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Gnawa music
Gnawa music (Ar. ڭْناوة or كْناوة) is a body of Moroccan religious songs and rhythms. Emerging in the 16th and 17th centuries, Gnawa music developed through the cultural fusion of West Africans brought to Morocco, notably the Hausa, Fulani, and Bambara peoples, whose presence and heritage are reflected in the songs and rituals. Its well-preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at lila, communal nights of celebration dedicated to prayer and healing guided by the Gnawa maalem, or master musician, and their group of musicians and dancers. Though many of the influences that formed this music can be traced to West African kingdoms, its traditional practice is concentrated in Morocco. Gnawa music has spread to many other countries in Africa and Europe, such as France.
The origins of Gnawa music are intricately associated with that of the famed royal "Black Guard" of Morocco.
The name Gnawa originated in the indigenous languages of North Africa and the Sahara Desert. The phonology of this term according to the grammatical principles of Berber is agnaw (singular) and ignawen (plural), which means "black person."
In a Gnawa song, one phrase or a few lines are repeated over and over, so the song may last a long time. In fact, a song may last several hours non-stop. However, what seems to the uninitiated to be one long song is actually a series of chants describing the various spirits (in Arabic mlouk (sing. melk), so what seems to be a 20-minute piece may be a whole series of pieces – a suite for Sidi Moussa, Sidi Hamou, Sidi Mimoun or others. Because they are suited for adepts in a state of trance, they go on and on, and have the effect of provoking a trance from different angles.
The melodic language of the stringed instrument is closely related to their vocal music and to their speech patterns, as is the case in much African music. It is a language that emphasizes on the tonic and fifth, with quavering pitch-play, especially pitch-flattening, around the third, the fifth, and sometimes the seventh.
Gnawa music is characterized by instrumentation. The large, heavy iron castanets known as qraqab or krakeb and a three-string lute known as a hajhuj, guembri or gimbri, or sentir, are central to Gnawa music. The hajhuj has strong historical and musical links to West African lutes like the Hausa halam, a direct ancestor of the banjo.
The rhythms of the Gnawa, like their instruments, are distinctive. Gnawa is particularly characterized by interplay between triple and duple meters. The "big bass drums" mentioned by Schuyler are not typically featured in a more traditional setting.
Gnawa have venerable stringed-instrument traditions involving both bowed lutes like the gogo and plucked lutes like the hajhuj. The Gnawa also use large drums called tbel in their ritual music.
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Gnawa music
Gnawa music (Ar. ڭْناوة or كْناوة) is a body of Moroccan religious songs and rhythms. Emerging in the 16th and 17th centuries, Gnawa music developed through the cultural fusion of West Africans brought to Morocco, notably the Hausa, Fulani, and Bambara peoples, whose presence and heritage are reflected in the songs and rituals. Its well-preserved heritage combines ritual poetry with traditional music and dancing. The music is performed at lila, communal nights of celebration dedicated to prayer and healing guided by the Gnawa maalem, or master musician, and their group of musicians and dancers. Though many of the influences that formed this music can be traced to West African kingdoms, its traditional practice is concentrated in Morocco. Gnawa music has spread to many other countries in Africa and Europe, such as France.
The origins of Gnawa music are intricately associated with that of the famed royal "Black Guard" of Morocco.
The name Gnawa originated in the indigenous languages of North Africa and the Sahara Desert. The phonology of this term according to the grammatical principles of Berber is agnaw (singular) and ignawen (plural), which means "black person."
In a Gnawa song, one phrase or a few lines are repeated over and over, so the song may last a long time. In fact, a song may last several hours non-stop. However, what seems to the uninitiated to be one long song is actually a series of chants describing the various spirits (in Arabic mlouk (sing. melk), so what seems to be a 20-minute piece may be a whole series of pieces – a suite for Sidi Moussa, Sidi Hamou, Sidi Mimoun or others. Because they are suited for adepts in a state of trance, they go on and on, and have the effect of provoking a trance from different angles.
The melodic language of the stringed instrument is closely related to their vocal music and to their speech patterns, as is the case in much African music. It is a language that emphasizes on the tonic and fifth, with quavering pitch-play, especially pitch-flattening, around the third, the fifth, and sometimes the seventh.
Gnawa music is characterized by instrumentation. The large, heavy iron castanets known as qraqab or krakeb and a three-string lute known as a hajhuj, guembri or gimbri, or sentir, are central to Gnawa music. The hajhuj has strong historical and musical links to West African lutes like the Hausa halam, a direct ancestor of the banjo.
The rhythms of the Gnawa, like their instruments, are distinctive. Gnawa is particularly characterized by interplay between triple and duple meters. The "big bass drums" mentioned by Schuyler are not typically featured in a more traditional setting.
Gnawa have venerable stringed-instrument traditions involving both bowed lutes like the gogo and plucked lutes like the hajhuj. The Gnawa also use large drums called tbel in their ritual music.