From Syria. Well, actually, a little bit of Syria has come to our hotel in Amman.

Today, we met a group of Syrian musicians. Each musician played a different traditional Middle Eastern instrument: the oud, the qanun, the violin, and the tabla.

So that we could hear the distinct and unique sound of their instruments, each musician played a short solo piece. The oud produced a beautiful, bright sound similar a soft acoustic guitar. My favorite was the tabla which was much like the djembe, a hand drum I learned to play while I was in South Africa.

While style of Middle Eastern vary from country to country, many of the instruments remain the same. In Jordan, the rababa is an important Bedouin instrument. An early ancestor of the modern violin, it’s a single-stringed instrument that is played with a bow. However, it’s not played up on the shoulder, but straight up and down. It produces a whiney and mysterious sound. While in Jordan, I purchased a rababa as a gift for some musician friends back in the States. It’s a pretty tricky instrument to master -- it will be interesting to watch them give it a try.

What’s Next? Meet Ben Ball, an American in Amman.

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