The żaqq () is the most common form of

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

, and was once associated with Maltese folk festivals.

History

The use of the żaqq in daily life came to an end in the 1970s, the instrument having been perhaps replaced by the accordion earlier in the century. In 1977 the Galpin Society noted only nine remaining traditional pipers in Malta; the last of these, Toni "l-Hammarun" Cachia, died in 2004.. ''Last of the Maltese Bagpipers of Old' Various folk music ensembles such as Etnika have attempted to revive the instrument.

Etymology and spelling

It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the zapp due to a spelling error in a 1939 English-language publication. The Maltese word ''żaqq'' literally means "sack" or "belly" and derives from Arabic ' ( "skin" s a receptacle. is sometimes stated that ''żaqq'' derives from Italian ' but this is not the case.

References

Maltese musical instruments Bagpipes {{Bagpipes-stub

History

Etymology and spelling

Further reading

References