Strings of the Sahara: Exploring Tuareg Guitar Traditions
A Sound That Moves Through Sand and Time
The guitar holds a sacred place in Tuareg culture. It’s more than music. It’s identity, resistance, storytelling, and spirit. In the vast dunes of the Sahara, where words are often few and distances wide, the electric guitar speaks with raw emotion and poetic urgency.
This video is a tribute to that voice. A blend of clips from courses that trace the origin, evolution, and global influence of Tuareg guitar music.
What You’ll See in the Video
We’ve woven together lessons from three different artists and courses:
- Justin Adams, whose Desert Guitar Origins course unpacks the roots of the Saharan sound. Justin is not only a long-time explorer of North African music, but also the producer of two iconic albums by Tinariwen, a popular and Grammy-winning Tuareg band whose sound brought desert blues to the world stage.
- Bombino, the legendary Tuareg guitarist from Niger, known for his hypnotic riffs and global collaborations. He represents a new generation of desert rock, and his upcoming course with World Music Method dives deep into the modern Tuareg guitar voice.
- Vieux Farka Touré, while not Tuareg himself, shares a powerful lesson on Tuareg guitar traditions in his Malian Guitar Evolution course acknowledging their influence on Mali’s musical landscape and his own guitar journey.
Bombino’s Azamane Tiliade: A Signature of Tuareg Desert Blues
To experience the soul of Tuareg guitar, watch Bombino’s powerful performance in his song Azamane Tiliade:
Learn Tuareg and Malian Guitar with These Masterclasses
Continue your journey into Saharan and Malian guitar with these full courses:
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