Iraqi Musical Instruments

Iraq has a variety of about 60 different musical instruments, that can be categorized in “sound-type”, “air-type”, “string-type”, and “leather-type” instruments. These instruments are spreaded according to the geography and cultural background of the population. The most common popular, string instruments in the country are the Oud, Kanoon, Santour, and Joza.

A folkloric string instrument is the “Rababa”, which is a single-string instrument used by Bedouins. The air-instruments include the flute and the double-cylinder mutbij and the “Zerna”, which is made of wood.

In Basra, Abu Al-Khaseeb and the central Euphrates region, leather-type beat instruments are very popular, such as the clay-tabla, the wooden tabla, the Deff and Naqqarra. Single-side, and double-sided drums are used in all parts of Iraq.

In Basra region, an area-specific string-instrument called Tauboura can be found. This instrument’s origin goes back to Sumerian times to an instrument called Kannara.