Chaoui is a musical style of

Aurès Aurès () is a natural region located in the mountainous area of the Aurès Mountains, Aurès range, in eastern Algeria. The region includes the provinces of Algeria, Algerian provinces of Batna Province, Batna, Tebessa Province, Tebessa, Consta ...

in southern Algeria. Chaoui is the French or Berber spelling of the

Shawiya language Shawiya, or Shawiya Berber, also spelt Chaouïa (native form: ''Tacawit'' ), is a Zenati Berber language spoken in Algeria by the Shawiya people. The language's primary speech area is the Awras Mountains in Eastern Algeria and the surrounding ...

. The music is sometimes called ''Shawiya'' style in English, but also as French ''Chaoui''. It is a mix of ''sahraoui'' (Saharan) music and marked danceable rhythms, accompanied by

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and

bendir The bendir (, ; : , ) is a wooden-framed frame drum of North Africa and West Asia, Southwest Asia. The bendir is a traditional instrument that is played throughout North Africa, as well as in Sufism, Sufi ceremonies; it was played, too, in Ancie ...

. Notable singers include Houria Aïchi, Ali El-Khencheli, A'issa ÉI-Djermouni,

Hadj Bouregaa Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

, Teldja and Zoulikha.Sud algérien ed. Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, Collectif - 2012 Page 1997 "Dans les Aurès, on chante surtout de la poésie populaire sur une musique dite « chaoui » , un mélange de musique sahraoui et de rythmes marqués et dansants. Les noms à retenir sont Aïssa EI-Djermouni, Hadj Bouragaa, Djenia Khaled, Ali EI-Khenchli, Teldja ou Zoulikha. I Houria A'ichi : Chants de I'Aurès (Auvidis, 1990), Les Cavaliers de I'Aurès (Accords Croisés Harmonia Mundi, 2008)"

References

Music of Algeria Berber music {{music-genre-stub