Yemen is a beautiful country, and extremely interesting both from a historical perspective and in the present day. Its musical culture is varied and colorful. The rugged topography—mountains, deep wadis, deserts, and semideserts—hinders local communication; as a result, each community, tribe, and so on has an individual culture. If one compares Yemenite music with that of other Arab countries, striking differences are immediately apparent.
In Arab music in general, melody is organized tonally in various...