The Role of Women in Music of Iran’s Regions

The book The Role of Women in Music of Iran’s Regions examines the songs and melodies of women in various parts of Iran. Among the topics covered in each section are: identification of faith and religious beliefs in Iranian women’s songs and melodies; an overview of work and labor songs among Iranian women (both within the home environment during cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc., and outside the home such as carpet weaving, farming, orchards, etc.); examples of Turkmen, Malayer, Chaharlang Bakhtiari tribe, and Gilani songs; vocal music of Iranian women and the issue of mother tongue (songs with short syllables, songs in which sounds are conveyed with body movements or facial and hand gestures of a mother to her child, pentatonic songs, folk songs); religious ritual music of Iranian women; music of women in the Golestan province; interviews with female musicians in regions of Iran (interviews with 7 women in areas such as Kashan, Khorasan, Kurdistan, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari); a diagram categorizing women’s music in the different regions of Iran; and selected speeches from the Festival of Music of Women of Iran’s Regions by speakers including Mohammadreza Darvishi, Reza Mahdavi, Houshang Javid, and Zahra Shojaei.