All Middle Eastern rhythms have a name and often a history and social context. The name of some rhythms will give you an idea of the origins or social context. Other rhythm's histories come to us through word of mouth. Below are a few of the most common Middle Eastern rhythms.You are likely to hear and use these with your dance.
Dum and Tak
Middle Eastern rhythms are made up of two sounds, the dum and tak. Dum is the heavy, deep note played in the centre of the drum and tak is the light, sharp note played on the edge of the drum. Drummers can play many other sounds to decorate the rhythms. However, the basic rhythm is a sequence of dums and taks.
Time Signature
The time signature tells you how long the rhythm is, how long the before the sequence repeats. In a two-beat rhythm like zaar or malfouf, the rhythm repeats itself after two counts or in an eight-beat rhythm like masmoudi the rhythm repeats after eight counts.
Four beat rhythms 4/4
Maqsoum dum tak tak dum tak
This Egyptian rhythm is considered the basic belly dance rhythm and is the most common rhythm in today's belly dancing music. Maqsoum means half or halved, possibly meaning the name and the rhythm come from halving - in the sense of playing half as fast - the very fast fellahi rhythm.
Saidi dum tak dum dum tak
Saidi is based on three strong dums,with a srong dum at the start with two dums in the middle. Saidi comes from the Said region of Egypt, also known as Upper Egypt. Tahtib or men's stick dance which the Raqs al Assaya or women's cane dance is based on, originated in the Said which is a strong, lively dance.
Baladi dum dum tak tak dum tak tak
This is also a folk rhythm but usually danced as a solo. As a dance it was developed for on the spot dancing, some say to make dancing on sand easier, others that this was the dance most commonly found in nightclubs where there was little room for sweeping movements.
Waheda dum tak tak tak tak dum dum tak (one version)
In Arabic wahid means one. Waheda or wahda kebera consists of one dum on the first count followed by three counts of taks. With just one (wahid) heavy dum and a series of lighter taks this rhythm has a very light and flowing feel and is suited to softer movements such as hip circles, figures of eight or camel.
Two beat rhythms 2/4
Zaar dum dum tak
The Zaar or Ayoub rhythm, is the simplest but also the most spiritually powerful of all the Middle Eastern rhythms. Zaar is a single dom followed by a single tak, and then another.There tiny delay a single sixteenth note, between the first dum and the next tak. The rhythm comes out as dom·tak dum tak, dom·tak dum tak, giving the rhythm a strong driving feel. The spirituality of Zaar stems from these hypnotic, mesmerizing, pounding dums, most often associated with the trance dances of the whirling dervishes. The same rhythm played more slowly, is used in Egypt and Northern Africa to drive away evil spirits.
Malfouf dum tak tak tak tak
Malfouf is often used when a dancer enters or exits and it is a two-beat rhythm.The quickness of the two-beat rhythm and the lightness of having only one dum gives Malfouf a lively but relaxed, rolling feel. Energetic enough to capture the audience's attention when the dancer enters, but still leaves them wanting more.
Eight beat rhythms 4/8
Masmoudi dum dum tak tak tak dum tak tak tak tak tak ( this is one version)
The Masmoud are a Berber tribe of northern Africa, and the 'i' ending means something from or to do with the Masmoud. Musically Masmoudi is interesting in that it is 8 counts long and partly symmetric,the first half consisting of two dums and one set of taks, the second half consisting of one dum and two sets of taks. The length of the rhythm, its asymmetry and the combination of strong dums and light taks give the dancer plenty of opportunity to interpret this rhythm creatively.
Chiftitelli
This Turkish rhythm has a distinctive rest on the final beat which gives the rhythm a soft, relaxed feel.Often used as the underlying rhythm for taqsim allowing the other musicians to solo freely over the softly flowing Chiftitelli rhythm. For dancing fluid moves as undulations and gracefularm movements work well.When the dancer and drummer pause on the final eighth beat, time seems to stand still and the effect is stunning. It is basically the same as wahda kabera.
Odd rhythms 9/8, 6/7, 10/8 ...
The rhythms above are the most common Middle Eastern rhythms but not the only ones. We are so used to 4-beat rhythms, as in most pop music, and because 2 and 8 beat rhythms are simple multiples of 4, we think 4 is 'natural', so dancing to a beat that is not 2, 4, or 8 seems difficult at first.
Some odd-beat Middle Eastern rhythms include the 9/8 Turkish Karsilama, 6/7 Laz rhythms 9 beat and 7 beat rhythms, and 10/8 10 beat Samai rhythm from Egypt.
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