Iraqi maqam

Iraqi Maqam () is a genre of Arabic maqam music found in Iraq. The roots of modern Iraqi maqam can be traced as far back as the Abbasid Caliphate (8th–13th centuries AD), when that large empire was controlled from Baghdad. The ensemble of instruments used in this genre, called Al Chalghi al Baghdadi, includes a *qari' *(singer), santur, goblet drum, joza, cello, and sometimes oud and naqqarat. The focus is on the poem sung in classical Arabic or an Iraqi dialect (then called zuhayri). A complete maqam concert is known as fasl (plural fusul) and is named after the first maqam: Bayat, Hijaz, Rast, Nawa, or Husayni.

A typical performance includes the following sections:

• tahrir, sometimes badwah
• taslum
• finalis Maqama texts are often derived from classical Arabic poetry, such as by al-Mutanabbi and Abu Nuwas. Some performers used traditional sources translated into the dialect of Baghdad, and still others use Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Hebrew, Turkmen, Aramaic lyrics. Due to Iraq's diversity, different ethnic groups use this genre in their own language.