Jahlah and Mirwas

Percussion plays a central part in musical forms of the Gulf region. Pearl fishermen in Kuwait, Qatar, and  Bahrain use percussive sounds in the form of complicated group hand-clapping in their songs, or fijri. The instruments that accompany the songs are the jahlah, in the shape of a clay pot and played with the hands, and the mirwas, a small double-sided hand drum.