Intergenerational Pitch in the songs of Suzqoshmaq by the performers of the villages of Sarab cultural area

Background:  Suzqoshmaq is the name of songs that are sung exclusively by women in different situations with improvised words and on a melodic basis. It seems that this method of improvisational reading and expression has a very distant history and we can probably bring it to you as one of the old traditions of the women of this region. The distribution area of this way of singing is the Sarab region and its surrounding villages in East Azerbaijan province in the northwest of Iran. Among the women of this region, it is customary to sing their emotional perception of that situation in individual or collective situations, such as happiness and weddings, mourning, daily work, and special emotional situations, with improvised words and on a simple melodic base. These songs have an almost definite and constant weight and correspond to the syllables of the word. By using three or four notes, the melodic base takes the reading of the word out of a mere narrative mode and turns it into a melodious form. The melody structure here does not go beyond a dong and forms a state between speech and singing. The language of Suzqoshmaq's songs is Turkish, and colloquial words and sentences are used in composing its improvised text. In the form of a group, the women who have gathered together, in order and respect elders, start to sing and one after another sing their emotional and sensory perception of the situation in which they are in an improvised form of poetry. These collective chants can go on for hours. Our main approach in this article, after introducing this novel and unknown genre among women's songs in Iran, is a very thoughtful musical issue. According to the field research and after transcribing about seventy examples of these songs, it was observed that despite the remoteness of the villages and the place where the narrators live, all of them are based on similar and common melodic patterns (11 melodic patterns) and also with pitch located in a wide area. They sing clearly; something that is very unique in oral cultures without having a standard for singing.
Objectives:  In this article, after introducing the performance characteristics of Suzqoshmaq songs, we will examine eleven patterns extracted from transcriptions. These patterns are very simple yet unique. At the same time, the pitch will examine all eleven patterns and samples and show that the range of the beginning and expansion of the songs in the samples collected in distant villages are very close and similar. The question that we will raise here is how this pitch was transferred and shared among distant villages and different generations.
Method:  Since the research related to these songs has not been done directly, in the library studies section, we used the opinions of researchers in studies related to women's songs in other regions. The examined samples were also collected from local experts in the geographical area of Sarab during the research trip.
Result:  After the introduction, study, and analysis of the patterns as well as various examples, we will see that these people share their identity in a place that can only be seen in music and its characteristics.
Conclusion: One of the important approaches and main achievements of musicological studies is to get to know and analyze the lower layers of a society beyond their music. In this example too, by studying women's songs, we reach an understanding of intergenerational communication and see how women compose, preserve, and transfer their senses and emotions to the next generation in the form of improvised music.