Andalusī nūbah (نوبة أندلسيّة), also transliterated nūba, nūbā, or nouba (pl. nūbāt), or in its classical Arabic form, nawba, nawbah, or nōbah, is a music genre found in the North African Maghrib states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya but, as the name indicates, it has its origins in Andalusi music. The name replaced the older use of sawt and originated from the musician waiting behind a curtain to be told it was his turn or nawbah by the sattar or curtain man.[1]
The North African cities have inherited a particularly Andalusian musical style of Granada.[2] The term gharnati (Granadan) in Morocco designates a distinct musical style from "Tarab Al Ala" originating in Córdoba and Valencia, according to the authors Rachid Aous and Mohammed Habib Samrakandi in the latter's book Musiques d'Algérie.[3]