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

Somali people The Somali people (, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The East Cushitic Somali language is the shared mother tongue of ethnic Som ...

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 Scale (music), musical scale with five Musical note, notes per octave, in contrast to heptatonic scales, which have seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed inde ...

. That is, they only use five pitches per

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

in contrast to a

heptatonic A heptatonic scale is a musical scale that has seven pitches, or tones, per octave. Examples include: * the diatonic scale; including the major scale and its modes (notably the natural minor scale, or Aeolian mode) * the melodic minor scale, l ...

(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 doubl ...

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

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

or the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, 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 writer 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 derives ...

s (''lahamiste''),

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates 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 genre and film scoring. ...

s (''abwaan''), and

vocalists Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

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

Somaliland Somaliland, officially the Republic of Somaliland, is an List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, E ...

include the oud

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), 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 "lu ...

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

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

and a

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * Re ...

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 ...

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 The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

), ''fuugwo'' (

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

) ''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. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African ...

); *Chordophones: ''shareero'' (

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, 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 ...

), ''seese'' (one-chord

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

)

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). ''Fun ...

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, 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'' ( oud). Prominent Somali kaban players of the 1950s include Ali Feiruz and Mohamed Nahari. During the rule of the

Supreme Revolutionary Council (Somalia) The Supreme Revolutionary Council (SRC; , , ) was the governmental body that ruled Somalia from 1969 to 1976. In 1980, a state of emergency was declared and the SRC was reinstated. History Assassination of President and coup d'état On 15 ...

, 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 protest and 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. ...

s produced during this period, pioneered by the people of Somaliland who were trying to gain independence from the government of Somalia, especially the genocidal Barre regime. Bands such as Waaberi and Horseed have gained a small following outside of the country. Others, like Ahmed Ali Egal, Maryam Mursal and Waayaha Cusub have fused traditional Somali music with

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

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

, bossa nova,

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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

Hargeisa Hargeisa ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Somaliland, a ''List of states with limited recognition, de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still considered internationally to be part of Somalia. It is also th ...

, 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 the broadcasting 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 rad ...

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, Somali and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, 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 (, ) is the federal government-run radio station of Somalia.

,a number of private studio named Sony Music Somalia a division of

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

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 Sinimo * Abdullahi Qarshe *

Ahmed Gacayte Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf (), most commonly known as Ahmed Gacayte (), was a famous Somali singer, songwriter and composer. He hails from the Habr Yunis subdivision of Garhajis History Ahmed Gacayte was born in 1948 in a neighbourhood called Xidigta ...

* Ahmed Mooge Liban * Dur-Dur Band * Guduuda 'Arwo * Hasan Adan Samatar * Hassan Sheikh Mumin * Jiim Sheikh Muumin * Khadija Qalanjo * K'naan * Mohamed Nuur Giriig * Saado Ali Warsame * Waayaha Cusub * Mohamed Sulayman Tubeec * 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