Fidjeri (sometimes spelled fijri or fidjeri) is the specific repertoire of vocal music sung by the pearl divers of the Arabian states of the Persian Gulf (especially Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar). A lead singer is backed up by a chorus of accompanying singers and clapping. The accompanying instruments to a fidjeri ensemble are a small double-sided hand-drum, known as the mirwas and the jahlah, a clay pot played with both hands. Map of the Persian Gulf. ...

There are eight genres of fijiri: Sanginni (sung on the beach, not on the boat), Bahri, Adsani, Mkholfi, Haddadi, Hasawi, Zumayya and Dan, the last two actually being sub-genres of Hasawi and Mkholfi respectively. Bahri and Adsani are the two main genres. Pearl diver singers are referred to in Arabic as nahham. The Hasawi genre are songs of divers from the region of Al-Hasa which always based on a simple rhythm of six beats. Ash Sharqiyah, known as Eastern Province is the largest province of Saudi Arabia, located in the east of the country on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, and has borders with Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. ...

Salem Allan and Ahmad Butabbaniya are two of the most well-known fijiri singers from Bahrain.

See also

• Music of Bahrain
• Music of Kuwait

Bahrain is a small island in the Persian Gulf, and is part of the pan-Gulf khaleeji folk traditions. ... Kuwaits musical traditions were well-recorded until the Gulf War, when Iraq invaded the country and destroyed the archive. ...

Further reading

• Various artists (2000). Fidjeri:Songs of the Bahrain Pearl Divers (CD), UNESCO. ASIN B00000AU93.
• Rovsing Olsen, Poul (2002). Music in Bahrain, David Brown Book Company. ISBN 8788415198.
• Various artists (1995). A Musical Anthology of the Arabian Peninsula, Volume 2 - Music of the Pearl Divers (CD), Gallo. ASIN B000004A2D.

External links

• Audio samples of Salem Allan and Ahmad Butabbanya on Zeryab.com