The Tuareg (sing. Targi), probably of Berber origin, are defined here as traditionally nomads who are widely dispersed over the middle of the Sahara and the Sahelian steppe-country, to the south of the desert. The estimated population of 500,000 are Muslims and have a hierarchical matrilineal social structure with several castes. The Tuareg are in permanent contact with their neighbours, both those of African origin to the south and those of Arab descent to the north, and maintain economic relations with these groups through barter. In spite of this, they have retained their cultural identity and their own language, Tamachek or Tamacheq (with its own script, Tifinar). Many features of Tuareg music are likewise quite distinct from those of its neighbours. In contrast with black Muslim societies, there are no professional musicians among the Tuareg, although certain members of the servant caste do at times profit from their gifts as singers or instrumentalists.
Although both men and women make music, they use separate forms and styles. Women’s songs include tindé nomnas (praise-songs), tindé N’guma (songs of exorcism) and ezelé (dance-songs). They are all usually in responsorial form, with both the solo and chorus parts using a limited melodic range. The two kinds of tindé have instrumental accompaniments, but the rhythmic accompaniment to ezelé comes from hand-clapping.
Tichiwé (men’s songs) are in striking contrast to the women’s, in that they are essentially lyrical. The man sings of the beauty of the woman he loves or celebrates some happy event in his life. They are performed by soloists, either with or without an accompaniment played on the imzad (anzad, anzhad), a one-string fiddle; (fig.1), and are characterized by an extraordinary profusion of ornaments and their extended vocal range.
The art of the singer among the Tuareg lies in improvisation, although this closely follows certain traditional melodic forms. The scales used are often pentatonic, though other more complex ones are also to be found and may include such intervals as augmented 2nds. Although this may indicate some influence from the Middle East, it does not challenge the originality of Tuareg music; only very exceptionally are microtones used. Sometimes, especially at the ends of certain songs, the singer introduces notes that appear unrelated to the scale on which the piece as a whole is based. On other occasions, notes with specific structural functions are deliberately altered. Such practices are evidence of the outstanding virtuosity of skilled Tuareg singers, and it is by such means that they constantly renew the interest in their songs.
Tuareg music is primarily vocal and only a small number of instruments are used. These are played predominantly by women. Mention has already been made of the imzad, usually used in accompanying men’s songs. This is made by women of the blacksmith caste and played only by women of the nobility. It comprises a resonator made from half a gourd covered with a goat skin; the horsehair string is stretched over a bridge made of two small pieces of wood which form a cross. The bow is made from horsehair knotted to the two ends of a curved stick.
The tindé (tende) (fig.2), which is played by women to accompany their songs and from which the names of their two kinds of song are derived, is a drum made from a goat skin stretched over a mortar. Tuareg men play an oblique end-blown flute with four finger-holes, called tazammart in the north and tasansagh or saréwa (Hausa) in the south (fig.3). It is constructed from a sorghum stem in which four equidistant holes are made, and has leather thongs tied round its body for protection and ornamentation. The assakhalebo (‘water-drum’) is made from a half-gourd that floats inverted in a large bowl of water. The tabl, a shallow kettledrum of wide diameter with a camel skin stretched over the top, formerly used to give the call to battle, is played by groups of women to accompany singing. A three-string plucked lute, tahardent, is played in urban centres. Dances (e.g. tehigelt/tehemmet, tazengherit and arokas), formerly performed predominantly by slaves, are now performed by men of all ranks. There are regional differences and individual groups of Tuareg show a preference for certain instruments and dances over others.
GEWM, [i] (C. Card Wendt)
L. Zöhrer: Geistige und materielle Kunst bei den Imohag der Sahara (Vienna, 1938)
J. Chapelle: ‘Les Touareg de l’Aïr’, Cahiers Charles de Foucauld, xii (1949), 70–95
H. Lhote: Les Touareg du Hoggar (Paris, 1955)
G. Holiday: ‘The Tuaregs of the Ahaggar’, AfM, i (1956), 48–52
F. Födermayr: Die musikwissenschaftlichen Phonogramme Ludwig Zöhrers von den Tuareg der Sahara (Vienna, 1964)
T. Nikiprowetzky: ‘L’ornementation dans la musique des Touareg de l’Aïr’, JIFMC, xvi (1964), 81–3
F. Födermayr: ‘The Arabian Influence in the Tuareg Music’, AfM, iv/1 (1966–7), 25–37
C. Card: Tuareg Music and Social Identity (diss., Indiana U., 1982)
E. Brandes: ‘The Relation of Women’s Music to Men’s Music in Southern Algeria’, Music, Gender and Culture, ed. M. Herndon and S. Ziegler (Wilhelmshaven, 1990), 115–30
S.J. Rasmussen: Spirit Possession and Personhood among the Kel Ewey Tuareg (Cambridge, 1995)
Tuareg Music of Southern Sahara, Folkways Records FE 4470 (1960) [incl. notes by F. and G. Holiday)
Tuareg Music of the Southern Sahara, Smithsonian Folkways 04470 (1992)
Hoggar musique des Touareg, Le Chant du Monde LDX 274974 (1994) [incl. notes by J.-L. Lamande and N.M. Saada]
TOLIA NIKIPROWETZKY