Among women, the domestic space is virtually the only context for performance. The main types of women’s informal music are songs—with or without accompaniment on the frame drum ( dāireh )—and instrumental music, which is either drumming to accompany dancing or performance on the mouth harp (Persian: chang ; Uzbek and Turkmen: changko’uz ), a scantily researched tradition of northern Afghanistan.
There is considerable overlap in the vocal repertoires of women...