SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Somali society is composed of three major socioeconomic groups: nomadic pastoralists, sedentary agriculturalists, and townspeople. This is reflected in musical culture. The nomadic population traditionally has no musical instrument accompaniment to poetry/song other than, for some types, the use of makeshift drums, handclapping, and foot-stamping. The agriculturalists in the southern-central regions play the shareero, a bowl lyre of a type found throughout East Africa. The communities in the southern coastal towns share some distinct cultural traits including some musical traditions. This entry provides a brief introduction to some of these shared traditional forms and practices of music in Somali.