Middle Eastern music

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The category Middle Eastern music refers to music from the Middle East and its different regions such as North Africa, the Levant and the Persian Gulf States. Music classified as "Middle Eastern" includes, but is not limited to, music from the Arabic-speaking countries, Israel and Iran.Middle Eastern music also has similarities to Greek and Indian music, and its influence has reached the Balkans, as in chalga. The Arabic scale is very different from the Western (from the U.S. and Europe) scale. On a Western piano, for example, there are 7 "white keys" and 5 "black keys". This octave (from middle C to high C, for example) then has 12 notes. In Arabic classical music, music can be played with 17 notes, 19 notes, or 24 notes in an octave! Therefore, the human voice and stringed instruments can more easily get these notes that are "halfway between" the notes on the piano's octave. They are called "quarter tones" and are not even a part of Western music.