i imħabba GĦANA

first let me start of by saying that there were no wednesday posts this week as i was away in a beautiful country called spain. i originally went to visit a dear friend from high school, graeme, but ended up staying a bit longer to check out the north eastern [catalonia] side of the country for myself.  maybe i will post about spain later, but for now, i am just too excited over being introduced to maltese  għana. [pronounced ahh-na] 

its a form of traditional maltese folk music that was usually associated with peasants and the working class: farmers, fishermen, seamstresses etc.  it has a basic rhyme scheme that follows an a-b-c-b structure and is usually accompanied by numerous guitars.


it is said that this form of song is something in between sicilian ballads and the 'rhythmic wail of an arabic tune', which makes complete sense as maltese [and the island itself] is basically a clashing of these two cultures.


needless to say its a rhythmically catchy and interesting form of song to listen to. there are apparently many types. the first i witnessed today [ as it popped up on sandra's ipod] is called: BOTTA U RISPOSTA :
the most popular type of ghana, when two or more men impromptu song-duel with insults. the crowd usually responds when one insult or rhyme is particularily well played out. it's basically the mediterranean form of a freestyle rap battle. but with better music. 

other forms encompass other types of rhyme schemes, are sung in high pitches, melancholic ballads, or simply single person tunes. 

enough with the chat. let's hear some music!




GĦANA FIL-GHOLI or La Bormliza [the high pitched kind]








some nice collaboration


luckily for me the ghanafest or malta folk-music festival is coming up within the next few weeks!!!!!