The Music Affairs Center Organizes "Al-Nahma and Al-Nahham"

The Music Affairs Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, organized an evening entitled “Al-Nahma and Al-Nahham… The eternal cry of melodies” within the Al-Sulaiti House Salon, in the presence of a group of intellectuals.

The evening hosted the musician and heritage researcher Faisal Al-Tamimi, who explained that the Nahma art is one of the most prominent arts of the maritime heritage, he pointed out that this art flourished during fishing and diving trips in search of pearls, as this contributed to the emergence of the "Nahham", who professionally sang and chanted to entertain the sailors on board the ship and to add joy and enthusiasm in their souls to help them endure their hardship, effort, and difficulty of work, to contribute to the establishment of one of the most important cultural tributaries that contributed to the emergence of most forms of singing, music, and folklore in Qatar and the Arab Gulf region.

He pointed out that due to the importance of the "Nahham" in the old days, the ship captains competed in choosing and most vocal “Nahham” on their voyages, due to their positive and psychological impact in raising the performance of the sailors and their work.

Al-Tamimi said, in his intervention, that "Al-Nahham" addresses the conscience of the sailors through his melodies and songs, which include various poetic purposes of nostalgia, longing, and reliance on God Almighty for sustenance, noting that

The "Nahmain" was among those who memorize thousands of poetic verses, and they had intelligence in dealing with situations during the trip, just as Al Nahham has several qualities that must be present in him, most notably the power of sound and its layers in order to provide sailors and divers with energy, which always began with the remembrance of God.

He pointed out that "Al-Nahma" is one of the marine arts, which is an integral part of the folklore that goes back to the popular conscience and not to specific people.

The researcher Faisal Al-Tamimi also said that the marine arts included arts practiced on the deck of the ship, such as the art of "Dawari", which relies on the sound of drums, horns, and applause of sailors.

This art is practiced when sailors pull the anchor rope from the sea, as they stand in two opposite rows and begin to sing in a way that matches the rope pull.

Adding that there is also the art of "Al jaieb", which is related to the process of raising the small sail in the ship.

He mentioned that in addition to that, there are other arts called Al-Fajri (including Al-Adsani, Al-Hasawi, Al-Hasawi, and Al-Bahri, and the maqam of Al-Rast predominates), most of them. She sings on the Maqam al-Hijaz, pointing out that the difference between the Nahma in Qatar and others in the Gulf countries is the dialect and use of the long seas of poetry.

Noting that the sailors were not familiar with musical instruments, they invented this art instinctively and derived it from the rhythms of their marine lives, and when these arts were recorded on Qatar Radio in the last century and shown at music festivals, it found appreciation and admiration from international musicians.