'Ud (plural: `idan)
Short-necked lute found throughout the Middle East. With a history dating from the 7th century, the `ud is the direct ancestor of the European lute in both name (the word "lute" comes from "al-`ud," i.e., the `ud) and general shape. The main body of the instrument has a rounded back and a face that is flat and oblong. Within this general norm, instrument makers have experimented with different shapes and proportions throughout the 20th century. The neck is unfretted. The `ud is fitted with 5 pairs of strings, tuned GG, AA, D, G, and c; the GG strings are alternatively tuned by some to FF or EE. In addition, it is common to add a 6th string, either a pair tuned to f or a single low string tuned to CC or DD. In the past, the strings were of silk and gut; now the higher strings are nylon, the lower are wound metal with a silk core. Also in the past, the plectrum for striking the strings, held in the right hand, was fashioned from an eagle feather, but it is now commonly of buffalo horn or plastic. While traditionally considered the principal instrument in the Arab world and still commonplace in the present day, the `ud has lost its place in many present-day performance ensembles. It remains an important instrument for singers who wish to accompany themselves on the `ud, for ensembles which seek to preserve music from the first half of the 20th century and earlier, for composers who commonly compose on this instrument, for music theorists, and for students at the many institutes of music education. In many teaching situations, such as when the director of an Arab chorus wants to teach a new song, the `ud remains the pedagogical instrument of choice.

back to the top

Qanun (plural: qawanin)
A trapezoidal box zither played across the performer's lap or placed on a special table in front of the seated performer. Stretched from right to left across the face of the instrument are 25 to 27 sets of strings, most sets having three strings, each tuned to the same note (triple coursed; the highest and lowest strings may be single or doubled coursed). The strings, plucked by two short plectrums attached to the index finger of each hand, are tuned to consecutive notes of seven-note scales, giving a range of over three octaves. From the early decades of the 20th century a set of tiny levels (`urab) were placed under each course of strings (on the left side of the instrument) in order to allow the player to change the length and thus the tuning of the strings. This greatly facilitates the execution of modulations (moves from one melodic mode [MAQAM] to another), a prominent aspect of Arab modal practice. Before the introduction of these levers, performers would press their left thumbnail (and occasionally, one of the left-hand fingernails) on a set of strings to achieve temporary changes in tuning. An important part of the instrument's natural amplification system is achieved by the fact that the five legs of the qanun's lengthy bridge rest on five taut rectangular pieces of fish skin set along the right side of the instrument's face. The qanun, found also in Turkish music, is generally restricted in the Arab world to urban art and dance music.

back to the top

Nay (plural: nayat)
A reed flute with six finger holes along the top and one thumb hole on the bottom of the instrument. The instrument is open at both ends. The player rests his lips on one end of the reed and blows across the rim to produce the sound, a technique which contributes to the nay's characteristic breathy timbre. Extending downward from the player's mouth, the instrument is held obliquely on the right side of the body. A single player uses six or seven nays of different lengths in order to play at different pitch levels. An important aspect of physical construction is the fact that the reed of each instrument must contain nine segments; this is achieved by choosing a reed that contains eight nodes (natural joints). The nine segments are thought to have specific, yet unarticulated, acoustic and symbolic functions. Dating from a very early period (see, for example, the opening lines of Jalal al-Din Rumi's (d.1273) poem, Mathnawi), the nay has had philosophical/mystical associations according to which the hollow instrument is equated with the human body: both need the breadth of life to become active. According to these beliefs, the sound of the nay is thought to express man's yearning for union with God. On a more worldly plane, the nay also exists in Turkish and Persian musics where special mouthpieces are added to the instrument. In Turkey, the mouthpiece is of wood or horn, while in Iran it is of metal. In the Arab world the nay is generally restricted to urban settings where it is the only wind instrument of Arab art music.

back to the top

Violin
The European violin was adopted into Arab music sometime in the 19th century. By the 20th century, it had replaced the indigenous spiked fiddle in most performance contexts and had even usurped this instrument's name; i.e., kamanja or kaman. For Arab music, the violin is tuned GG, D, G, d, rather than the European's GG, D, A, e. In urban popular and art ensembles, the number of violins increased throughout the first half of the 20th century, beginning with a single violinist and ending with a violin section of twelve or more, in imitation of the Western orchestral violin section.

back to the top

Violincello
When multiple violins were introduced into urban popular and art-music ensembles in the first half of the 20th century, the violincello (cello) was also added. In the second half of the century it has become common for larger ensembles to have three cellos.

back to the top

Double Bass
When, by mid-20th century, multiple violins and then violincellos became part of urban popular and art ensembles, the double bass was also introduced. Generally plucked rather than bowed, the double bass functions as both a melody and percussion instrument, often playing only those notes which occur on strong beats of a piece's rhythmic cycle.

back to the top

Riqq (pl. ruquq)
The Egyptian name for the Arab tambourine, also called daff or duff (plural: dufuf). The most respected of the percussion instruments in art-music circles, the riqq traditionally has a sounding membrane of skin (goat or fish, the latter for better quality instruments) and a wooden frame (c. 8.5 inches in diameter, c. 2.5 inches deep) covered with mother-of-pearl inlay. In the late 1980s, a plastic-headed, aluminum-bodied instrument was created and immediately adopted by a vast majority of professional riqq players. In the early 1990s, a new plastic-headed, wood-bodied version was introduced (prototypes of this construction have existed since the 1970s). The riqq, with five sets of cymbals (c.2.25 inches in diameter) placed symmetrically around the frame, is especially valued for the variety of sounds that can be achieved, including the fully dampened, partially dampened, and undampened head, all of the cymbals sounded together, and only one set of cymbals sounded in isolation. For the first half of the 20th century it was common for the riqq to be the sole percussion instrument in art-music ensembles. With the addition of thedarabukka and bongos to these ensembles in the second half of the 20th century, the riqq player had to shift to a technique that emphasized the cymbal sounds over the membrane sounds so as not to duplicate the sounds of the other percussion instruments.

back to the top

Accordian
Prominent in urban popular- and art-music ensembles in the second half of the 20th century, this European instrument must be altered so that it can produce the "extra" notes of Arab music. While Arab music's theoretical scale of 24 notes per octave would suggest that 12 additional notes would have to be added to the 12 already found on European instruments, musicians commonly add only the notes E half-flat, B half-flat, A half-flat, and occasionally F half-sharp. These extra notes are inserted in one of two ways. First, a note in a given octave can be entirely forfeited in favor of one of the Arab notes (e.g., the note E natural might be retuned to E half-flat). Second, since the accordion has two sets of reeds--one which is activated when the bellows are opened, the other when the bellows are closed--it is possible to retune one of the two reeds assigned to any given note (e.g., the Ab key would give the note A half-flat when the bellows are opened but Ab when the bellows are closed). This might be referred to as the "push-pull" alternative. Because of the absence of harmony in most Arab music, the bottons on the accordion which produce chords are seldom used; i.e., in Arab music the instrument is exploited for its melodic rather than harmonic potential.

back to the top

Darbuka (plural: darabukkat)
A single-headed hand drum found in most Arab music ensembles. Goblet shaped, i.e., cylindrical with a slightly narrowed waist, the instrument is usually rested across the performer's upper left thigh and is held in place with the lower part of the performer's left elbow. Using both hands, an accomplished drummer produces a tremendous variety of sounds when playing he instrument. The body was traditionally made of fired clay, the sounding head of goat, calf, or fish skin. From the mid 1980s a plastic-headed, aluminum-bodied version became the instrument of choice for most professional musicians. Also called tabla (in Egypt), dumbek, and darbeki.

back to the top

Tar (plural: tarat)
.A frame drum, varying in diameter from 12 to 24 inches. The head is traditionally of goat or calf skin, but is now often plastic. Frame drums are especially featured in some forms of religious music and also in wedding prcessions called ZAFFA. Also called bendir or duff.

back to the top

Electronic Instruments
Electronic Instruments. Beginning with the electric guitar in the 1960s and moving to various forms of keyboards, electric and electronic instruments have played an ever increasingly important role in Arab music. At issue is the ability of these initially Western instruments to play the "extra" notes of Arab music (see Accordion). Guitars were never modified and, thus, have been restricted to those melodic modes (MAQAM) which use on the Western 12 notes per octave. Keyboards, however, were given extra switches which, when activated, replace a given note with a near-equivalent Arab note (e.g., all the e naturals on the instrument would be changed to e half-flat with the flick of a switch). With the introduction of computer-controlled synthesizers (called org in the Arab world), performers could achieve great sophistication with both gross and fine variations in tuning, timbre, and special effects. This has led to the org being the most prominent melody instrument in much of the popular music of the last decades of the 20th century.

back to the top