[1] The singer performing a mawwal would usually lament and long for something, such as a past lover, a departed family member or a place, in a wailing manner.

[3] There are many preferences regarding the origin of the mawwal, one of these is the one al-Suyuti attributes it in the book Sharh al-Muwashah to the era of Harun al-Rashid.

[4][5] In Egypt, which is considered one of the traditional homes Mawwawel ("plural of Mawwal") the musicians of Mawawil play the rabab (a double-stringed spike fiddle made from half of a coconut shell covered with fish skin and a bow strung with horse hair), the kawala (an end-blown, oblique flute with six holes) and the arghoul (an ancient double clarinet characterized by two pipes of unequal length.

The mawwal musicians in Iraq use mainly santur, which is a hammered dulcimer of Mesopotamian origin, (trapezoid box zither with a walnut body and 92 steel (or bronze) strings, he strings, tuned to the same pitch in groups of four, are struck with two wooden mallets called "midhrab"), joza, and oud, as the country' oud playing tradition have become an own school and a reference.

Albert Rowel Tamras and Adwar Mousa, who are from Iraq and Syria, respectively, are such examples who use this art form in their music.