🎻 Ethnic and folk music — Arabic

Arabic music spans from the Maghreb to the Mashreq, but brings together very different regional traditions rather than a fully uniform language. Arab art music relies notably on the maqâmât, melodic modes with rules of progression and ornamentation, and on rhythmic cycles called iqa'ât. The oud, qanun, nay, violin and various percussion instruments are common, though not present identically across all regions. Singing holds a major place in classical music, tarab, Arab-Andalusian traditions, chaâbi, mawwal and modern popular music. Chanson, pop, rap and electronic productions today extend this heritage across the entire Arabic-speaking world.