Music of Egypt
Egyptian music shaped ancient and modern Middle Eastern and European traditions.
Last updated
Modern Egyptian music is a core part of Middle Eastern music due to Egypt's influential cinema and music industries.[1] Egyptian folk music is the closest contemporary genre to ancient Egyptian music, preserving many of its features, rhythms, and instruments.[2]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Music
- Nationality
- Egyptian
- Key instruments
- Arched harp
- flute
- double clarinet
- lute
- ney
- trumpet
- trombone
- piano
- violin
- Key genres
- Shaabi
- Mahraganat
- classical Egyptian
- Western classical
- folk
- religious
Facts from the source article.
Geography and history
Music during that era had repetitive rhythms and its function was to establish a beat.[3] Whistles were crafted from small shells.[3] Funerary chants in the predynastic era were performed with clappers or a flute.[3] Lane described the division of tones into thirds as "the most remarkable peculiarity of the Arabic system of music."[4]
Egyptian singing is characterized by simple forms, embellishment by the performer, and a quavering vocal quality.[4]
What the cited sources add
The Al Jazeera documentary notes that Mohammad Hasaballah started a brass band in Cairo's Mohammed Ali Street more than 150 years ago.[5] Hasaballah's band turned popular Egyptian love songs into a style hugely popular at weddings and national festivities.[5] Historian Yahia Tadros stated that Hasaballah transformed himself from a bandleader to a legend and trademark.[5] Aravanis reports that during the mid-20th century, the popular music was what Egyptians now call 'the classics', featuring artists like Um Kulthoum and Mohamed Abdel Wahab.[6]
Aravanis states that Egyptian rap and trap music has gained wide popularity over a short period of time, with artists like Marwan Pablo and Wegz.[6] The Thump article explains that mahraganat music first emerged from poor districts of Cairo in the years leading up to the 2011 revolution.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Music of Egypt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). Culture and Customs of Egypt. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 117&153. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Music of Egypt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hickmann, "Un Zikr Dans le Mastaba de Debhen, Guizah (IVeme Dynastie)", Journal of the International Folk Music Council, 1957, p. 59–62; Hickmann, "Rythme, mètre et mesure de la musique instrumentale et vocale des anciens Egyptiens", Acta Musicologica, January 1960, p. 11–22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Music of Egypt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pérez-Arroyo, "Egypt: Music in the Age of the Pyramids", Centro de Estudios Egipcios, 2003, p. 28 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Music of Egypt" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lane, "An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians: The Definitive 1860 Edition", American University in Cairo Press, 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Egypt: Hasaballah, the People's Music, Al Jazeera, 22 Nov 2017. facts only, no text reused. aljazeera.com
- Aravanis, "A Closer Look at Contemporary Egyptian Music Trends Egyptian Streets", 2020-01-18. facts only, no text reused. egyptianstreets.com
- "Six Explosive Tracks that Define Mahraganat, Egypt's Wildly Popular Street Music", Thump, 29 March 2017. facts only, no text reused. vice.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Music of Egypt (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Regional Musics
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Music of Egypt (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced