Fann at-Tanbura

Fann aṭ-Ṭanbūra (Template:Lang-ar) is a traditional music and dance genre in the Persian Gulf Arab states, especially Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. Musically, the tanbura instrument plays a central role, along with several drums and the manjur -- an instrument made of several goat hooves wrapped around the waist of the performer.

Men and women both participate in the singing and dance. Fann At-Tanbura is closely associated with the Zār spiritual ritual, and it was originally used in healing practices. Participants would occasionally fall into a trance. In modern times though it is more often a musical performance.

See also

• Liwa (music)
• Ardha
• Fijiri
• Sawt (music)
• Yowla
• M'alayah
• Culture of the Arab States of Persian Gulf
• Afro-Arab
• Krar
• Simsimiyya

External links

• Video of Tanbura performance in Kuwait
• Oman Centre for Traditional Music
• Africans in the Arabian Gulf
• Poul Rovsing Olsen, "La Musique Africaine dans le Golfe Persique", Journal of the International Folk Music Council, Vol. 19, (1967), pp. 28–36
• Liwa and Tanbura from Africa to Bahrain, Part 2, Al Waqt newspaper, 21 Feb 2009