Aïta

What it is

Aïta (plural ʿayout) is a popular song that is especially well loved among ordinary people¹. It is sung in Moroccan Arabic, as a strophic song found all along the Atlantic plains from Casablanca to Marrakesh². Literally, the word means a call used to attract someone’s attention³.

An aïta follows a fixed order: a prelude is followed by several sections, separated by a refrain that leads from one part to the next, and at the end comes a dance section⁴.

Where it comes from

Aïta has regional variants that differ in melody, rhythm and poetry: marsaouia around Casablanca, hasbaouia around Safi, haouzia around Marrakesh, zaïria around Rabat and Kenitra, mellalia around Beni Mellal⁵. Raggoug adds the gharbaouia and sees the origin of aïta in the hasbaoui style as played by duos in the Abda region around Safi⁶. According to him, the marsaouia, also called the aïta of Casablanca, comes from the Chaouia and the Doukkala and often sings of towns such as El Jadida and Azemmour⁷.

History

Raggoug traces aïta back to the Almohad period, when Arab tribes settled in the plains from the Gharb to Abda and Arab and Amazigh culture met⁸. At first it was played on the bendir, daff and drum; later wind instruments such as the gasba and ghaita were added⁹. Originally the groups consisted only of men with violin and taarija; over time, women formed their own groups¹⁰.

What it is made of

While singing, the chikhat beat a small taarija; the musicians accompany them on oud, kamanja (violin), darbouka and bendir, and some troupes also on swisdi or lotar, small lutes with two to four strings¹¹. In the hasbaoui style, the old instruments swisdi and guembri have survived¹².

How it is made

A performance has two parts: in the first, singing dominates, the lead singer (tabbaʿa) sings in alternation with a second one, and the other chikhat and some of the musicians add accents¹³. In the second, the music changes from a slow tempo to a faster 6/8 time and there is dancing; at the end the tempo gets faster and faster until a sudden stop¹⁴. The lead singer does not dance; dancing is left to the younger chikhat and the apprentices¹⁵.

A young chikha learns without a music school: she joins a troupe and over the years learns the repertoire, the dances, the dress and the make-up from an experienced chikh or chikha, until she can form a troupe of her own¹⁶.

When

The chikhat and their musicians perform at family celebrations that mark the stages of life and at private parties, for women, men or mixed audiences¹⁷.

Safi hosts the national Aïta festival; the 24th edition ran from 22 to 25 July 2026, organised by the culture department of the ministry with the province of Safi, with concerts, a colloquium and a workshop on staging aïta¹⁸. At the opening, aïta rahmania, abdia and marsaouia were performed; the programme focused on local groups and the masters of aïta hasbaouia¹⁹.