Segâh Makamı: The Makam of the Neutral Third

Segâh is one of the oldest makams in the Turkish tradition and one of the most distinctive: its karar (resting tone) falls on the segah perde, a neutral pitch that exists between the frets of Western instruments. The name comes from the Persian se-gâh, meaning "third position" — the third degree of the perde system ascending from rast. Where Rast introduces students to the neutral third as a passing tone, Segâh makes that elusive pitch the home base of the entire makam.

A karar between the cracks

Established The segah perde sits at 17 Holdrian commas above rast — approximately 385 cents. This places it audibly lower than a Western major third (400 cents in 12-TET) but well above a minor third (300 cents). It is a "neutral" interval: neither major nor minor, with no equivalent on a piano keyboard or standard guitar. Any attempt to approximate Segâh in 12-tone equal temperament destroys its essential character.

Attested This neutral karar is what gives Segâh its immediately recognizable quality, often described as mystical or contemplative. The tonal center itself is microtonal — the ear cannot resolve it into either a major or minor frame of reference. Unlike Rast or Hicaz, where the karar falls on a pitch shared with Western tuning, Segâh asks the listener to accept a fundamentally different point of rest. This is the sound that lives between the frets — the sound that disappears the moment you reach for a piano.

Interval structure

Established In the Arel-Ezgi-Uzdilek (AEU) system, Segâh's ascending scale is expressed in Holdrian commas from its karar (segah perde):

Established The ascending intervals in commas are: 5–9–8–9–5–13–4. The opening interval of 5 commas (küçük mücenneb, approximately 113 cents) is the first thing a listener hears — a narrow step upward that immediately signals the microtonal world of the makam. The augmented interval of 13 commas (approximately 294 cents) between gerdaniye and nim sümbüle gives the upper register its characteristic tension, a hallmark of the Hicaz çeşni.

Attested The fourth degree (hisarek) falls between the standard perde positions of dik hisar and hüseyni — a pitch that some sources notate as one or the other depending on melodic context. In practice, performers adjust this pitch fluidly depending on whether the melody is ascending or descending and which çeşni is active.

Çeşni (tetrachords and pentachords)

Established Segâh is built from two primary çeşni:

• Segah pentachord (segah to eviç): 5–9–8–9 commas (S–T–K–T) — the defining unit of the makam. Its opening small-interval step (5 commas) followed by a whole tone and then the büyük mücenneb (8 commas) creates a melodic contour unlike any Western scale fragment. The pentachord spans 31 commas.

• Hicaz tetrachord on eviç (eviç to tiz segah): 5–13–4 commas (S–A–B) — the augmented second (13 commas, approximately 294 cents) is the hallmark of Hicaz, lending the upper register a tense, yearning quality. The tetrachord spans 22 commas, completing the octave.

Attested This combination — Segah pentachord below, Hicaz tetrachord above — classifies Segâh as a mürekkep makam (compound makam) in traditional theory. The two çeşni have markedly different characters: the Segah pentachord is subtle and intimate, while the Hicaz tetrachord introduces dramatic tension. This contrast is central to the makam's expressive range.

Functional pitches

Established The functional pitch hierarchy governs Segâh's melodic behavior:

• Karar (resting tone): Segah — the neutral pitch at 17 commas above rast. All cadential motion resolves here.
• Güçlü (dominant): Neva (D) — 14 commas above the karar, the secondary point of emphasis. Neva's role as güçlü connects Segâh structurally to several other makams that share this pitch as a pivot.
• Yeden (leading tone): Kürdi — approaches the karar from below, pulling upward into the neutral resting tone.

Seyir: the melodic path

Established Segâh's seyir is classified as çıkıcı (ascending). The melody typically begins at or near the karar and works upward:

1. Begin on or near segah, establishing the neutral tonal center.
2. Ascend through the Segah pentachord, pausing on neva (the güçlü) for a half cadence (yarım karar).
3. Move into the upper register, where the Hicaz tetrachord on eviç introduces heightened tension. The augmented second between gerdaniye and nim sümbüle is a moment of intense expression.
4. Descend through the scale, potentially extending below the karar into the lower register, before a final cadence on segah.

Attested The lower register extension (genişleme) is a distinctive feature of Segâh performance. The melody can descend below the karar to dügah and even rast, borrowing the color of Uşşak or Rast in the process. This does not change the makam — the final resolution still targets segah — but it expands the expressive range considerably. A performer might briefly touch rast or dügah to create contrast before the final ascent back to the neutral karar.

Practice In a taksim (improvisation), a performer often lingers in the lower register before ascending, building anticipation. The interplay between the Segah pentachord and the borrowed lower-register colors is where much of the makam's expressive depth resides.

Segâh and the Mevlevi tradition

Attested Segâh occupies a prominent place in Ottoman sacred music. It is the traditional makam for the evening call to prayer (akşam ezanı), and the repertoire of Segâh ilahis (hymns) is substantial. Buhurizade Mustafa Itrî's celebrated Allahüekber Tekbiri is composed in this makam — a work that remains a touchstone of Ottoman religious music.

Attested Within the Mevlevi (whirling dervish) tradition, Segâh is among the makams used for the ayin-i şerif, the large-scale vocal and instrumental compositions structured around the four selams of the sema ceremony. The neutral karar was understood to evoke a quality of mystical intimacy — an inward-turning contemplation suited to devotional contexts. Ottoman therapeutic treatises associated Segâh with calming effects and spiritual receptivity, though these associations reflect pre-modern cosmological frameworks rather than empirical evidence.

Established Segâh is among the oldest makams of unknown compositional origin. It appears in Seydî's el-Matla' and Kantemiroğlu's notation treatise, and it is well documented through the works of Abdülbâki Nâsır Dede and subsequent Ottoman theorists.

Relationship to Persian Dastgâh-e Segâh

Attested The Turkish makam and the Persian dastgâh share their name and a common tonal center — the "third position" pitch in both systems. Both place their resting tone on a neutral interval that Western intonation cannot accommodate, and both feature an ascending melodic character. The Arabic Sikah (from the same Persian se-gâh etymology) belongs to the same broader family, though its intervallic realization differs across regional traditions.

Attested Beyond the shared name and tonal center, the two traditions diverge significantly in how they develop the mode. Persian Dastgâh-e Segâh unfolds through a sequence of gusheh (melodic models within the radif), including a contrasting upper-register section called Mokhâlef-e Segâh that introduces substantially different interval material. Turkish Segâh is defined more rigidly by its çeşni construction and seyir, and modulation follows makam-system rules rather than the gusheh-based development of Persian practice. Studying both systems side by side reveals how the same foundational pitch can give rise to distinct musical traditions — shared roots, divergent paths.

Common modulations

Practice Segâh naturally connects to several neighboring makams through shared pitches and çeşni:

• Hüzzam — closely related, sharing much of the same pitch material but distinguished by a different seyir and emphasis pattern.
• Müstear — another makam in the Segah family, with its own characteristic melodic path.
• Rast — accessible through the lower-register extension, where the melody borrows Rast color below the karar.
• Uşşak — similarly available through descent below segah to the dügah region, introducing Uşşak's characteristic intervals.

Practice These modulations are not arbitrary: they arise organically from the çeşni that become available when the melody moves into different registers. A skilled performer uses them to create contrast and narrative arc within a performance, always returning to the neutral karar of segah for final resolution.