The Musical Modes of al-Andalus

Abstract The 13th-century Tunisian author Aḥmad at-Tīfāšī describes in his work Mutʿat al-asmāʿ fī ʿilm as-samāʿ a system of melodic modes used al-Andalus. This essay represents preliminary attempt to situate at-Tīfāšī’s Andalusi within the broader historical development medieval Arab modal systems and explore their relationship modern North Africa commonly referred as Andalusi. is, however, primarily an exploration terminology or nomenclature rather than characteristics themselves, since sources examined here give little no information about internal features individual modes.