history of maltese music

Josephine Ebejer Grech


• The first Maltese people didn’t have any elaborate musical instruments.

• They built their first instruments from rudimentary and basic resources such as reeds (plant with wooden stalks that grows very abundantly in valleys).

• The first musical instruments in Malta were: (see next slide)


Reed Plant

Arundo donax, more commonly

known as the cane, il-qasba. Profusely used

for door screening curtains,

agricultural windcheaters

and fishing rods, it is the main component of

the reed pipe, i\-\ummara, and

the whistle flute, il-flejguta.


Maltese Name - English Name.

|aqq - bagpipe|ummara - reed pipe

Flejguta - whistle flute|af\afa - friction drumTanbur - drum


Made from reed


• The reed pipe, i\-\ummara, is derived from the \aqq's chanter.

• The \aqq has two pipes, each fitted with a single reed.

• The \ummara has only one pipe and one single reed. It is mouth-played and may be embellished by attaching a small cow's horn at one end.


An Old Maltese expression:

• In Maltese we have an expression: "X’i\-\ummara trid?" (What the heck do

you want?),

This is back street lingo!

This is a very old expression referring to the Maltese mouth instrument \ummara.


• Il-flejguta is also made from reed.

It resembles a flaut


• The farmers made their “flejguta” in their fields and played it during their break time.

• Later on, they started experimenting with goat’s skin and reeds to build up a “\aqq”.


Building a Maltese bagpipe is a complex affair. The playing part of the \aqq, the chanter, referred to in Maltese as is-

saqqafa, is made entirely from pieces of cane of various sizes. There are seven

pieces, all with their own Maltese name. A bull's horn fitted to one end serves as

a bell to amplify the sound.


To build a bagpipe you need goat skin. “I\-|aqq”


Ruben Zahra Playing The Maltese Bagpipe


I\-|af\afa• The \af\afa is known for its mocking,

gyrating sound and is still heard at the Nadur and G]axaq carnivals, known for their makeshift unorthodox floats and costumes. Nadur is a village in Gozo, and G]axaq is a village in Malta.


|af\afa


• It-Tanbur (hand drum) is also one of the first Maltese instruments. It is made from a round circle made of wood covered with animal skin.


Preparing the wooden circumference Attaching the animal skin


Ruben Zahra, Steve Borg, Guzi Gatt and Andrew Alamango


• Musicians that played \aqq, flejguta, \ummara, \af\afa used to play in the village square,

during weddings, during funerals, during baptisms,

during the village feast, during carnival celebrations, during the Good Friday ceremonies

etc.

history of maltese music

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