Are Arabic and Iranian Music the Same?

This video is my attempt at providing a comprehensive breakdown of Middle-Eastern musical cultures, and how they differ from one another as much as, for example, Russian and Irish music differ from one another. Within the popular worldview, the Middle-East is often presented as a culturally monolithic region with little awareness to its immense diversity and the differences between individual cultures. My attempt is to get people to visualise the Middle-East in the same way they think of the West—nobody thinks of “Western music“ as a homogeneous reality where American folk music and French folk music are near identical or interchangeable. This video can act as a “beginner’s guide“ for conceptualising how Iranian and Arabic music are as individually distinct from one another as Ukrainian and Italian music are, and, in the case of viewers unfamiliar with the Middle-East, hopefully reshape their vision of the region into one that better takes into account its diverse, homogeneous nature; one of individual cultures with distinct and unique identities. Sources used: Ancient Greek Music, Martin L. West Vocal Technique in a Group of Middle Eastern Singers, American University of Beirut