Music History of Morocco

Belly Dance
MUSIC

"The most important single element of Morocco's folk culture is its music ... the entire history and mythology of the people is clothed in song."
- Paul Bowles

THERE ARE many genres of Moroccan music. It includes Arab, Berber, classical, and popular elements. Musicians perform in concerts, in cafes, at private homes, ceremonies, marriages, funerals, and religious processions. It is also used to accompany dancing and storytelling.

ANDALUSI | AISSAWA | BERBER | CHAABI | CLASSICAL
GNAWA | GRIHA | MALHUN | RA'I | DANCE

ANDALUSIAN MUSIC

ANDALUSIAN music traces its origins to Abu Hassan Ali Ben Nafi, known as Ziriab. This famous singer and composer fled Baghdad in the 9th century following injurious rumours and intrigue spread by his teacher, Ishaq al-Mawsili, who became jealous of his success.

Andalusian music is characterised by a complicated musical structure. The lyrics are in Andalusian dialect "Gharnati" or classical Arabic. The late Cheikh Salah led one of the finest modern orchestras.

Andalusian music in Real Audio Format

Here are some Qasida songs by the two most famous Moroccan Andalusi singers.

AISSAWA

THE AISSAWA, founded by Sidi Ben Aissa in the 15th century, are perhaps the best known of the Sufi brotherhoods of Morocco. This Aissawa group, led by Said Kissi, is comprised of 16 musicians on bendir, taarija (percussion instruments), raita (small pipes) and n'far (large one-note trumpets.

BERBER MUSIC

THE ANCIENT Berber culture is extrordinarily rich and diverse, with a variety of musical styles. These range from bagpipes and oboe (Celtic style) to pentatonic music (reminiscent of Chinese music) - all combined with African rhythms and a very important stock of authentic oral literature.

These traditions have been kept alive by small bands of musicians who travel from village to village, as they have for centuries, to entertain at weddings and other social occasions with their songs, tales, and poetry.

To hear the sounds and find out more, visit the excellent Azawan amazigh website, written in English, French and Berber, which is dedicated exclusively to Berber music. Those featured on the site include the great Berber singer, Ammuri Mbark. In the 1970s, with his group Usman, he was the first one to modernise Berber song - without removing its soul. There are also excerpts from the latest CD by Markunda Aures (Algeria), who is noted for her exceptional voice. Walid Mimoun (Rif, Northern Morocco) will be added shortly.

These artists tend to be ignored, or given only token recognition, in their own countries where the Arab-islamic culture dominates.

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Born during the turbulent years of the French occupation in the 1950s, Umalu was exposed early on to different ethnicities which gave him an appreciation of his multicultural environment. Later this influenced his approach to music: classical, Flamenco, French, and African Rai.

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Argan music: "South Moroccan Motor Berber". Argan is the name of tree that exists widely in the Sousse. Its fruit provides a delicious and healthy oil. The tree symbolises patience, adaptability to droughts and "Berberism".

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Master Musicians of Jajouka are a large all-male group who play traditional music from the Rif mountains near Tangier. Hear the Masters in Real Audio.

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Najat Aatabou became a singer following a recording of her voice at a family celebration. She has since become a star in her native Morocco, speaking out against the religious and moral strictures of her family tradition. See details of her album, Country Girls and City Women.

CHAABI

CHAABI is Arabic for "popular" - Moroccan pop music. It draws on many aspects of Moroccan music plus other Arab, African and western styles. The 1970s saw the emergence of several groups recognised as pop innovators including JilJilala, Nass El-Ghiwane and Lem Chaheb.

For many years now Noujoum Ouazza was the singer and guitarist for the cult-band Lem Chaheb, who decisively influenced the sound of the new North-African pop music in the 1970s and 1980s. Hear Ouazza's album, Sleepless In Tangier, in Real Audio. Today, Ouazza belongs to the Dissidenten live-line-up.

Popular artists: A web page of with Real Audio, featuring Faycel, Marrakchi, Jedouan, Pinhass and Haja Hamdaouia.

CLASSICAL

CLASSICAL music is essentially the Andalusian music of the 10th to 15th centuries. It is extremely complicated in musical structure, and its lyrics are characterised by the strict use of the Andalusian dialect or classical Arabic. Main instruments used are the tar, a form of tambourine; sometimes the darbuqa, a funnel-shaped drum made of clay; and three types of stringed instruments - the rebab, the kemanjah (a violin) and the 'oud (a lute).

See Arab Gateway for more about musical instruments.

Classical music: Features some of the best artists with audio clips.

GNAWA

THE GNAWA people originally came from the Guinea Empire (today Senegal, Guinea, Mali). During the16th century, they were deported to North Africa as slaves of rich sultans and integrated this new culture and religion into their own. The music of the Gnawa is a powerful mixture of religious Arabic songs and African rhythms, trance music tinged with mysticism. Typical instruments used in Gnawa are the tbal (loud double-headed-drums) and querqbat (metal castanets). Here are links (with audio) to some of the best in Gnawa:

Gnawa Diffusion: Like their ancestors, these are nomads of world music.

Hassan Hakmoun (The Fire Within) cut his teeth in the larger-than-life arena of the Djema el-Fna in Marrakesh. His style continues the crossroads tradition of borrowing whatever music blows into the square.

Abdenbi Binizi: Born in Marrakech in 1963, Abdenbi Binizi received his schooling in the raucous atmosphere of the Djema el-Fna, among the musicians, story tellers, fortune tellers, foodstalls, and circus acts.

Sapho: Born in Marrakesh, Sapho left Morocco at the age of 17 and moved with her parents to Paris, where after studying at university, her debut album, "Le baladeur du Rex", was released in 1977.

GRIHA

GRIHA is a form of popular music, using the colloquial, rather than the classical language. New songs are composed in this genre; they usually concern love, war, and adventure and often include topical satire.

MALHUN

MALHUN is a kind of urban, sung poetry that comes from the exclusively masculine working-class milieu of craftsmen's guilds.

RA'I

RA'I is one of the most accessible, danceable and catchy music styles around. It is based on north African rhythms, combined with a solid bass line, synthesiser and colloquial Arabic vocals.

Popular Ra'i artists

Mimoun El Oujdi
Mara & Jalal
Ashraf
Mourad