https://www.ebay.com/itm/284938795007
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuL0Y4mCFKw
Ahava Rabbah is the name of a Hebrew prayer that is traditionally chanted in that musical laturgical mode/scale and is often used in Klezmer music. “Ahava Rabbah” means “with an abundant love,” referring to the love of God for His people.
The Ahava Rabbah mode in D is:
D Eb F# G A Bb C D
The whistle includes a Cnat (minor seventh) pinky tonehole at the bottom so you can play one note below the tonic/base note. If you use Cnat as the tonic/base note you get a mode that is similar, but not identical to, one of the traditional Arabic modes.
As you can see, there’s a long, three-half-step interval between the second and third notes of the scale, so the bottom hand fingering on the Klezmer whistle takes a little getting used to. I find it is easiest to use the second pads of those fingers, similar to “piper’s grip,” which allows the fingers to fall naturally closer to the tonehole positions.
Heartfelt thanks to Daniel Bingamon who shared his expertise in helping with some of the technical aspects of creating this whistle.
That’s cool!
I should point out that that scale is by no means exclusive to Klezmer music.
In Turkish and Arabic music theory the scale is called hijaz.
I can’t remember the Armenian name for it, but it’s a standard scale in Armenian music.
Here, at 38:38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcWmE37ekzE
It’s common in Bulgarian music as well. A book I have on Bulgarian music uses the term hijaz when discussing it.
In western European classical music it’s called “harmonic minor” which is misleading.
The scale has a Major 3rd and calling it a “minor” scale is simply incorrect.
BTW I would have preferred that you had put the tonic elsewhere on the whistle than the bellnote, as with the hijaz scale melodies very often go below the tonic.
I would have preferred the tonic be placed at the 4th, or 5th, of the whistle’s range.
Only taking a different note as the tonic, i.e. G A Bb C D Eb F# G instead of D Eb F# G A Bb C D.
The scale has a Major 3rd and calling it a “minor” scale is simply incorrect.
In which case it’s correct to call it minor because it’s defined by its minor third of G–Bb… and earns its ‘harmonic’ label through containing the notes for the required primary chords.
The bell note is the minor seventh below the tonic, Richard. This whistle has seven holes. If you play with six fingers down you get the tonic, which is D. If you close the pinkie hole you get Cnat below the tonic.
Isn’t this the D Phrygian dominant scale, i.e., the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale? … which I think is what Peter Duggan was alluding to.