page_title: Tuareg people
section_title: Music
hierarchical_section_title: Tuareg people / Culture / Music
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of the Tuareg musical group Tinariwen, taken at the Nice Jazz Festival in Nice, France. Photo altered slightly to remove advertising in the background and bring the musicians slightly closer together.
context_page_description: The Tuareg people are a large Berber ethnic confederation. They principally inhabit the Sahara in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria.
  The Tuareg speak languages of the same name, which belong to the Berber branch of the Afroasiatic family.
  The Tuaregs have been called the "blue people" for the indigo dye coloured clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. A semi-nomadic Muslim people, they are believed to be descendants of the Berber natives of North Africa. The Tuareg have been one of the ethnic groups that have been historically influential in the spread of Islam and its legacy in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region.
  Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation. The Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes and have been an important party to the conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial era.
context_section_description: Traditional Tuareg music has two major components: the monochord violin anzad played often during night parties and a small tambour covered with goatskin called tende, performed during camel and horse races, and other festivities. Traditional songs called Asak and Tisiway (poems) are sung by women and men during feasts and social occasions. Another popular Tuareg musical genre is takamba, characteristic for its Afro percussions.
  Vocal music
  tisiway: poems
  tasikisikit: songs performed by women, accompanied by tende (drum); the men, on camel-back, circle the women as they sing.
  asak: songs accompanied by anzad monocord violin.
  tahengemmit: slow songs sung by elder men
  Children and youth music
  Bellulla songs made by children playing with the lips
  Fadangama small monocord instrument for children
  Odili flute made from trunk of sorghum
  Gidga small wooden instrument with irons sticks to make strident sounds
  Dance
  tagest: dance made while seated, moving the head, the hands and the shoulders.
  ewegh: strong dance performed by men, in couples and groups.
  agabas: dance for modern ishumar guitars: women and men in groups.
  In the 1980s rebel fighters founded Tinariwen, a Tuareg band that fuses electric guitars and indigenous musical styles. Tinariwen is one of the best known and authentic Tuareg bands. Especially in areas that were cut off during the Tuareg rebellion (e.g., Adrar des Iforas), they were practically the only music available, which made them locally famous and their songs/lyrics (e.g. Abaraybone, ...) are well known by the locals. They released their first CD in 2000, and toured in Europe and the United States in 2004. Tuareg guitar groups that followed in their path include Group Inerane and Group Bombino. The Niger-based band Etran Finatawa combines Tuareg and Wodaabe members, playing a combination of traditional instruments and electric guitars.
  Many music groups emerged after the 1980s cultural revival. Among the Tartit, Imaran and known artists are: Abdallah Oumbadougou from Ayr, Baly Othmany of Djanet.
caption: Tinariwen (Tuareg band) from Mali, taken at the Nice Jazz Festival in France
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