The Music of the Somali people () is music following the musical styles, techniques and sounds of the

Somali people The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

Overview

Traditional Somali music

Somali people have a rich musical heritage centered on traditional Somali folklore. Somali songs are

pentatonic A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many anci ...

. That is, they only use five pitches per

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

in contrast to a heptatonic (seven note) scale such as the

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...

. At first listen, Somali music might be mistaken for the sounds of nearby regions such as Oromo in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

, Sudan or the Arabian peninsula, but it is ultimately recognizable by its own unique tunes and styles. Somali songs are usually the product of collaboration between

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income de ...

s (''lahamiste''),

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s (''abwaan''), and vocalists (''odka'' or "voice").Abdullahi, pp.170-171 The Somali word for dance is ''ciyaar''. Traditional instruments prominently featured in the music of Somaliland include the

oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= *String instruments * Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum ...

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

(''kaban''). It is often accompanied by small

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

and a reed flute in the background. However, heavy percussion and metallic sounds are uncommon in Somaliland. The riverine and coastal areas of Somalia use a wide variety of traditional instruments including: *Membranophones: ''nasaro, mokhoddon and masoondhe'' (high and heavy drums), ''reeme, jabbu and yoome'' (small drums); *Aerophones: ''malkad and siinbaar'' (flutes), ''sumaari'' (double clarinet), ''fuugwo'' (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

) ''buun, muufe and gees-goodir'' ( horns); *Idiophones: ''shagal'' (metal clappers), ''shanbaal'' (wooden clappers), ''shunuuf'' (vegetable ankle rattles), ''tenegyo'' (

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in t ...

); *Chordophones: ''shareero'' (

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a ...

), ''kinaandha'' (lute), ''madhuube'' (

thumb piano Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and pl ...

), ''seese'' (one-chord

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

)

History

Somali

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

began with the '' balwo'' style, pioneered by Abdi Sinimo, who rose to fame in the early 1940s. This new genre then in turn created the Heelo style of Somali music. Abdi's innovation and passion for music revolutionized Somali music forever. Introduction of melody in modern Somali song is credited to

Abdullahi Qarshe Abdullahi Qarshe ( so, Cabdilaahi Qarshe, ar, عبدالله قارشي) (1924–1994) was a Somali musician, poet and playwright known as the "Father of Somali music". In 1957 he wrote and composed the Somali National Anthem, Qolobaa Calankee ...

, who is recognised for introducing the kaban (oud) as an accompaniment to Somali music. Qarshe is revered by Somalis as "father of Somali music". Many qaraami songs from this era are still extremely popular today. This musical style is mostly played on the ''kaban'' (

). Prominent Somali kaban players of the 1950s include

Ali Feiruz Ali Abdi Feiruz, known as Ali Feiruz, ( so, Cali Fayruus) was a prominent Somali musician. He belonged to the Habr Awal clan of the Isaaq clan family. Biography Feiruz was born in 1931 in Djibouti. He later moved to Hargeisa, Somaliland in the ...

and Mohamed Nahari. During the rule of the Supreme Revolutionary Council (Somalia), music was suppressed except for a small amount of officially sanctioned music. There were many

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s (pioneered by the people of Somaliland who were trying to separate and gain independence from the totalitarian neglectful government of Somalia to create their own stable, peaceful government) produced during this period. Bands such as Waaberi and Horseed have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, like Ahmed Ali Egal,

Maryam Mursal Maryam Mursal ( so, Maryan Mursal, ar, مريم مرسل) (born 1 January 1950) is a Somali composer and vocalist. Biography Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. Mursal's family was originally from Somaliland, and ...

and Waayaha Cusub have fused traditional Somali music with

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

, and other modern influences. Music recorded in the 1970s was preserved in

Hargeisa Hargeisa (; so, Hargeysa, ar, هرجيسا) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland. It is located in the Maroodi Jeex region of the Horn of Africa. It succeeded Burco as the capital of the British Somaliland Protecto ...

, buried underground, and is now available at the Red Sea Foundation at the Hargeisa Cultural Center, and in Radio Hargeisa. The Barre dictatorial regime effectively nationalised the music scene, with bands and production under state control. Bands were operated by the police, the army and the national penitentiary. Female singers were encouraged more than was the case in most of East Africa. Most musicians had left the country before 1991. Hiddo Dhawr is now operating as the only live music venue in the city.

Music institutions

The first

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

in Somalia to air popular Somali music was Radio Kudu based in

, modern-day Somaliland. The first song to be broadcast was composed by Guroon Jire in 1940 in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Soma ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

, before being renamed the following year to Radio Somali. The head of the Music department was Mohamed Saeed (Guroon jire). Music is now regularly broadcast on the state-run

Radio Mogadishu Radio Mogadishu ( so, Radio Muqdisho, ar, راديو مقديشو) is the federal government-run radio station of Somalia.

,a number of private studio named

Sony Music Somalia , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's la ...

a division of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

as well radio popular television networks such as Horn Cable Television (a private company which is based in Somaliland).

List of Somali musicians and musical groups

* Aar Maanta *Abdi Qays * Abdi Sinimo *

Ahmed Gacayte Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf (), most commonly known as Ahmed Gacayte (), was a famous Somali singer, songwriter and composer. History Ahmed Gacayte was born in 1948 in a neighbourhood called Xidigta in Hargeisa, Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya scr ...

* Ahmed Mooge Liban *Ali Feiruz *Nimco Omer * Yasminah * Dur-Dur Band * Doni B *

Guduuda 'Arwo Guduuda 'ArwoMukhtar, p91 or Guduudo Carwo,Johnson, p76 real name Shamis Abokor Ismail, was a Somali singer. She was a vocalist for Radio Hargeisa in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. History The BBC described her family as "conservative". ...

* Hasan Adan Samatar *

Hassan Sheikh Mumin Hassan Sheikh Mumin ( so, Xasan Sheekh Muumiin, ar, حسن الشيخ مؤمن) (1931 – 16 January 2008) was a Somali poet, playwright, broadcaster, actor and composer. Biography Mumin was born in 1931 in the northwestern town of Zelia, ...

Jiim Sheikh Muumin Jiim Sheikh Muumin (born c. 1945, died 24 November 2021) was a prominent Somalian musician and actor. He began performing when he was 17. Prior to the Somali Civil War, he maintained a successful career in which he reached "rock star" status. H ...

* Khadija Qalanjo *

K'naan Keinan Abdi Warsame (born 1 February 1978) ( so, Keynaan Cabdi Warsame, ar, كَينَان عَبدِ وَرسَمَ ''Kaynān ʿAbdi Warsama''), better known by his stage name K'naan (), is a Somali-Canadian musician. He rose to prominence ...

* Magool *

* Mohamed Mooge Liban * Mohamed Nuur Giriig * Saado Ali Warsame *

Sulekha Ali Sulekha Ali ( so, Suleekha Cali, ar, زليخة علي) is a Somali- Canadian musician. Based in Ottawa, she attended Carleton University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA Hons) degree in Human Rights. Her choice of tertiary studi ...

* Waayaha Cusub *

Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec ( so, Maxamed Saleebaan Tubeec), (1941– 11 March 2014) was a Somali singer, songwriter and record producer, called the King of Voice. Personal life Tubeec was born in 1941 in the town of Laaleys near Berbera, situated ...

* Hudeidi * Xiddigaha Geeska *

Notes

References

*
Ministry of Information and National Guidance, Mogadishu, Somalia (1974). Somali Culture and FolkloreMukhtar, Mohamed Haji (2003) ''Historical Dictionary of Somalia''
Scarecrow Press.
Puchowski, Douglas (2013). ''The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music''
Volume 1. Routledge, {{Music of Africa