OMAN: MUSIC AND DANCE

Traditionally, music from Oman borrowed traditions from many of its broader neighbors, including Egypt, Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Portugal. Omani sailors would pick up various musical traditions and bring it back to Oman where it would mix with their own local traditions. 

 

Typically traditional music would center around life changes, like marriage, birth, death, and even circumcision (I bet those are really weird songs). Much of their music is steeped in the musical traditions of the broader scope of Arabic music, which are built on tetrachords. Unlike Western music, Arabic music also includes different intervals like three-quarter tones (an interval between a half step and a whole step). I was reading up on quarter tones, and even though I was a music major, I still find the notation for quarter tones strange (it’s either a backwards flat sign or half of a sharp sign cut vertically). 

Omani music typically uses many of the same instruments found in the Arabic music of other countries along with Western instruments as well. Some instruments that can be found are the manjur, a type of instrument that is looks like an apron of sorts and worn around the waist, decorated with cut-up goat hooves. As the performer shakes their hips, it rattles. It’s typically used in the zar dance (a dance to get rid of demons) and the fann at-Tambura (a dance for healing). A tambura is a bowl lyre, or type of long-necked lute. To accompany many of these performances, the mirwas drum is used. The mirwas drum is a type of small double-headed drum.

Along with the dances mentioned above, the liwa dance and its music stems from East African traditions. It has its ties with Zanzibar and other places along the Swahili Coast. Basically, several males will form a circle with one member in the circle playing some kind of reed instrument. The people who form the circle will dance and clap along. The singing that’s done is also sung in Swahili. (Makes sense.) 

Salim Rashid Suri is one of the distinguished oud players and singers who combines sawt musical traditions from the northern regions of the Persian Gulf with other musical traditions of the Indian Ocean. He calls it Sawt al-Khaleej, or Voice of the Gulf. He was known as the Singing Sailor, but his family wasn’t happy about him wanting to sing. His brother even threatened to shoot him if he didn’t stop. (I’ve done that but for different reasons.) But it was good that he persisted regardless, even though he had jobs and a family to take care of. 

I ran across a band that goes by the name T-band. They’re apparently a pretty good cover band from Muscat who won the Battle of the Bands in Oman a year or so back. They’ve got some talent, but I think the next step for them is to develop their own writing and their own sound. 

There are a few underground metal bands that are moderately known. A couple of these bands are Belos and Arabia. (Belos now performs in the UK.) I’ve listened to a few songs by Belos, and they fall into that category of metal music that uses more string music into it. They do incorporate some of the death screaming, but otherwise, it’s not bad. I actually kind of like it. This is about the extent of what I could find. There aren’t many musicians or bands that popped up in a basic search.

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KUWAIT: MUSIC AND DANCE

Kuwait’s position at the head of the Persian Gulf and as a major port for the shipping industry has definitely defined itself as a seafaring country. And this seafaring culture has directly influenced their music as well. Kuwait City is one of the larger ports in this area with people coming and going from all over the Middle East, Africa, India, and other parts of Asia. This merge of cultures also has a direct effect on Kuwaiti music. 

One style of song, called fidjeri, is stemmed from their once-renowned pearl diving industry. It includes a lead singer with a chorus who sings backup accompanied by drums and clapping. There are actually eight different genres, some reserved for where you were singing these songs. Two styles called al arda al bahariya and al-nahma were inspired from the sailing culture. Liwa and fann al-tanbura are styles that developed out of various East African traditions. 

Kuwait has always been a frontrunner when it comes to music in the Gulf countries. During the 1970s, Kuwaitis were known for producing a type of bluesy music called “sawt.” Sawt is performed in other countries in the region as well. Much of the first commercially recorded music was produced in studios located in Kuwait whose music became popular throughout the Arabic-speaking world. Artists have also risen to notoriety through popular TV shows as well. Although much of their early music history was preserved and documented, a large portion of this history was destroyed during the Gulf War when Iraq invaded the country. 

Many of the dances in Kuwait are related to the sea, sailors’ life, boats, etc. But there are also songs and dances that have to do with the desert as well. It’s quite common for many of these dance songs to use the zither and the lute, and many dances include the performers clapping along in rhythm while dancing. There are a variety of other dances including the ardah, which showcases the performer’s sword skills. (I certainly hope you start out with wooden swords; otherwise this could end badly.) These dances are also accompanied by drumming and a poetry reading (the three together seem a little random). Weddings and other social events are also popular places for other dances such as the tanboura, the samri, and the khamari. 

I couldn’t find a lot of artists on Spotify, but I did find a few and listened to them. I found a couple of songs by Nawal al-Kuwaitiya. It was slower and had a classical music feel to them mixed with classical Middle Eastern instruments. I also noticed the reliance of the chorus of background singers who accompany the lead singer.

I also listened to Nabeel Shuail. His music is built on Middle Eastern percussion rhythms and utilizes other regional instruments such as the tabla and is accompanied by a string section. Like the vast majority of music coming from Kuwait, it is sung in Arabic. It also makes use of the chorus of background singers as well. 

I found Abdallah al-Rowaished’s album Meta Bansaak and listened to several songs from this album. I thought it was pretty catchy. The string part was definitely built on Arabian melodic scales. He also made use of the chorus accompanying the lead singer. There was some variety in musical style (some fast songs, some slower songs). It also seems at times that there might be some use of electronic instrument (synthesizers, perhaps?) along with the acoustic instruments. However, I found this video that looks like they were inspired of the Indian Bollywood style of singing and dancing.

Bashar al-Shatty is the only one I listened to on Spotify who had any kind of Western pop sound in his music. He still incorporated all of the traditional sounds (the background chorus, the traditional instruments, the Arabian melodic scales), but there was definitely more of a Western sound emerging in a few of his songs. There were other artists out there who fell into this category as well, but from what I could tell from my searches, most were kind of underground or local bands.

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