Al-Farabi and Music
Hello,
In my last post, I am going to talk about a Muslim scientist, philosopher, psychologist and musician named Abu Naser Al Farabi ( 872 – 951.) No one mentioned him in class so I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of his work. I am going to focus on his contribution to music.
Al Farabi was known in the west as Alpharabius. He was an expert in the art and science of music and contributed to what we now know as music notes. He wrote a music book called “kitab al Musiqa” (The Book of Music) which heavily studies Arabic and Persian music at his time. The book discusses major topics as the science of sound, intervals, tetrachords, octave species, musical instruments, compositions, and the influence of music. He also invented several musical instruments. He was also a sociologist, so he wrote another book called “ Meanings of the Intellect’ which dealt with music as a therapy believing that music affects one’s soul. It was mentioned that he could play music to the point where listeners either laugh or weep; depending on the music piece.
Rima