Ataaba

The ataaba (

Arab tradition, ataabas are generally performed by a vocal soloist, without instrumental accompaniment, who improvises the melody using folk poetry for the verse.^[3]

Sung unmetered in

homonyms, each with a different meaning, creating a pun. In urban settings, the ataaba is often paired with a metric choral refrain called a mījanā.^[2]

The ataaba is also used to express grief or reproach.

eulogies are also common. Less common themes include moral instruction, and descriptions of nature.^[5]

Structure

About half of all ataabas do not use fixed meter, while the other half use a standard rajaz or wāfir meter.[5] Generally composed of four verses of poetry, the first three end with the same sound.^[6] The end of a verse or quatrain in an ataaba is marked by adding a word ending in "-ba" to the end of the fourth hemistich.^[7] The fourth and final verse usually ends with a word ending in the sound aab or awa.^[6]

While there are four lines of verse in an ataaba, these are usually sung as two musical phrases. These phrases are often a melodic curve beginning on the fourth or fifth, descending to the

melismatic phrase on the syllable ōf.^[5] While this opening sequence is not necessarily a part of the ataaba, the closing melismatic phrase sung to words such as yā bā ("O father"), yā mā ("O mother"), or yā eyn ("O eyes"), etc., is an integral part of the song's structure and is unique to this musical form.^[5]

Performances

The ataaba is one of many

Wadi' al-Safi.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Marshall Cavendish, 2007, p. 996.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Two Tenors of Arabic Music". Turath. 2000. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
^ Kaschl, 2003, p. 249.
^ Armitage et al., 2002, p. 324.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Cohen and Katz, 2006, p. 262.
^ ^a ^b Farsoun, 2004, p. 117.
^ Pavla etal., 2008, p. 11.
^ Shiloah, 1997, p. 42.
^ "Palestine: Histories of Musical Resistance — Iltizam: (Commitment) through song". Culture of Resistance. May 14, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-10-02.