Fula Music

Fula music is the traditional and popular music of the Fula (Fulani, Peul) people, whose communities stretch across West Africa from Senegal and Guinea to Mali, Mauritania and beyond. Its best-documented heartland is the Fouta Toro region of the Senegal River valley, where hereditary griot lineages sing in Pulaar to the accompaniment of the hoddu, a small plucked lute, alongside kora, calabash and tama. Repertories are organised by caste and occasion: praise song, fishermen's and hunters' cycles, weavers' songs and women's night songs. A piercing, ornamented vocal delivery and interlocking lute patterns give the music its character; modern performers such as *Baaba Maal* have carried it onto electric stages without abandoning its forms.