Egypt

Songs accompanied by instrumental ensembles pervade Egyptian musical life. They run the gamut from religious songs—as heard in this case—to folk songs, wedding songs, and love songs. Egyptian instrumental ensembles may also, however, perform on their own, without a vocalist. In contrast to the improvisatory approach that is such an important part of solo performance, instrumental groups play fixed compositions.

The musical systems found among Egyptians generally contrast clearly metered (grouping of beats into regular units) music played by a group with slower-paced and unmetered (free rhythm) music played by a single musician, with or without a vocal part. If you cannot easily snap your fingers to a piece of music, it may be in free rhythm.

In Egypt the typical ensemble is called a takht and consists of three to five players, though more are possible. Most of the melodic instruments found in takht ensembles are chordophones, such as bowed lutes, plucked lutes, and zithers, but at least one aerophone. The most important zither is the qanun, an unusually shaped, four-sided instrument that has an amazing number of mechanisms to allow for various tunings.

In modern times these ensembles have often been enlarged through the addition of new instruments, some borrowed from Europe, what some Middle Easterners jokingly call the “Near North”.

During the mid-twentieth century, an orchestra-sized variant of the takht ensemble appeared. Known as firqa, these larger ensembles sometimes include a chorus in addition to the principal vocalist. As with the smaller ensembles, the instruments used are mostly chordophones and aerophones, the former including most Arab possibilities plus members of the Western violin family, and the latter being mostly end-blown flutes.

Performances by modernized firqa ensembles are usually highly arranged, with varied orchestration and occasional harmony.