It’s a Musical world.
Dear Bloggers,
Those of you who have been reading my blogs-I hope all of you have been- might have noticed that my last two entries were about the gloomy topic of war and politics. So to make up for that this blog is going to cover the fascinating topic of music.
Arabic music is very very different than English music. We use different instruments, different tones in singing, different rhythms and different melodies. I wish I could explain more to you about the technical aspects of the music, but I’m not an expert and I do not want to mislead you. I will try to explain some of the instruments to you guys and also what the current trends are in the Arab music world. I will also try to explain some of the lyrics of a few songs that I chose for you guys to listen to. (Look for the page titled: Lyrics.)
The most basic and most widely used instrument in Arabic music is called the Oud. Oud This is what it looks like and it is played this way too, while the person is sitting down. It would be very difficult to play it standing up, and if you wanted to stand up while playing it, you would probably want to bend your knee.
This instrument functions like a base guitar I guess in English music and it sounds beautiful. There are many Arabic songs that are solely played using the Oud such as this one, Watan Omri. It is a song by one of my favorite Kuwaiti singers His name is Abdullah AlRuwaished. The song title means Home of my life.
Another distinctive instrument, which is heard in almost all Arabic songs, is the Dumbek.
This is a drum sort of like a bongo drum but it is held on the player’s thigh and played side ways instead of right side up. This is what it sounds like played alone. This is the music that belly dancers use when they are performing in Arab countries. If the belly dancer is really good, she will be able to follow the speed of the drum through her whole dance.
A third instrument is called Doff. 
This is a tambourine I guess, and is usually just played in the background. Arabic music also uses a lot of other types of instruments and piano’s. It just depends on what type of Arabic music the artist is trying to create.
Current trends in Arabic music are going towards creating more Western sounding tunes and sexier music. Music from the old days focused on the ability of the singer to carry a note and how well written the song and the music were. Singers in the past used to have concerts that would last for hours, and the songs were up to 15minutes long. Today songs are over before you can even enjoy them, and they are too influenced by English music, which I personally think does not mix well with Arabic.
I have uploaded some songs from my personal collection for you guys to enjoy, you can judge for your selves whether the music is too western sounding or not and then hopefully vote on it in my poll. Have fun and see ya soon.
Dalal