Pearling Sea Music from Qatar

Sea music from Qatar

Group led by: Ali Saeed Al Mari and Khalid Jaher
from Qatar



Fidjeri (Arabic: الفجيري; sometimes spelled fijri or fidjeri) is the specific repertoire of vocal music sung by the pearl divers of Eastern Arabia's coastal Gulf states, especially Bahrain and Kuwait. 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 mirwās (Arabic: المرواس‎) and the jāhlah (Arabic: الجاهلة‎), a clay pot played with both hands.

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 (Arabic: نهام‎).

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