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- Ajam – happy, joyful, victorious, powerful
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- Hijaz – longing, sounds Arabian, snake charming
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- Nahawand: feeling, emotional, often love themed
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- Bayat: powerful, uplifting, uses one-quarter tone, the essence of Arabic music
- Rast: “the maqam of tarab”, 2 quarter tones, popular with instrumental and vocal soloists.
- Kurd: airy, spacious, freedom, common in modern Arabic music
- Sika: youth, strength, used in traditional songs, starts and ends with a quarter tone
- Saba: bluesy, sad when played slow, fast is danceable