Preserving Palestinian tradition: the shibbabeh

Even if you are of Palestinian origin yourself, or perhaps even a Palestinian living in Palestine – if you are of a somewhat younger age you may not even have heard of this instrument that is commonly known in Palestine as the ‘shibbabeh’.

I am not an expert on Palestinian culture and traditions, nor do I pretend to be. All I know about the shibbabeh is what has been handed over to me through my own father as a cultural heritage from our region in Palestine, the Sha3rawiyya region in the northern parts of what is now known as the ‘West Bank’.

I will therefore leave it up to historians and musicologists to search for details about this unmistakably Palestinian tradition, but in the mean time I feel obligated to share what I know about it with whomever is interested to know. The shibbabeh has slowly but steadily been disappearing from the Palestinian landscape, with Palestinian culture already being threatened by globalization and even more directly by the Israeli occupation.

As we all know, Zionism aims to undermine and erase as much of Palestinian heritage as it possibly can, and therefore those who still embrace this tradition should do what they can to keep it alive. I feel lucky to be one of these people; not only do I know what a shibbabeh is, I also know how to make one, and how to play on it. Therefore, allow me to share this knowledge with you.

You will find that this instrument is closely related to many of the flutes that can be found in other regions of the Arab world. It is related to the flute that is commonly used in the Middle East and is known as ‘Nay’ or ‘Ney’. There are however a few important differences: there is a big difference in the distance between the mouth  part and the holes (in the ‘Nay’ this distance is relatively bigger) and there is no hole on the backside, only holes on the front side of the shibbabeh.

Everyone who knows a bit about Palestinian culture, knows the group dance called ‘Dabkeh’, which was traditionally performed by men at weddings. It is characterized by the stamping of feet in a rhythmical and sometimes complex pattern. However, not everyone knows that in the original tradition of ‘Dabkeh’, at least in the northern regions of Palestine, the shibbabeh was often the only instrument used to accompany this dance, together with the voice of the lead singer.

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At most, people would join in by clapping their hands. In some cases a darbuka (in Palestinian dialect: darbekkeh) would be added for a stronger rhythmical accompaniment, but many times the clapping of hands and stamping of feet of the Dabkeh would be considered sufficient.

Here in this blog, some videos are embedded where I play the shibbabeh at several occasions and locations. In fact, I rarely travel without taking my shibbabeh with me – not only because it fits easily into a suitcase. Whenever I can, I wish to make its sound be heard, because I consider it to be one of the most characteristic sounds of the Palestinian cultural landscape.

You will notice that in some of the videos I repeat the same tunes. My repertoire of songs on the shibbabeh is much bigger than what you are hearing here, but connecting to audience with familiar tunes usually has a better result, so I usually choose to play the tunes that most people can relate to.

I recently played the shibbabeh in our home town in Palestine, which was an absolutely lovely experience, but I also found out that in the entire village there was only one old man left who could play it. Being around 70 years old and short of breath, this meant that the shibbabeh was becoming a true rarity in the village.

I am also sharing the shibbabeh tutorial video for some further background information, and also invite you to read the article where I explain how to  make your own shibbabeh (it is really ridiculously easy!). If you wish to help keep the shibbabeh alive, please share this page, and make sure that everyone becomes familiar with this instrument and its characteristic sound. In doing so, you will have helped preserve a piece of Palestinian tradition.

Doc Jazz