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Playable heritage game

Mijwiz Double Clarinet

Also known as mijwiz · مجوز

The mijwiz is a pair of short cane pipes, bound side by side, each with a single beating reed and a row of finger holes. The player breathes in through the nose while pushing air out from the cheeks, so the sound never stops, and it carries dance tunes of the Levant.

Play the previewAbout this tradition
Mijwiz Double Clarinet: photograph by Sönke Kraft aka Arnulf zu Linden
Photo: Sönke Kraft aka Arnulf zu Linden, CC BY-SA 3.0, source on Wikimedia Commons
Mijwiz Double Clarinet: the game in attract modeLive previewPlay

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How to play

  1. Eight pipes stand in a row, lowest note on the left; the dark discs on each pipe show which finger holes are covered.
  2. A soft guide line drifts down. Strike a pipe to sound its note over the steady drone, close to the pulse or the half beat.
  3. Keep playing for the whole round; long guide notes ask you to hold the line without a gap, as a circular breather would.
Rules at a glance
  • The scale is a bayati-type mode on D with a half-flat second note, so the second pipe sits between E flat and E.
  • A drone on the home note and its fifth sounds throughout, like the second pipe held steady by the player.
  • Strokes are scored against the pulse grid, two to a beat: on the grid is a perfect stroke, near it is good, and an extra stroke costs a little.
  • The round lasts forty-five seconds; the guide line is a suggestion, not a requirement.

About the tradition

The mijwiz is played in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, where it leads the line dance dabke at weddings and village gatherings and gives its name to a well-known song. Skilled players learn circular breathing so the tune can run for minutes without a pause.

Origins

A living tradition passed from person to person; it is not tied to a single dated origin. It belongs to the cultural world of Mesopotamia, Levant and Arabia.

Credits

Sources

Get the app

Mijwiz Double Clarinet is one of 10 instruments and dances in the Music & Dance of the World app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Submitted to the App Store and Google Play; in review. Store links appear here the day it goes live. One app, many traditions, no account needed.

See all 10 instruments and dances in the app

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