North African Music

North African music is the regional umbrella for the musical traditions of the Maghreb and Egypt, shaped by Arab, Amazigh (Berber), Andalusian, Ottoman and sub-Saharan currents. It spans classical and devotional repertories — Egyptian art song, Algerian chaabi, Moroccan gnawa ritual music and the Andalusian orchestral suites of the Maghreb — alongside the commercial styles that dominated twentieth-century Arab popular culture, from the long-form tarab singing of *Umm Kulthum* to Algerian raï. Recurring features include modal melody (maqam), cyclical percussion patterns, call-and-response singing and instruments such as the oud, qanun, ney, guembri and bendir.