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Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Zohar Argov

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Band Overview

Zohar Argov (1955-1987) is widely regarded as the king of Mizrahi music, an Israeli genre that blends Middle Eastern melodic traditions with Western pop arrangements. Active primarily from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, Argov's music is built on quarter-tone melodies, emotional vocal delivery, and lush instrumental backings that draw heavily from Greek, Turkish, and Arabic musical traditions. For guitarists, this is a goldmine of modal playing, microtonal phrasing, and rhythmic patterns you simply won't encounter in standard Western rock or pop music. Learning Argov's catalog forces you to think outside the pentatonic box and explore scales like Hijaz (Phrygian dominant), Bayati, and Nahawand. The guitar work in Argov's recordings was handled by session musicians from Israel's Mizrahi and pop scenes. Players like Yossi Sassi (in later tribute contexts) and various uncredited studio guitarists contributed parts that often mimicked the oud or bouzouki, using rapid tremolo picking, ornamental hammer-ons and pull-offs, and deliberate bending techniques to approximate quarter-tone intervals on a standard-fretted guitar. The electric guitar in these arrangements often plays a supporting role to the vocals and keyboards but steps forward with melodic fills and interlude solos that are distinctly Middle Eastern in character. For guitarists looking to expand their vocabulary, Argov's music is moderately challenging. The melodies themselves are not always technically demanding in terms of speed, but accurately capturing the feel requires careful attention to vibrato width, bend precision (often targeting notes between standard Western semitones), and rhythmic nuance. You will encounter compound time signatures, syncopated rhythmic accents drawn from Middle Eastern percussion patterns (like the maqsoum or saidi), and phrasing that prioritizes emotion over flash. Songs like "As of Today" ("HaPerach BeGani") showcase how a guitarist can deliver deeply expressive lines with relatively simple note choices, as long as the ornamental details and dynamic control are on point. Overall difficulty sits at an intermediate level for the notes themselves, but the stylistic authenticity pushes it higher. If you are comfortable with basic scale positions and bending technique, you can learn the parts. However, truly nailing the Mizrahi feel requires dedicated listening and practice with ornamentation, making this an excellent challenge for any guitarist looking to grow beyond blues-rock vocabulary.

What Makes Zohar Argov Essential for Guitar Players

  • Mizrahi music relies heavily on the Hijaz scale (also known as Phrygian dominant: 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, b7), which gives Argov's songs their unmistakable exotic flavor. Practicing this scale across the fretboard is essential before tackling these arrangements.
  • Quarter-tone bends are a signature element. Standard guitar frets don't accommodate quarter tones, so players use subtle micro-bends (bending a note roughly halfway to the next fret) to approximate the characteristic intervals found in Arabic maqam music. This requires very precise finger control.
  • Tremolo picking in the style of the oud or bouzouki is frequently used for sustained melodic lines. Unlike metal-style tremolo picking, this technique is typically lighter and more fluid, often performed with a thinner pick to achieve a shimmering, almost mandolin-like texture.
  • Ornamental grace notes, including quick hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides into target notes, are used constantly to mimic traditional Middle Eastern vocal and instrumental ornamentation (known as "melisma" in vocal terms). These small embellishments are what separate a flat reading of the melody from an authentic performance.
  • Rhythmic awareness is critical: many Argov songs use compound or asymmetric rhythmic feels rooted in Middle Eastern percussion. Guitarists need to lock in with patterns like maqsoum (a 4/4 feel with specific kick-and-snare placement) rather than defaulting to a straight rock groove.

Did You Know?

The guitar parts in classic Mizrahi recordings often doubled or replaced the oud, a fretless stringed instrument. This means guitarists were essentially translating a fretless instrument's microtonal vocabulary onto a fretted neck, which is a fascinating technical challenge.

Zohar Argov's biggest hit, "HaPerach BeGani" (The Flower in My Garden), was arranged with a blend of synthesizers and acoustic instruments, but many cover versions and tribute performances feature the electric guitar prominently, making it a staple in the Israeli guitarist's repertoire.

Mizrahi session guitarists in the 1980s Israeli scene often used nylon-string classical guitars alongside electric guitars to achieve a warmer, more authentic Middle Eastern timbre on recordings.

Argov's music has been covered by rock and metal artists in Israel, with players like Yossi Sassi (ex-Orphaned Land) reinterpreting Mizrahi melodies using distorted electric guitar and progressive arrangements, proving these melodies translate powerfully across genres.

The vocal melisma in Argov's singing is a direct roadmap for guitar phrasing. Many guitarists learn his vocal lines note-for-note as a way to develop expressive lead playing, similar to how blues guitarists transcribe B.B. King's vocal lines.

Some Israeli guitarists use specially modified frets or fretless guitars to more accurately play the quarter-tone intervals that define Mizrahi and Arabic music, though most players rely on bending technique on a standard guitar.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

HaPerach BeGani 1982

This album contains Argov's most iconic song, "HaPerach BeGani" (The Flower in My Garden), which is a must-learn for any guitarist exploring Mizrahi music. The melodic lines are excellent for practicing Hijaz scale phrasing, ornamental bends, and expressive vibrato. The arrangements offer a clear template for understanding how guitar fits into Middle Eastern pop contexts.

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Elinor 1980

One of Argov's earliest albums, Elinor features slightly rawer, more stripped-down arrangements where the instrumental melodies are more prominent and easier to isolate for learning. The title track and surrounding songs are great for practicing maqam-based improvisation concepts and building comfort with non-Western scales at a moderate tempo.

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Nachon LeHayom 1985

This later album incorporates more 1980s production elements while retaining deep Mizrahi roots. Songs like the title track ("As of Today") are ideal for intermediate guitarists because they combine accessible melodic lines with opportunities to add personal ornamentation. It is a great album for learning how to balance Western pop sensibility with Eastern melodic authenticity.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Session guitarists on Argov's recordings typically used nylon-string classical guitars for melodic passages requiring a warm, oud-like tone, alongside standard electric guitars (often Fender Stratocasters or similar single-coil instruments) for parts that needed more presence in the mix. A clean-toned hollow-body or semi-hollow guitar can also work beautifully for these arrangements. No specific signature guitar is associated with Argov's catalog, so choose an instrument with a warm, articulate clean tone.

Amp

Clean to lightly warm amp tones are the goal. Think Fender Twin Reverb or Roland JC-120 style pristine cleans with just a touch of natural warmth. The guitar tone in Mizrahi recordings is never heavily distorted; it sits in a clean-to-edge-of-breakup territory to preserve the nuance of ornamental bends and micro-tonal inflections. Keep the amp clean and let your fingers do the dynamic work.

Pickups

Single-coil pickups or low-output humbuckers are ideal for capturing the bright, articulate tone needed for Mizrahi guitar parts. A neck-position single-coil on a Stratocaster gives you the warm, round attack that mimics oud-like timbres, while a bridge single-coil adds clarity for faster ornamental runs. The key is preserving dynamic range and note definition, so high-output pickups that compress the signal are generally not suitable.

Effects & Chain

Minimal effects are the way to go. A touch of reverb (plate or spring) to add space, and perhaps a subtle chorus to thicken the tone on certain passages. Some players add a slight delay for melodic lines to give them more sustain and presence. Avoid distortion, heavy modulation, or anything that obscures the clarity of individual notes. The tone in Mizrahi guitar is all about clean articulation, precise bending, and dynamic finger control. Straight into a clean amp with reverb is the most authentic approach.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

The Stratocaster's single-coil pickups deliver the bright, articulate tone essential for Zohar Argov's Mizrahi guitar work, capturing ornamental bends and microtonal inflections with clarity. Its neck pickup provides the warm, oud-like timbre that defines Argov's melodic passages.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

The Twin Reverb's pristine clean headroom and lush plate reverb preserve the nuance and dynamic range critical to Argov's fingerstyle articulation. Its warm, edge-of-breakup response lets the guitar's natural tone shine through without coloration, perfect for Mizrahi music's intricate ornamentation.

How to Practice Zohar Argov on GuitarZone

Every Zohar Argov song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice As of Today - Guitar Cover