Job Discussion Forums

jaytron · Joined: 20 Sep 2010 Posts: 7

This may be an odd question, but would I have any problems bringing an acoustic guitar into to Saudi? I have heard that music is frowned upon in the kingdom, but a Saudi friend of mine laughed at me when I mentioned this. Also, is there a form of traditional music practiced in KSA? If so what are the chances of a westerner getting involved with this? Just looking for ways to pass some time between classes in what sounds like an incredibly happening country Razz

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

You can take yours... or buy one there. Can't help you with traditional music opportunities. Laughing

Supplementing your income by playing on street corners is likely not a good idea though...

VS

sheikh yer money-maker · Joined: 23 Aug 2010 Posts: 79 Location: Saudi Arabia

2buckets · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East

"Yeah, amble down to any of the main mosques on any given Friday just about noon prayer time and check out the "happenings'."

And after the prayers, catch up on the local beheadiings.

Geronimo · Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 498

"Oh, the times, they are a-changing..."

Check out... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_AccoLade_(band) and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Saudi_Arabia

The larger malls in Riyadh and Dhahran have music stores selling guitars, jaytron.
I suggest that you have a word with the staff in one or two of those stores. Maybe they�ll be able to put you in touch with other locally based musicians. There are a few inform get-togethers and occasional live gigs on expat compounds.

Does anyone in Dhahran remember the "Irish band", "Shamrock" -
so named because it didn�t have any Irish members. Smile

Geronimo

zippy2k · Joined: 07 Sep 2005 Posts: 42 Location: Riyadh

I saw this Arabic music ensemble play a few weeks ago in the Diplomatic Quarter, Riyadh :

http://www.alkindi.org/anglais/home_us.htm

They may be able to help you re:getting involved with trad Arabic music as a westerner. I have brought my guitar into the kingdom(with no problems) along with many others I know and play sessions with other musicians but they are all westerners. There are music shops in the KSA but many do frown on music. In Riyadh at least outside of the DQ I haven't found any live music venues...

2buckets · Joined: 14 Dec 2010 Posts: 515 Location: Middle East

One of my matawah students told me that if you listen to music, you will go to hell, and the devil will pour molten lead into your ears. Owwie, that hurts.

So you better beware!

posh · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 430

There's a mosque right by my apartment. The mullah's 'incantations' vary between a) sounding half-drunk b) about to fall asleep b) on the verge of suicide. Every now and then he obviously has a day off and a new guy comes along who is pretty much singing. Whenever they chirp up I stick on Led Zep full blast.

I've also had people tell me it's "the noise of the devil" and so I tell them to listen to Beethoven's 5th and get back to me.

Grendal · Posted: Fri May 06, 2011 10:17 pm Post subject:

johnslat · Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 12:12 am Post subject:

Dear Grendal,

Huh??? Say again.

Regards,
John

P.S. Get the lead out, amigo.

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:49 pm Post subject:

Old story, but so appropriate:
In our compound, the dean (an Aussie) lived next to the head of HR (Lebanese). The wife of the head of HR was a very devout Muslim, to put it in the mildest terms I can think of. Anyway, the dean's teen-aged son was taking piano lessons, and he practiced quietly in the early evenings. The HR director's wife complained repeatedly, and finally lost her cool altogether. She came out of her house, fully covered of course, grabbed the dean's trash bin, and hurled it through his window.

The dean moved the next week to a different villa and the young son continued with his lessons, but the story lives on as PMU legend.

As for the devil and the ear story, I was once told by an American re-vert that she could not speak to me while in the ladies' room. Her reason was that jinn lived near toilets, and they would pee in your ear if they heard you speaking. All this with a perfectly straight face.

It's Scary! · Joined: 17 Apr 2011 Posts: 823

blackorchid · Joined: 25 Dec 2010 Posts: 14

johnslat · Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 2:23 pm Post subject:

Dear blackorchid,

"According to my many Saudi and Non Saudi Muslims friends non-percussion musical instruments, that is to say most musical instruments including your acoustic guitar are "haram" which means "legally forbidden by Islamic law"."

They may be "haram" according to a few fundamentalists, but I knew some teachers who had guitars back in the 90s in Riyadh. And there are a good number of stores in Riyadh and Jeddah that I know of that sell them.

"If you visit the musical-instrument stores in the kingdom�s big cities, it�s easy to believe that young people are interested in both traditional and modern music. In the afternoons, the tiny shops in the instruments suq in Riyadh�s al-Hilla district are busy with customers. A university student and a couple of his friends test an electronic keyboard in one store. In other shops, employees and customers try out �uds and violins, their melodies spilling out and mixing together in the passageway that winds through the market. Business is good, the shopkeepers report. �Uds and guitars, both acoustic and electric, hang in the windows. Mountains of large frame drums are stacked to the ceilings.

The same is true in Jiddah. Samir Muhammad Badawi, who opened his first music shop 30 years ago in the old neighborhood where he grew up, now has five stores throughout the Red Sea city. �My father played �ud. When I saw it as a child, I loved the instrument. By the time I was 15 years old, I was playing �ud, violin and accordion,� Badawi says. Later he became a schoolteacher, but after work he played at birthday parties and weddings. He set up his first shop as a side occupation, and as the business grew, he was able to retire from teaching. Now his daughter works with him. �She�s in charge of importing,� he says.

�Uds and guitars are his hottest-selling items. An array of tars and other drums fills most of the shelf space. A young man from a local folk troupe stops in to buy several large tars. He explains that his group is flying to Riyadh the next day to play at an event for a sports team."

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200702/saudi.folk.music.alive.and.well.htm

Regards,
John

Geronimo · Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 498

Mention should be made on this thread of
the singer and oud player, Mohammed Abdu (or Abdo).
He has the strongest following of any local lad in Saudi Arabia.
Abdu was born in Jeddah, and, according to the biopic on wikipedia,
became an orphan at a young age.

Mohammed often appears on regional TV shows such as this MBC one:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mztgfvpiECI&feature=related

And, in this video, where he accompanies himself on the oud...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iacesRjG-5U&feature=related

More of his material is available via his website:-
http://www.abdu-music.com/

Geronimo