Iraqis return to making music at home

BAGHDAD, (AFP) - With cinemas closed, the theatre dead and an entertainment-killing curfew in force every night, Iraqis are returning to one of their more ancient traditions -- making music in the home. Music teachers and instrument shop owners say that young Iraqis, bored with television and with little else to do, are investing both time and money in learning to play musical instruments.

With little or no electricity supplies in Baghdad, however, they are limited mainly to string instruments, especially guitars."The top musicians in Iraq who used to be our customers have left the country to escape the bad security situation," said Raghid, owner of an instrument shop in Baghdad's downtown Karrada district.

"So now we are selling to amateurs who wish to learn to play music at home for entertainment," said the talented 32-year-old who asked that only one name be used. "Youngsters are mainly buying imported guitars which need no electricity," he added, sighing for the days when the Middle Eastern oud, or lute, known for its intricate engravings, was his top seller.

Prices vary. A Korean guitar sells for 60 to 90 dollars while a Chinese violin goes for as little as 50 dollars. For those with their own sources of electrical power, Indonesian or Chinese keyboards are available for prices ranging from 100 to 700 dollars. According to the tall and well-built Raghid, most of those buying musical instruments from his store in historic Rashid Street are students, graduates and an eclectic mix of people who love Western music.

Under the regime of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, Raghid's main customers were members of musical troupes who would tour the country entertaining the crowds. However, "extreme religious trends which reject art and artists" are now beginning to dominate Iraqi society, complained Raghid, whose store was run before him by his father and before that by his grandfather.

"Artists and local troupes have been warned to quit their professions and some have been beaten up by people affiliated to religious and extreme Islamic parties," he said. The effect has been to drive artists and musicians out of Iraq to neighbouring countries such as Syria and Jordan, said Raghid, holder of a master of arts degree in music from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad.

Six music shops all once thrived on Rashid Street, but now Raghid's is the last one. He still has enough customers to keep him going, however, thanks to the new trend towards playing music at home, the fact that educated families want their children to learn a musical instrument -- and because he has no competitors.

Raghid, a Christian who can play just about every instrument he sells in his shop, is adamant that he will not follow most of his relatives who have left Iraq, as he loves his country."I am a person who sows life in this troubled, explosive and insurgency-burdened country," he said. "I will stick with Iraq and my friends with whom I have spent all my life. We have all decided not to leave each other and to stay put despite the troubles.

Abbas Fadhel, 28, who recently graduated from Baghdad's Higher Music Institution, uses his downtown apartment as a school where he teaches 15 students a month the system of melodic modes known as "maqam" used in traditional Arabic music, as well as other more modern genres.

He says students are torn between getting out and risking travelling the highly dangerous streets of the capital or staying at home and being bored."They say they're afraid to go out, but they also feel they're wasting their time sitting at home," said Fadhel.

"In the past young people used to go to the theatre or the cinema, but now there's no more entertainment so they've started learning music."One of Fadhel's students, 16-year-old Zina Hatham, says she loves music and is learning to play the keyboard.