus a few simple additional improvisations by the player in the course of the performance.

The word Taqasim remains the most accurate way to describe this distinct form in Arab music art and so. However, Taqasim was translated into ‘improvisation’ in other languages, which does not describe the form, as accurately, even though the two words have rather similar meanings. Upon closer inspection, we find that the difference between them is that improvisation is prepared or created during the performance and relies entirely on the musician’s ability, technique and knowledge of the various Maqams. Taqasim, however, consists in part of phrases and ideas that were prepared before the performance in the form of composition, or modifying other musicians’ phrases or Taqasim (from folklore or otherwise) to be performed in a way that suits the performer (i.e., not necessarily performed exactly as it was notated).