dastgāh

dastgāh, any of the principal modes of the art music of Persian-speaking areas, used as the basis for composition and improvisation. A dastgāh incorporates a scale, a motif, a group of short pieces, and a recognizable identity. The scale (maqām) is a collection of seven pitches, some of which may be temporarily altered, using various combinations of whole tones, semitones, and fractional tones (see microtonal music). The motif is a short four-to-six-note phrase (māyeh), to...