Musical Instrument
About Arabic Music
November 3, 2011 | 
Author This is a mix between the music of Arabs in the Arabian peninsula, and the music of other people of the Arab world nowadays.
The root of this kind of music could be find in Arabic poetry that dates back to the pre Islamic period. Many historians believe that there existed distinct form of music in the Arabic peninsula in the period between the fifth and the seventh century. But there are no so many trials to say that for sure. Arabic music in that period played an important role: it was aimed to cultivate the mystique of magicians and exorcists. It is believed that were a few spirits, called Jinns, who inspired poems to poets anmd music to musicians.
The choir at that time was a pedagogic facility where poets would recite their poems: It is indeed true that singing was not an activity on intellectuals and it was on the other hand, entrusted to women with beutiful voices.
About the Arabic music we may add that a number of musical instruments used in the western music are believed to have been derived from Arabic musical instruments. For example an ancester of the violin, or fiddle, was an instrument called rebec.
The music of troubadors is considered to derive from Arabic music. One possible theory on the origins of the western solfège musical notation suggest that it may have had Arabic origins. In accordance with Edward Lane, anyone with an intelligence would ever become a musicians. Music was a key part of society: tradesmen used music during work and the school taught the Quran by chanting. Their music was derived from Greek, Persion and Indian traditions.
During the 1950s and the 1960s Arabic music began to take on a more western sound, with artist such as Adbel Halim. By the 1970s several other singer had followed suit and a kind of Arabic pop was created. Areabic pop is made of western styled song with Arabic instruments and lyrics. Melodies are a mix between eastern and western music.
It has been influenced by the styles of North America, Europe Australia and Western countries. Another popular kind of Arabic music, Arabic jazz is also popular, with many songs using jazz instruments. First influence of Arabic jazz began with the use of the saxophone by musicias. One of these player of saxophone is Abdel Halin Hafez’s song. Another similar musicians is Kadim Al Sahir. The first mainstream jazz elements were incorporated into Arabic music by the Rahbani brothers.
Rock music is popular all around the world, adn the Arab world is no exception: there are a few of Arabic rock bands on th emarket nowadays, and these bands fuse the sound of hard rock with traditional Arabic instruments. The result is Arabic rock, that is actually gaining a lot of attention in the Middle East, with bands such as The Meen and The Dabke in Lebanon, and in Jordan with bands such as The Jadal. The band Hoba Hoba Spirit from Morocco is also popular, expecially in the Maghrebi region.
The world of Arabic music has been dominated by diverse musical trends that emerged from Cairo, Egypt. The city is considered a cultural center in the actual Arabic world. Innovations in music via the influence of other regional style have been present in Morocco and in Saudi Arabia. Latele, Beirut has become a major center.
Written by michele_venturini
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The Traditional Music of the Lisu of Northern Thailand
The Lisu are an ethnic group which makes up one of the 56 officially recognised minority groups in China, although large numbers of them are scattered across Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. They are a Tibeto-Burman highland tribe and the main concentration of the Lisu can be found along the northern part of the Yunnan- Burma border, and during the last 70 years there has been a steady migration of Lisu from Burma into Northern Thailand.
The traditional music of the Lisu can differ from each different tribe; each tribe has its own distinct vocal and instrumental styles. Not only this, but each tribe uses different instruments. Although all of them use bamboo flutes, these differ in type and construction. There have cases where the same instrument has been used by more than one tribe (for example the small mouth organ is used by the Lisu, the Lahu and the Akha), but the musical styles are very different.
Music is way for each Lisu tribe to establish themselves as a distinct ethnicity in the same area where there are other ethnic groups. Changes of identity will occur during tribal intermarriages or when a tribe resettles in the lowlands, but on a general level tribal identity is rigidly maintained.
The musicians of the Lisu are men and it is the young unmarried men who are most active. It is the musician’s repertoire size and his physical ability to go on playing for hours and days during festivals that enhances his reputation, and not his technical skills.
There are 6 types of musical instruments that are used by the Lisu; three types of mouth organs, a bamboo flute, a lute, and a wooden jews harp. Generally, the small mouth organ, the lute and the flute are the most commonly used instruments. The jews harp was formerly considered a woman’s instrument, but very few people play it in these modern times.
The lute ‘dsyboo’ shows the connection with the Chinese in Yunnan and greatly resembles the lute san hsien used in Chinese folk and art music. “It has a little cylindrical sound box covered with lizard skin, a long neck, three metal strings and a moveable bridge, and it is plucked by a plectrum made from horn. Lisu musicians tune the three strings in four different ways and each of the four tunings has its own repertoire of melodies and melodic figures”.
The music of the Lisu of northern Thailand is a rich musical landscape; with each tribe having its own musical cultural identity, they provide us with a rich source of history that can be found within. Although scholars say that there is little chance of losing the Lisu music to inter-tribal acculturation, it is feared that if the Lisu give up their homes in the mountains and move to the lowlands, their music and culture will be lost.
Bibliography:
Larsen, Hans Peter (1984) The Music of the Lisu of Northern Thailand, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan Insitute for Religion and Culture.
Written by Lysianassa