Arabic Music

Arabic music is the umbrella genre for the music of the Arabic-speaking world, from Morocco to Iraq, unified by the maqam system of melodic modes, microtonal intonation foreign to Western equal temperament, and cyclical rhythmic patterns called iqa'at. Its characteristic instruments are the oud, the qanun zither, the nay flute, the riq tambourine and violins retuned to Arabic scales, and its classical forms — the wasla suite, the composed muwashshah and the improvised taqsim — coexist with a vast popular tradition of tarab song, in which a singer such as *Umm Kulthum* stretches a single composition across an hour of ecstatic repetition.