24 tET and middle east maqamat

I'm thinking about installing quarter tone frets between the first 7
or 8 frets of a guitar or octave mandolin. My understanding of
middle eastern and Turkish scales/maqamat are that the pitches are
found in 24 tET. The "off" notes are quarter tone pitches, while
most of the scale is 12tET. Is this correct? Or just an
approximation?

With a fair amount of electric blues playing as background, I tend to
think of the fretted pitches as points ready for micrtonal adjustment
via string bending.

B Knox

B Knox:

> I'm thinking about installing quarter tone frets between the
> first 7 or 8 frets of a guitar or octave mandolin. My
> understanding of middle eastern and Turkish scales/maqamat are
> that the pitches are found in 24 tET. The "off" notes are
> quarter tone pitches, while most of the scale is 12tET. Is this
> correct? Or just an approximation?

It is an approximation though one that is used even by
middle-eastern players IMUIO (in my uninformed & ignorant
opinion). However I _welcome_ correction by those more
knowledgable than myself esp. since I am trying to do the
FAQ on this very issue.

I would say that if you want to put in frets, setting them
up in real 50 cent quarter tones actually makes sense for
a lute. You can continue to do string bends to get the
actual note you want. And when you figure out if those
actual notes are quarter tones or are actually just
13-limit intervals or are in between, report back your
real-life findings to the list PLEASE!!

> I tend to think of the fretted pitches as points ready for
> microtonal adjustment via string bending.

Good for you! There is a bluegrass band around here called
"Blue Highway". You won't hear it on their albums, but in
their concerts both the Dobro player and the mandolinist
deliberately play in middle eastern scales by using string
bends and they are quite proficient at doing so even at
incredibly high speeds. All of their instruments are
fretted normally. The Dobro player also likes to play
Indian scales, simulating the polyphony of a sarod (a
fretless North Indian lute with 4 melody strings & 6 drone
strings & about 15 sympathetic strings; a large, wide
metal covered neck & parchment covered belly.)

PS - I welcome discussion and correction from list members
who unlike me actually have real experience with middle
eastern music. Any rebab players out there?

- Jeff