Saudi Traditional Music: Khaleeji, Samri, Mizmar — Preservation, Fusion, and the Future of Arabian Musical Heritage

Executive Summary

Saudi Arabia possesses a musical heritage of extraordinary richness and diversity that is largely unknown outside the Arab world. The Kingdom’s traditional music encompasses dozens of distinct regional styles — from the maritime songs of the Eastern Province to the rhythmic Mizmar of the Hejaz, from the poetic Samri of the Najd to the African-influenced percussion traditions of the Tihama coast. These musical traditions, developed over centuries and reflecting the diverse cultural influences that have shaped Arabian life, represent an intangible cultural heritage of global significance.

The paradox of Saudi Arabia’s traditional music is that the same social forces that suppressed public music performance for decades also, inadvertently, helped preserve traditional forms from the commercial pressures that have eroded folk music traditions in many other countries. While the Kingdom’s entertainment restrictions limited public performance and commercial development, they also created a protected environment where traditional music continued to be practiced in family and community contexts, relatively untouched by the homogenizing forces of commercial pop culture.

Now, as Saudi Arabia’s entertainment sector opens and modernizes, traditional music faces both opportunities and threats. The opportunities include government recognition, institutional support, recording and documentation, and the potential for creative fusion with contemporary genres. The threats include marginalization by imported entertainment, the aging of traditional practitioners, the loss of community contexts in which traditional music is performed, and the risk that commercial adaptation may dilute the authenticity that gives traditional music its power.

Regional Musical Traditions

Najd Region (Central Saudi Arabia)

The Najd — the central plateau that includes Riyadh — has a musical tradition deeply connected to Bedouin culture and Arabic poetry.

Samri: The most significant musical form of the Najd, Samri is a vocal and percussion-based genre performed at weddings, celebrations, and social gatherings. Samri features:

• Call-and-response vocal structure between a lead singer and chorus
• Rhythmic accompaniment on the tar (frame drum) and occasionally the rababa (single-string bowed instrument)
• Poetic lyrics in Najdi dialect, often improvised or drawn from the nabati (vernacular) poetry tradition
• Stylized body movements and hand clapping that form an integral part of the performance

Samri has been practiced in the Najd for centuries and remains one of the most culturally significant musical forms in Saudi Arabia. It was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022, recognizing its outstanding cultural value.

Ardah: Originally a war dance accompanied by drums and poetry recitation, the ardah has evolved into Saudi Arabia’s most recognized cultural performance, performed at national celebrations, state events, and royal occasions. The ardah combines rhythmic drumming, sword-bearing dancers, and poetic recitation in a group performance that can involve hundreds of participants. It is Saudi Arabia’s most visible cultural symbol and was inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2015.

Hejaz Region (Western Saudi Arabia)

The Hejaz — including Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah — has the most diverse musical traditions in Saudi Arabia, reflecting the region’s historical role as a crossroads for Hajj pilgrims and Red Sea trading.

Mizmar: A reed instrument (similar to the oboe) that produces a penetrating, melodious sound. Mizmar performance involves improvisation over rhythmic accompaniment, with the performer demonstrating virtuosity through ornamental passages, sustained notes, and melodic invention. Mizmar is particularly associated with the Mawlid (celebrations of the Prophet’s birthday) and wedding celebrations in the Hejaz.

Al-Sihba: A sophisticated musical form combining poetry, melody, and complex rhythmic structures, al-Sihba is performed by small ensembles and reflects the cultural influences of the Ottoman period, with elements of Turkish, Persian, and Arabic musical traditions.

Muwashshah: A poetic-musical form originating in Andalusia and brought to the Hejaz through centuries of cultural exchange. Muwashshah features complex poetic meters, Arabic-Andalusian melodic structures, and ensemble performance that requires high levels of musical training.

Danzal: Rhythmic songs associated with maritime work (loading ships, hauling nets), reflecting Jeddah’s history as a major Red Sea port. Danzal is performed with percussion and call-and-response vocals.

Eastern Province

The Eastern Province’s musical traditions reflect both its pearl-diving maritime heritage and its connections to Persian Gulf cultures:

Fijiri (Sea Songs): Songs associated with pearl diving, including songs for different stages of the diving process — departure, diving, sorting pearls, return. Fijiri is performed with percussion (mainly mirwas drums and earthenware water jars) and vocal calls that directed divers’ activities.

Liwa: An African-influenced musical tradition brought to the Gulf coast by East African communities. Liwa features complex polyrhythmic drumming, call-and-response vocals, and dance movements that retain their African character while having been adapted to Gulf cultural contexts over centuries.

Sawt: A sophisticated vocal-instrumental genre that represents the Gulf’s most refined musical tradition. Sawt features a solo vocalist accompanied by oud and mirwas, performing songs with complex melodic and rhythmic structures drawn from Arabic, Indian, and African traditions.

Tihama and Southern Region

The Tihama coastal plain and the Asir mountains of southern Saudi Arabia have musical traditions distinct from those of other regions:

Khobat: A group dance-song tradition of the Tihama, featuring complex drum patterns, pentatonic melodies, and group movement. Khobat’s musical structure and performance style show strong African influence, reflecting the Tihama coast’s historical connections to East Africa.

Zahra: A song form of the Asir region, performed at social gatherings and celebrations. Zahra features call-and-response vocals with drum accompaniment and is associated with the specific social customs of Asir’s mountain communities.

Key Traditional Artists

Mohammed Abdo

Mohammed Abdo — known as “Artist of the Arabs” — is Saudi Arabia’s most beloved and commercially successful musician. While not exclusively a traditional musician, Abdo’s career spanning more than five decades has been deeply rooted in Saudi and Arabic musical traditions.

Abdo’s importance lies in his ability to bridge traditional and contemporary Arabic music, maintaining the emotional depth and poetic sophistication of traditional forms while adapting them to modern production and performance contexts.

Rabeh Sager

Rabeh Sager is a Saudi singer whose style combines Khaleeji folk tradition with contemporary Arabic pop. His romantic ballads and up-tempo Gulf dance tracks have made him one of Saudi Arabia’s most popular musicians for more than three decades.

Abadi al-Johar

Abadi al-Johar is a Saudi musician and composer known for his virtuosity on the oud and his sophisticated compositional approach that draws on multiple Arabic musical traditions. His work represents the intellectual and artistic depth of Saudi music at its highest level.

Preservation Efforts

Institutional Support

The Saudi government has significantly increased its investment in traditional music preservation since 2016, recognizing that the Kingdom’s musical heritage is both culturally valuable and strategically important for tourism, cultural diplomacy, and national identity.

Documentation and Recording

The documentation of Saudi traditional music has accelerated dramatically:

• Field recording projects: Government-sponsored ethnomusicologists have conducted field recordings across all regions of Saudi Arabia, documenting performances, interviewing practitioners, and cataloging regional styles. These recordings are being archived in digital repositories accessible to researchers and the public.
• Academic research: Saudi universities have expanded their ethnomusicology and cultural heritage programs, producing research on traditional musical forms that was previously limited.
• Video documentation: High-quality video documentation of traditional performances — including performances by elderly practitioners who represent the last living links to earlier performance traditions — has become a priority.

Fusion and Innovation

Traditional-Contemporary Fusion

The most exciting creative developments in Saudi traditional music are happening at the intersection of heritage and contemporary genres:

Electronic-Traditional Fusion: Producers like Dish Dash and Cosmicat are incorporating traditional rhythmic patterns, melodic fragments, and instrumental samples into electronic music, creating fusion sounds that introduce traditional elements to new audiences.

Jazz-Maqam Fusion: The Jeddah Jazz Festival has fostered collaborations between traditional musicians and jazz artists, exploring the structural compatibility of Arabic maqam and jazz modality.

Orchestral Arrangements: The Saudi National Orchestra has commissioned orchestral arrangements of traditional compositions, presenting Saudi musical heritage in a format that bridges Arabic and Western musical traditions.

Hip-Hop Sampling: Saudi hip-hop producers have sampled traditional music — drums, vocals, melodic phrases — in their beats, creating connections between the oldest and newest Saudi music traditions.

Tension and Authenticity

The fusion of traditional and contemporary music raises important questions about authenticity and cultural integrity. Purists argue that traditional music should be preserved in its original forms, warning that commercial adaptation risks diluting the musical characteristics and cultural meanings that make traditional forms valuable.

Innovators counter that all musical traditions evolve over time, and that creative fusion is the natural mechanism through which traditional forms remain relevant to contemporary audiences. They argue that a tradition preserved in amber — unchanged and unchallenged — is a dead tradition, and that the test of a living tradition is its ability to inspire new creative work while maintaining its essential character.

The resolution of this tension will determine the future of Saudi traditional music. The most successful fusion work demonstrates that it is possible to honor traditional forms while creating genuinely new music — to draw on the past without being imprisoned by it. The challenge is to develop the musical knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and artistic judgment required to navigate this balance successfully.

Future Outlook

Saudi traditional music faces a defining decade. The combination of government support, institutional investment, academic attention, and creative interest creates conditions that are more favorable for traditional music than at any point in Saudi history. At the same time, the competition for young people’s attention from international entertainment, the aging of traditional practitioners, and the rapid urbanization of Saudi society create real risks to the transmission of traditional knowledge.

The key priority is transmission — ensuring that the next generation of Saudi musicians has access to traditional musical knowledge, can perform traditional forms with competence and understanding, and feels a connection to the cultural heritage that these forms represent. Technology (recordings, online tutorials, digital archives) can support transmission, but cannot replace the direct human teaching and community practice that have always been the primary mechanism through which musical traditions are passed from generation to generation.

Institutional Support for Traditional Music

Saudi Music Commission Programs

The Saudi Music Commission — established in 2020 as part of the Ministry of Culture — has made traditional music preservation and development a central element of its mission. The Commission’s vision to “elevate the status of music to become a source of national and cultural pride” explicitly includes traditional forms alongside contemporary genres. The Saudi Music Hub — with branches in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Khobar — offers instruction in Arabic instruments including oud, qanun, and traditional percussion, taught by internationally qualified teachers recruited from across the Arab world.

The Commission’s Moja Program — a talent development initiative for emerging Saudi musical and singing talent — provides expert-led workshops that include traditional music training. Based initially at the Saudi Music Hub in Riyadh and subsequently in Jeddah, Moja has supported traditional musicians who might otherwise lack access to formal training opportunities. The Commission’s Talent Search Initiative, partnered with XELEMENT, represents Saudi Arabia’s largest-ever talent search — seeking 10 world-class musical talents to represent the Kingdom on the global stage, with traditional musicians eligible alongside contemporary artists.

Festival Platforms

Traditional music receives dedicated platform attention at Saudi Arabia’s major festivals and events. Soundstorm’s Heritage stage provides exposure for traditional musicians to the festival’s massive audiences — up to 700,000 across the event — introducing traditional forms to young Saudi audiences who might not seek out traditional music independently. The Diriyah music events Heritage Nights series provides performance opportunities in heritage settings that amplify the cultural significance of traditional performance. Balad Beast’s heritage fusion programming demonstrates that traditional musical elements can be integrated into contemporary electronic production, creating new creative possibilities for traditional musicians.

Archival and Documentation

The preservation of traditional Saudi music requires systematic documentation and archival efforts. Traditional music forms — particularly those associated with specific regions, tribes, or occasions — face extinction as the social contexts that sustained them change through urbanization and modernization. Several institutional initiatives are addressing this challenge: the Saudi Music Commission’s documentation programs record traditional performances and interviews with master musicians; university research programs study the musical structures, performance practices, and cultural contexts of traditional forms; and digital archival projects ensure that recordings and documentation are preserved and accessible for future generations.

Economic Dimensions of Traditional Music

The economic viability of traditional music careers in Saudi Arabia is improving, though challenges remain. Traditional musicians can access revenue through several channels: performance fees at festivals, government events, and private celebrations; streaming revenue through platforms where Arabic-language content is growing rapidly (Saudi music consumption on Spotify has increased 195 percent since 2020); sync licensing for film, television, and advertising that seeks authentic Saudi musical content; music education, where demand for traditional instrument instruction exceeds the supply of qualified teachers; and cultural tourism programming at heritage venues and destinations like AlUla.

The growing interest in traditional music fusion — combining traditional instruments and scales with contemporary production — creates additional economic opportunities for traditional musicians who can bridge the gap between heritage and contemporary practice. MDLBEAST Records artists and Saudi emerging artists increasingly seek collaborations with traditional musicians, creating studio income and creative partnerships that support traditional music careers.

If Saudi Arabia can successfully transmit its traditional musical heritage to the next generation while simultaneously enabling creative fusion and innovation, the result could be one of the most exciting musical cultures in the world — a culture that draws on thousands of years of heritage while embracing the creative possibilities of the 21st century.