Andalusi nubah

The main schools of Andalusi nubah are the following

• In Algeria
  • Gharnati (Tlemcen)
  • Sanaa (Algiers)
  • Malouf (Constantine)

• In Tunisia
  • Malouf (Tunis)

• In Morocco
  • Tarab al ala
  • Gharnati (After 1830, following the migration of Algerians to Morocco during the French conquest)

Form, texts, and performance

According to tradition, there were initially 24 nubat, one for each hour of the day. Each nuba must have a duration of 1 hour. Lyrics are sung by a soloist or in unison by a chorus and are chosen from the muwashshah or zajal poetic forms, which are sung in classical and colloquial Arabic, respectively.

An andalusi nubah uses one tab' (similar to a maqam, or mode) per performance, and includes several instrumental pieces as well as predominantly vocal pieces accompanied by instrumentation. These differ as to mizan (pl. mawazin) or rhythmic pattern (wazn, pl. awzan).

Formally the tempo increases while the awzan simply within each of five sections, called mawazin. The sections are introduced by short instrumental pieces and vary according to region, the name of a section indicating the wazn used:

• in Algeria (12 nubah and 4 incomplete): msaddar, btayhi, darj, insiraf, khlas
• in Tunisia (13 nubah): btaybhi, barwal, darj, khafif, khatm
• in Morocco (11 nubah): basit, qayim wa-nisf, btayhi, darj, quddam

The instrumental ensemble used includes the oud, violins, rabab, Maghreb rebab or rebec, nay, qanun, tambourine, and a goblet drum called darbuka. The instrumentalists also serve as chorus.

Scales