Sudan Music
Sudan's Music
Sudanese pop music has developed rapidly during the fifties, the sixties and the seventies. Khalil Farah and Ibrahim el- Kashif were two prominent pioneers in this field. The Sudanese music is based on the so called pentatonic scale: scale with 5 notes to the octave, like the black notes in the piano, in contrast to an heptatonic,7 notes, scale like the gypsy or Egyptian scale. Sudanese music is similar to the Scottish, Chinese and Porto Rican music, which share the same scale. Celtic folk music, American blue music are also pentatonic scale music. One of the famous western classic composers who used the pentatonic scale is the French Composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918).His piano piece La fille aux cheveux de lin has a tune which is pentatonic except for one note. The 1977 science fiction film of Steven Spielberg (close Encounters of the third kind) the tone sequence is also a pentatonic scale.
The Sudanese music influence has reached neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Chad and Eritrea.
Contemporary music in Sudan might be a potpourri of diverse traditions, but it has emerged as a unique blend, with a character all of its own. It is rooted in the madeeh (praising the Prophet Mohamed in song). The genre filled out into something quite irreverent in the 1930s and 1940s when Haqiba music, the madeeh's secular successor, caught on. Haqiba, a predominantly vocal art in which the musicians accompanying the lead singer use few instruments, spread like wildfire in the urban centres of Sudan. It was the music of weddings, family gatherings and wild impromptu parties. Haqiba drew inspiration from indigenous Sudanese and other African musical traditions in which backing singers clapped along rhythmically and the audience joined in both song and dance. The lead singer's incantations induced a trance-like experience in which spectators swayed along to the rhythm of the beat. (Courtesy)
The Haqiba style is actually an harmonic a cappella and vocal style with percussion coming from the tambourine-like riq and other instruments such as piano and qanun ( a stringed instrument). Later tonal instruments from the East and the West were introduced. Violin, accordion, tabla and banjo were used.
The Haqiba music type, marked the real beginning of modern Sudanese urban music. Singers such as Mohamed-Ahmed Saroar and Abd-al-Karim Abdalla Karoama, the singer and lyricist Khalil Farah, and the songwriter al-Abbadi were leading figures in its emergence. Two sisters from Kosti town were the first to play the tum-tum rhythm in the mid-1930s. The musician Ismail Abdalmuin and the singer Abd al-Mawla Zinqar further developed the tum-tum and incorporated it into the mainstream music.
The traditional music of Sudan is also based on the Dervish Sufi music. The Dervish groups are mystical sect that use music and dance to reach to a distorted state of consciousness. They mainly play drums and dance ritually wearing costumes, burning incense along with meditation, ecstasy and trance.
Sudan has rich and mosaic culture reflected by its folk music. Each region knows its original music. Yet the base remained the same. Not only the rhythm and the melodies do not differ much, but the instruments and the lyrics are in the same line. The tambour (a lyre), and the drums are used in most of the regions. When the oud was imported from Arab Countries it replaced the tambour.
With the establishment of Omdurman Radio by the British Colonial Rule to propagate for their war against the Axis Power in North and East Africa, Sudanese pop music was institutionalized in the sense that it gets rudiments, ground rules and standards. Ibrahim Al-Kashif and Aisha Al-Fellatiya were from the first who performed on-air. The latter is known by a song in which she anticipated the victorious return of the Sudanese youth enrolled with the Allies against Mussolini soldiers who are deceived by Hitler. “Ya jau a'ideen” – or they will be back- was not the only song with political tint. Early prolific pioneers such as Khalil Farah have played patriotic music reproving colonial domination, such as “A'zza fi Hawak “ I love you A'zza. A'zza refers to Sudan.( to listen click link no.18).Al-Kashif is thought to have been the first to organise a band using modern instruments. He is also credited with introducing a style of song in which the refrain is different from the vocal, something that marks a major departure from the simple haqiba form.
In the 1960s, Sudan as many other nations in the world was preoccupied by international music such as the Latin American dance music. People listened admirably to Sayyid Khalifa’s"mambo as-Sudani”. American pop music entered also Sudan. With the introduction of guitars, brass instruments, Sudanese pop music witnessed a fundamental shift.
Modern rhythms relating to popular and soul music using for the first time electric guitars, double bass and brass instruments was introduced. Sharhabeel Ahmed and his Band was a leading figure in this trend of music. He introduced for the first time rhythms relating to soul music using electric guitars.
His song Al-Lail Al-Hadi "Peaceful Night",(link 24) took the Egyptian capital, Cairo, by storm in 1973, by his synthesizer-driven renditions of traditional music. Sharhabeel launched a new genre of Sudanese song, melding jazz vocals with a big band sound. His music tour in neighboring Ethiopia to sing before Emperor Haile Sellasie gained success and recognition of his style of music all-around.
The Rastafarian Reggie of Bob Marley, James Brown lyrics are inspired many performers like Kemal Keyla. The most notorious influence was that of the British brass military bands, referred to as Jazz in the Sudan. Yet it is not related to the American style of Jazz. Sharhabeel Ahmed Band might be counted with this style of music.(link no.9).
Sudanese list of musicians and artists include duos and groups. The most prominent are the female Sunai el Nagham(link no.19), the male Sunai el-Asmaa, and the Balabil band ( link no.10)formed of three sisters during the 1970s became very popular across East Africa.
Provocative, hectic and sensual performances played by singers like Hanan Bulu-blu( link no.19),Elnoor Jeelani(no.21) and Khidir Bashir ( link no.17) gives the Sudanese modern music a characteristic flavour.
Among the famous modern Sudanese singers with international fame, Mohammed Wardi, Abdel Karim El Kabli, Mohamed Al Amin, the late Sayyid khalifa and Ibrahim Awad, Abdel Ghadir Salim who followed Kordofan (western Sudan) tendency to introduce half and even quarter tones bringing the music closer to classical Arabic traditions. The distinctive 6/8 rhythm of mardoum wedding dance has inspired so many songs throughout the region. Salim took some of its lyrics, melodies and rhythm and played them on the oud, as well as violins, electric guitars, organ, accordion, and percussion, adding to the haqiba based music a lovely idiosyncratic flavor(link no.18).
Musical instruments in Sudan vary from chordophone instrument such as tambour which is the most common instruments used throughout Sudan. Tambour or rabbabah as sometimes called is a stringed bowl-shaped lyre. Its strings determine the available pitches, and its tone depends on the musician playing technique. Bowing, plucking or strumming will yield a harmonious rhythm. Um Kiki (woodwind instrument) is another kind of instruments used in Ingasna region, Southern Blue Nile. Percussion instruments such as drums are also common in the Sudan: the nuggara (Western Sudan) the taar (Northern and Eastern Sudan) and the dalouka (Eastern and Central) are all names of drums. Sudanese play also other instruments such as lute or oud, as well as western instruments especially in modern Sudanese pop-music, such as accordions, saxophones, electric guitars, basses, violins, banjos are often used.
Modern styles use also keyboard instruments such as synthesizers, harmonica and flute.
Normally Sudanese artists release cassettes and CDs. The cassettes are sold in the Sudan as well as in the Gulf area, Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Nigeria. It might be found in music commercial centers in some European Capitals.
Albums of famed singers such as Mohammed Wardi, Abdel Karim El Kabli, Abdel Aziz Mubarak and Abdel-Ghadir Salim, might be found in music shops in main Western capitals.
Music performances in Sudan are mainly at wedding celebration, which are in the open air with the bands at a small stage.
The contemporary Sudanese music is generally formed from the four music elements: rhythm, melody, harmony and vocal character. The rhythm is a tum-tum drum beats.
In the solfège syllable, the seven syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti (with a chromatic scale of ascending di, ri, fi, si, li and descending te, le, se, me, ra.
Songs in pentatonic scale may be accompanied by patterns created from any combination of the five scale notes. Pentatonic -five note- scale comprised of d-r-m-s-l (f and t are omitted).
The Sudanese pentatonic melody has a central theme usually played by a special instrument in solo. This central or main melody theme is repeatedly played; at the beginning of the song in the middle and at the end. Sometimes it is repeated after two or three couplets. The instrument could be oud or
any other instrument. In this sense the Sudanese song follows the main straem of song structure which is formed from the verse , the chorus and the bridge. The chorus which is combination of lyrics and music includes the most catchy melody in the song. It is repeated over and again so that the listener does not forget it. In many songs it bears the title.
The Bridge or the interlude which connects two or more parts of song, is sometimes played in solo without lyrics. It may replace the second or the third verse or precede it. It ends by shifting back to the original verses or to another completely different melody.
Sometimes the intro that comes at the beginning of the song is played by solo.
The structure might be as follows:
verse / chorus / verse / chorus / verse...etc.
solo/ verse / chorus / verse / chorus / solo / (verse) / chorus /(verse)
The melody is played with rapid beats of tom-tom drum rhythm by darbooka.
The vocal character is very important in the Sudanese music structure. It is heard either clearly in harmony with the musical melody or it may be emerged within the musical melody coming down with it at the same lapse of time. All vocal types are to be heard: The treble and the bass. E.g. of treble tone is to be listened in Mohammed Wardi's songs, while Mohammed Al-Amin sound is considered as a bass tone.El-Kabli uses both, deeper bass and soft treble tones at the same time in his songs in a very magnificent way; which is something unique in the Sudanese music.
El Kabli wrote Sukkar, Sukkar (Sugar, Sugar)( link no.4) in 1962, " a gently lilting take on the Twist, the dance craze he had just encountered in England and which he claimed could be traced back to the Zar( a pagan spiritual custom, spreading throughout East and North Africa, in which music is practiced). Although like most Sudanese his songs are mainly about love, his lyrics increasingly tackle issues of social and human concern".
The lyrics form also an essential part of the Sudanese songs. Sudanese Music industry looks always for the next complete hit song. This means music plus lyrics. There are many song-writers who have skill. Each of these professionals collaborates with an Artist. He knows his vocal limits and performance, and how he can excite and energize his fans. The collaboration of Ismail Hassan and the notorious Singer Mohammed Wardi is a good example of a successful partnership between the song-writer and the Artist. Many hits were produced within such collaboration. Another examples of collaborative partners who have become famous for their teamwork are lyricist Mahammed Fadl-alla and composer/singer Mohammed Al-Amin, or Singer Osman Hussain and lyricist Hussain Bazzaraa(link no.22), who follow the tradition set by other great partnerships in creating songs that will be remembered for years to come. Yet the Artist is not always obliged to use poems written by a song-writer who solely or mostly works with him. El Kabli- a distinguishing lyricist, composer and folklorist- for instance, used lyrics written by medieval Arab poets, and legendary songs written by unknown poets from Sudan. Singers vocalize their words usually in unhurried modulation, like the Reggie melody. The lyrics are often nostalgic, sometimes festival, humorous, and serious expressing compassion and love for woman. Sudanese lyricist write about everything one might imagine. The subject of the lyrics might be a loss of a dear like a mother( El Kabli in the song titled “ Ana ibkik lli-zikra or memorial cry ”, or it might be about a missing ring ( ibn El-Badiya in Khatmi or my ring. A desperate lover who come to felicitate his girl in her wedding night, is a subject of a song performed by Zaidan Ibrahim.
Lyrics of Al Jareeda ( the Newspaper), song by Mohammed Al-Amin:
You seem distracted ... my love,
absent-minded, lost in thought.
I can read my life in your eyes ... while you are
absorbed in your newspaper.
Tell me, what are you reading.
talk to me! Is it really that important?
I have important things to tell you,
things that reflect the longing in me
Spare me just one moment and listen to me
Should I tell you ... or would it be better to leave you to your newspaper?
(courtsey)(to listen to the music click link no.8)
Khalil Ismail's
"Tomorrow you
shall be happy my sad heart
"
An Englized text of the song
Tomorrow my sad heart will be happy
My eyes will sleep fully
After a long wake
Pleased I shall be in high spirit and vivid
A scent of delight will fill the air
along my way
Tears that spill out at the pillow
shall be wiped away
O, what a night,
awake I stayed
what a pool of tears I paid
Pain in my heart turn into normal
In search of hope I wasted my Youth
like a monk I lived, between my prayers and
spirituals
Wishes will be fulfilled soon
and the heart will have a rest
and my days will be back at its best
and happiness will be a reward for my patience
lovely wishes will shine on
Hope will smile up
My dream for tomorrow:
A fulfilled hope
And the coming back of my shiny oldie days
Click link (nr. 26) to hear the song in Arabic
click here to listen Aisha Al-Felatiya music as music-background
click here to listen Sayyid Khalifa's mambo Sudani as musicbackground
A sample of Sudanese music note
(Abeit al-Nas by Ibrahim Awad)
courtesy
(1)click here to listen Abet al-Nas by Ibrahim Awad's voice
(2) Kabli with a French Singer
(3) Ethiopian Singer performing Sudanese music
(4) õEl Kabli playing Sukar in Algeria
(5) Mohammed Wardi playing Tamboor
(6) The Lebanese Sabah performing Sudanese music with Ahmed El Mustafa in the sixties
(7)A'za fi Hawak played by Ethiopian Singer
(8)Mohammed Al Amin and Aljareeda, the news paper, music
(9)the jazz music of Sharhabil Ahmed Band
(10)Blabil Clip
(12) Mohammed Wardi in Concert, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
(13)Ibn al-Badia Clip
(14)Sunai el-Asmaa: notice the different kinds of music instruments
(15)Chinese Group performing Sudanese song
(16) Egyptian Mohammed Munir performing Sudanese song
(17)Khidir Bashir in one of his striking performance
(18)Abdel Ghadir Salim: western Sudan version of the pentatonic scale
(19)Hanan Bulu-blu
(20)Sunai el Nagham
(21)Elnoor Eljeelani
(22) Osman Hussein playing by oudone of the songs written by lyricist Hussain Bazzaraa
(23)Abdel Aziz Mubarak
(24) Al-Lail Al-Hadi by Sharhabeel voice
(25)Al-Lail Al-Hadi by the Egyptian Mohammed Fouad
(26)Khalil Ismail
To listen more songs I refer you to my favorite links.
Links to hear Sudanese music
Huther Homepage
al-Kabli net
Sudan Music Library
Sudan National Radio
FM Radio Sudan
Sudanese music radio
sudan music downloads
Sudan Spot
Al Kabli Music
Bara Music Center
Sudan Net Music
Igdelgalad
Anwarking Music
Sudaneseonline Music
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