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Updated this post on 9/29/10 with more resources.
I've taken it upon myself to get musicians in Atlanta to see my point of view - that Middle Eastern music is amazing and should be played often! In doing this, I've also taken it upon myself to collect a large amount of classical Arabic sheet music. Here is a list of sheet music resources that I've found to be very helpful:
http://www.angelfire.com/music4/bilbilau/sheetmusic.htm - UPDATED 9/29/10 Great resource for Balkan, Turkish, and SCA-type music
http://www.istanpitta.com/cds_books/ - UPDATED 9/29/10 Avatar's Early Music Books. His arrangements are well thought out, giving a little more ornamentation that your normal melody lines that are written out. I've only focused on the handful of Eastern music in his collection, but can't wait to dive into more.
http://www.khafif.com/rhy - Jas's great percussion site, complete with midi sound clips
http://www.khafif.com/rhy/abc.html - Jas's resource for some sheet music, in ABC notation and sheet music
http://www.issaboulos.com/archive/ - Archive of Middle Eastern sheet music, amazing resource.
http://www.maqam.com/store/p/20-Arabic-Music-Songbook.html - Great source book with lots of tunes + lyrics in Arabic.
http://ifdo.pugmarks.com/~seymour/midipage/ - AMAZING site I stumbled across with stuff from all over the world
http://www.alsiadi.com/index.html - Has a great selection of free music, but you have to download scorch to see the music.
http://www.dorku.com/ - Carmine and Melissa's transcribing project, some free pieces and a lot for sale for about .99 cents each
http://www.bellydancesheetmusic.com/ - Melissa's continuing project for sheet music
http://www.arabicmusicalscores.com/buysheetmusic.php?cat=all - For purchase sheet music, mostly Egyptian and Lebanese
http://pentagrammi.wordpress.com/2005/05/25/spartiti-musica-araba/ - Random blog with some cool stuff for free
http://www.maryellendonald.com/CDs&BooksAvailableforPurchase.htm - Mimi Spencer's and Mary Ellen Donald books - great song books, clear and organized, some with song lyrics.
Showing posts with label resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resources. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Now Accepting Students for Private Sessions
I'm not currently offering weekly classes, but I would like to extend the opportunity for students to schedule private sessions with me. First lesson includes a 30 minute dance consultation - let's figure out what you want to do and how you want to do it - and then we'll dive into your hour session.
These sessions will help you get on the right track for your dance aspirations. I don't teach trends or tricks; I teach technique an...d theory - and I'll work you HARD. We'll take the sessions at a pace that is comfortable, yet challenging for you. If it's easy, you're not learning! Private sessions are for specific feedback to accelerate your dance growth, so constructive criticism is an essential part of these sessions.
Topics include:
- Musicality
- Music Theory
- Arabic Styling
- Drills
- Zills
- Spin Technique
- Veil Technique
- Shimmy technique
- Layering drills
- Choreography
I may have you work on other technique before we approach your topic of choice. This is a good thing. Great dancers build proper technique and then can easily extend that technique to their inspiration. Don't hurt yourself or compromise your dance integrity!
Please message me if you are interested and we can schedule your first session. $35 an hour or $60 for 2 hours, travel expenses apply to teach in your home.
You can also send an email to majda dot anwar at gmail dot com
Thanks!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sheet Music Craziness!
I read sheet music. I was trained as a musician to read sheet music. Learning pieces by ear has been a challenge to say the least, learning Middle Eastern songs by ear? HA! I need some guidelines before I can dive off that cliff. Over the last couple of weeks I've bought some Arabic sheet music compilation books and CD's with sheet music files. I found these on all corners of the inter-webs and beyond. I'll share my initial thoughts with each as I become mroe familiar with each through practice and usage. Some initial thoughts include:
Mimi Spencer's song book (pink book pictured) is great for developing belly dance sets, very clear and to the point with clear notation. Can't wait to accumulate that entire collection of music.
Maqam.com's sheet music book (blue book on left) has a lot of pieces from the Levant which is nice as most of these song books carry a lot of Egyptian pieces. The lyrics are inlcuded in Arabic, which is useful if you can read Arabic. Transliteration only goes so far in my opinion, and if you're going to play and especially sing Arabic music, start learning the Arabic language. You'll be surprised at how much you miss out when you don't. I'm not fluent but I see this as an excellent way to practice and learn.
I've leafed through most of the others, but haven't had a chance to really dive into them. I'll be figuring out a better format of posting reviews and will start those soon.
Next post: Important terms for Arabic music: do you know what iqaat, muwashah, qasida, takht or wasala mean? My next post will include a glossary of terms for Arabic music.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Arabic Percussion
Last Monday two guests artists, Met’hat Mamdua and Khaled Abu Higazzi came to my Arabic music theory class class to give a lecture on Arabic percussive instruments. Mr. Met’hat is a very accomplished tabla player, who plays for Arabic singers all around Egypt - including Amr Diab! He also is involved in a Turkish band that recently played at the Sakia el Sawy this month. Mr. Khaled, who gave most of the lecture, specializes in the riqq and also performs regularly with ensembles and Arabic singers. After the lecture, which is summarized below, both musicians accompanied the class for rehearsal for our concert next Thursday.
Khaled started off the lecture by introducing the main percussive instruments of Arabic music. There are three main instruments, the tabla, the duff, and the riqq. The tabla is a goblet shaped hand drum that can come in up to four different sizes. The largest size is called a dahola, and the smallest is played by acclaimed percussionist Raquy Danziger. The standard Egyptian tabla weighs about six to seven kilos. The drum head, or the ra’ima as it is referred to, used to be made of fish skin, but now is made from synthetic materials. The reason for this change was the constant hassle of retuning the fish skin head as the material would stretch. Drummers would have to heat up their drums on heating pads to make sure the drum head would not stretch to be out of tune. Now, with the synthetic head, drummers do not have to have that hassle or worry about temperature change as much as in the past.
Players lay the tabla on their lap with the head of the drum facing in towards the opposite knee. The doum, or the strong beat, is normally played with the right hand giving an even base tone. The tak, or the weak beat, can be played by both the left or the right hand and in many different styles that include the normal tak sound on the very edge of the drum, or within rolls, pops, and snaps. The third type of sound is ‘es’. Es is the filling of silence between the doums and teks, or the heartbeat of a darb (darb is Arabic for rhythm).
The next instrument Khaled introduced was the riqq. The riqq, or the Arabic tambourine as it is sometimes called, is a small frame drum played upright with two hands. The doum and tek are opposite of the tabla as the doum is played on the edge of the drum frame, and the tek is caught in the middle of the drum. The es is mostly emphasized by the galagel, the five groups of four sets of cymbals set around the frame of the riqq. Like the tabla, the riqq used to have a ra\ima made of fish skin, but now it is synthetic. Another interesting feature of the riqq is that its frame is tunable. Players may tune a riqq higher or lower for different sounds throughout a piece.
The third instrument introduced was the duff. The duff is a large frame drum that keeps the heart beat of a darb. Duff players do not play ‘es’, rather they play the doums and teks of a darb whilst the tabla and riqq players elaborate. The duff is mostly recognized with the zeffa, a wedding procession in which a distinct darb is played for the bride and groom as they walk together through family and friends being presented as newly weds. A cousin to the duff, the maz’har is a duff with cymbals. The maz’har is slightly smaller than the duff, but both are considerably bigger than the riqq.
Arabic percussive sections change according to the type of ensemble. The two most popular ensembles are the takht and the firqa. A takht is a small chamber ensemble that consists of a qanoon (similar to a zither), kamanga (violin), ney (wind instrument), oud (the grandfather to the lute), and percussion instrument, most often the riqq. In these ensembles and smaller firqas the riqq is the lead percussion. When in larger ensembles, such as a firqa, the tabla becomes the lead instrument for the percussion section. In addition to this, the riqq is usually featured in pieces with longer darbs, while tablas are mainly used for shorter darbs and solos.
Khaled started off the lecture by introducing the main percussive instruments of Arabic music. There are three main instruments, the tabla, the duff, and the riqq. The tabla is a goblet shaped hand drum that can come in up to four different sizes. The largest size is called a dahola, and the smallest is played by acclaimed percussionist Raquy Danziger. The standard Egyptian tabla weighs about six to seven kilos. The drum head, or the ra’ima as it is referred to, used to be made of fish skin, but now is made from synthetic materials. The reason for this change was the constant hassle of retuning the fish skin head as the material would stretch. Drummers would have to heat up their drums on heating pads to make sure the drum head would not stretch to be out of tune. Now, with the synthetic head, drummers do not have to have that hassle or worry about temperature change as much as in the past.
Players lay the tabla on their lap with the head of the drum facing in towards the opposite knee. The doum, or the strong beat, is normally played with the right hand giving an even base tone. The tak, or the weak beat, can be played by both the left or the right hand and in many different styles that include the normal tak sound on the very edge of the drum, or within rolls, pops, and snaps. The third type of sound is ‘es’. Es is the filling of silence between the doums and teks, or the heartbeat of a darb (darb is Arabic for rhythm).
The next instrument Khaled introduced was the riqq. The riqq, or the Arabic tambourine as it is sometimes called, is a small frame drum played upright with two hands. The doum and tek are opposite of the tabla as the doum is played on the edge of the drum frame, and the tek is caught in the middle of the drum. The es is mostly emphasized by the galagel, the five groups of four sets of cymbals set around the frame of the riqq. Like the tabla, the riqq used to have a ra\ima made of fish skin, but now it is synthetic. Another interesting feature of the riqq is that its frame is tunable. Players may tune a riqq higher or lower for different sounds throughout a piece.
The third instrument introduced was the duff. The duff is a large frame drum that keeps the heart beat of a darb. Duff players do not play ‘es’, rather they play the doums and teks of a darb whilst the tabla and riqq players elaborate. The duff is mostly recognized with the zeffa, a wedding procession in which a distinct darb is played for the bride and groom as they walk together through family and friends being presented as newly weds. A cousin to the duff, the maz’har is a duff with cymbals. The maz’har is slightly smaller than the duff, but both are considerably bigger than the riqq.
Arabic percussive sections change according to the type of ensemble. The two most popular ensembles are the takht and the firqa. A takht is a small chamber ensemble that consists of a qanoon (similar to a zither), kamanga (violin), ney (wind instrument), oud (the grandfather to the lute), and percussion instrument, most often the riqq. In these ensembles and smaller firqas the riqq is the lead percussion. When in larger ensembles, such as a firqa, the tabla becomes the lead instrument for the percussion section. In addition to this, the riqq is usually featured in pieces with longer darbs, while tablas are mainly used for shorter darbs and solos.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A journey into the Samaii Rhythm
On Friday, October 31st, I attended a concert at the Culture Wheel in Zamalek. The featured band was a group of musicians originally from Alexandria called the Samaii band. This concert was a showcase of songs all played in the darb Samaii, which is a 10/8 rhythm used in Middle Eastern music. The Samaii rhythm is most recognizable in the West by the Lebanese song Lamma Bada Yatathana. The concert lasted for only one and a half hours, and there were a total of 17 songs performed, with only one or two featuring a different rhythm. Below I will try to recount the songs I heard with the help of the program notes. The entire concert was in Arabic, as well as the program, so translations may not be correct. The band was quick to start its set right at 8 PM…a rarity that you see in Egypt!
The band itself consisted of five musicians. They sat in a semi circle with the main singer sitting in the middle of the musicians. To the far left of the stage was the violinist, whose name was not included in the program list. Next to him was one of two oud players, Abdu el-Qadr el-Amir. After Mr. el-Amir, the main vocalist, Fajr el-Jazawy was seated in the middle. The next musician and the second oud player named Hassan Aly was seated next to Ms. El-Jazawy, and finally on the far right of the stage was the riq player and only percussion for the ensemble, Daha el-Jazawy, Fajr’s sister.
The program notes for the concert was a huge help to my Western ear to decupher each song. It contained the name of each song, the maqams for each, the darb (if it was different form the Samaii), and the composers and lyrists for each. The songs were labeled into four different categories. The first was “musiqi” which referred to a piece that had no vocals. The second was a “mushaa” which, from what I could find, is a more poetic song. The literal translation from my Arabic dictionary was “a post-Classical Arab poem made of stanzas”. For these songs, the chorus, verse, and instrument solos were much more apparent than the non-vocal pieces. The next category was simply songs, no exact label, just the title of the song. I was not familiar with any of these songs, but they seemed to be more modern. The last category was the arrangement, which is called “tanweyat”. There were two of these pieces throughout the night. Again, I could not decipher the different pieces from each because I was not familiar with the songs, but it was noticeable through the number of choruses and verses.
The first piece played for the evening was simply entitled “Samaii Musiqi” and featured no vocals. I think this was the equivalent to a longa in that it set the tone for the rest of the evening’s songs. The piece was played in Hijaz maqam and lasted only a couple of minutes and featured stops between darbs to accent the Samaii rhythm. The second piece was Lamma Bada Yatathana. I was personally very excited because I recognized this piece, the one of only two that I recognized throughout the night. The maqam for Lamma Bada was Nahawand and the Samaii Thaqil rhythm was featured in this piece. I’ve heard many versions of Lama Bada, and this one was very classical. The singer had a very sweet voice, but I couldn’t help but compare her voice to Fairuz. The song was said to originate in southern Spain under Moorish rule, so I’ve heard Spanish versions as well as Arabic versions.
The next piece in the program was called Beyyah el-Huy which was one of the only songs of the night that featured a different darb, malfouf. The darb changed into Samaii for the chorus and changed back to malfouf for the “kubles” of the song. The fifth song also featured a maqsoum rhythm, to be honest the rhythm changes shone through each of the songs because the music changed so much. The next couple of songs were very similar to each other to my untrained ear. It was hard to decipher especially because the darb was the same. The last song of the first portion of the night was another instrumental song. This piece featured improvisations from each of the musicians minus the vocalist. I don’t think these were true taqsims in that there seemed to be more of a play between the musicians and each had solos for very short periods of time. Each musician was able to show off their instrument, and the audience was appreciative of each solo with clapping and even some whistling.
While the number of songs in the second set was 8 instead of 9, the length of the second set was much shorter. The first piece was a song about Alexandria, the vocalist explained a little about the song before they played it, the only interaction the band had with the audience besides playing. The second song, Saalama ya Salaama was the second song of the night that I recognized. This must have been the classical version of the song because it took me until the chorus to realize that I knew the song. The tempo was much slower than the pop rendition that I am familiar with. The sixth song of the set, Ya Salaah el Zain got a great response from the crowd. I even heard a zaghareet! The closing number of the evening was a piece by Farid el Atrache. This again got the crowd excited, partially I think because it was a song the crowd recognized. After the last song was through, the ensemble stood, bowed, and left the stage. It was a quiet ending to a quiet evening that explored the Samaii rhythm through classical pieces, poetic songs, folkloric melodies, and more modern pieces.
The band itself consisted of five musicians. They sat in a semi circle with the main singer sitting in the middle of the musicians. To the far left of the stage was the violinist, whose name was not included in the program list. Next to him was one of two oud players, Abdu el-Qadr el-Amir. After Mr. el-Amir, the main vocalist, Fajr el-Jazawy was seated in the middle. The next musician and the second oud player named Hassan Aly was seated next to Ms. El-Jazawy, and finally on the far right of the stage was the riq player and only percussion for the ensemble, Daha el-Jazawy, Fajr’s sister.
The program notes for the concert was a huge help to my Western ear to decupher each song. It contained the name of each song, the maqams for each, the darb (if it was different form the Samaii), and the composers and lyrists for each. The songs were labeled into four different categories. The first was “musiqi” which referred to a piece that had no vocals. The second was a “mushaa” which, from what I could find, is a more poetic song. The literal translation from my Arabic dictionary was “a post-Classical Arab poem made of stanzas”. For these songs, the chorus, verse, and instrument solos were much more apparent than the non-vocal pieces. The next category was simply songs, no exact label, just the title of the song. I was not familiar with any of these songs, but they seemed to be more modern. The last category was the arrangement, which is called “tanweyat”. There were two of these pieces throughout the night. Again, I could not decipher the different pieces from each because I was not familiar with the songs, but it was noticeable through the number of choruses and verses.
The first piece played for the evening was simply entitled “Samaii Musiqi” and featured no vocals. I think this was the equivalent to a longa in that it set the tone for the rest of the evening’s songs. The piece was played in Hijaz maqam and lasted only a couple of minutes and featured stops between darbs to accent the Samaii rhythm. The second piece was Lamma Bada Yatathana. I was personally very excited because I recognized this piece, the one of only two that I recognized throughout the night. The maqam for Lamma Bada was Nahawand and the Samaii Thaqil rhythm was featured in this piece. I’ve heard many versions of Lama Bada, and this one was very classical. The singer had a very sweet voice, but I couldn’t help but compare her voice to Fairuz. The song was said to originate in southern Spain under Moorish rule, so I’ve heard Spanish versions as well as Arabic versions.
The next piece in the program was called Beyyah el-Huy which was one of the only songs of the night that featured a different darb, malfouf. The darb changed into Samaii for the chorus and changed back to malfouf for the “kubles” of the song. The fifth song also featured a maqsoum rhythm, to be honest the rhythm changes shone through each of the songs because the music changed so much. The next couple of songs were very similar to each other to my untrained ear. It was hard to decipher especially because the darb was the same. The last song of the first portion of the night was another instrumental song. This piece featured improvisations from each of the musicians minus the vocalist. I don’t think these were true taqsims in that there seemed to be more of a play between the musicians and each had solos for very short periods of time. Each musician was able to show off their instrument, and the audience was appreciative of each solo with clapping and even some whistling.
While the number of songs in the second set was 8 instead of 9, the length of the second set was much shorter. The first piece was a song about Alexandria, the vocalist explained a little about the song before they played it, the only interaction the band had with the audience besides playing. The second song, Saalama ya Salaama was the second song of the night that I recognized. This must have been the classical version of the song because it took me until the chorus to realize that I knew the song. The tempo was much slower than the pop rendition that I am familiar with. The sixth song of the set, Ya Salaah el Zain got a great response from the crowd. I even heard a zaghareet! The closing number of the evening was a piece by Farid el Atrache. This again got the crowd excited, partially I think because it was a song the crowd recognized. After the last song was through, the ensemble stood, bowed, and left the stage. It was a quiet ending to a quiet evening that explored the Samaii rhythm through classical pieces, poetic songs, folkloric melodies, and more modern pieces.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Taxis in Cairo
Taxis in Cairo are an adventure to say the least. My friends and I use them all the time to get form place to place when we don't feel like using the metro, or when we have missed the shuttles the school provides to Zamalek and City Stars, the local mall that is closest to us.
There are two types of taxis you can get in Cairo, a black and white cab and a yellow cab. Yellow cabs are usually a little nicer, and the drivers may speak some English. They work on a meter system, so you know how much you owe when you get to your destination, but be careful! These drivers rarely 'have change' - meaning they try to stiff you if you don't have exact cash. I've taken a yellow cab when I'm going to a new area, and it made me feel safer and my friends have used them for moving or going to the airport.
Yellow taxis however, are not for day to day. You have to order them at least an hour in advance, and they are a little on the expensive side. Now, if you want the real Cairo experience, get the black and white cab. A black and white cab is usually independently operated with 2 to 3 drivers sharing shifts on one cab. There is no air-conditioning, the doors on one side won't work, and you're in a better cab if it has side view mirrors and if the doors stay closed. There is an unwritten protocol to black and white cabs that you must follow:
1. Ask someone before hand how much your ride should be. Black and white taxis are not metered, but on a negotiable rate. I try to not tell them how much I will pay before I get in, but instead wait until we reach the destination, hand them the money, and walk away. I've had the occasional irate driver who wanted more because traffic was bad, or thought he could get more by taking the longer way.
2. Drivers will try to scam foreigners. If you ask how much before you get into the cab, they will try to over charge. Negotiate, settle on a price, and stick to that price. Drivers might complain about the traffic, the heat, or anything else to guilt you into paying more.
3. Practice your Arabic! I've found that trying to communicate in Arabic with the drivers means a better fare. I've also had my better conversations with the nicer drivers, and they appreciate your effort to speak Arabic. One of my favorite memories of Alexandria was when my friends and I piled into a cab and the driver blasted Amr Diab the whole way back to the hotel. He even let our male friend honk the horn to the beat of the music!
4. Girls should not sit in the front seat if it can be avoided, especially if you are wearing a skirt.
5. Do not pay the driver until everyone has gotten out of the cab. Hand money outside of the cab from the passenger's side, don't say anything, and leave. I've heard of drivers being so angry as to get out of the cab, grab someone on the shoulder and demand more money. Thankfully this has not happened to me yet, and I don't plan on it happening. Knowing how much you should pay really helps to avoid this, and if you are firm about your price, the driver won't make a scene.
6. NEVER get a cab straight out of a hotel. Most of the drivers here are 'contracted' by the hotel...meaning they will charge 5 times more what should be paid. My friends took a cab from one hotel to the other, less than 5 minutes, and paid 25 pounds. I pay 20 for a 30 minute cab ride from Heliopolis to Zamalek. Take a little walk down from your hotel and grab a taxi, it'll be cheaper and you'll have a nice stroll along the Nile!
Follow these simple rules, and getting around Cairo is very easy. The metro is super cheap - 1 pound aka 20 cents one way, but I haven't explored this option as much as the taxis. The metro does have women only carts. You can ride in the other carts, but I feel at ease in the women's carts (less stares and kissy noises) and they are usually much less crowded less stuffy.
There are two types of taxis you can get in Cairo, a black and white cab and a yellow cab. Yellow cabs are usually a little nicer, and the drivers may speak some English. They work on a meter system, so you know how much you owe when you get to your destination, but be careful! These drivers rarely 'have change' - meaning they try to stiff you if you don't have exact cash. I've taken a yellow cab when I'm going to a new area, and it made me feel safer and my friends have used them for moving or going to the airport.
Yellow taxis however, are not for day to day. You have to order them at least an hour in advance, and they are a little on the expensive side. Now, if you want the real Cairo experience, get the black and white cab. A black and white cab is usually independently operated with 2 to 3 drivers sharing shifts on one cab. There is no air-conditioning, the doors on one side won't work, and you're in a better cab if it has side view mirrors and if the doors stay closed. There is an unwritten protocol to black and white cabs that you must follow:
1. Ask someone before hand how much your ride should be. Black and white taxis are not metered, but on a negotiable rate. I try to not tell them how much I will pay before I get in, but instead wait until we reach the destination, hand them the money, and walk away. I've had the occasional irate driver who wanted more because traffic was bad, or thought he could get more by taking the longer way.
2. Drivers will try to scam foreigners. If you ask how much before you get into the cab, they will try to over charge. Negotiate, settle on a price, and stick to that price. Drivers might complain about the traffic, the heat, or anything else to guilt you into paying more.
3. Practice your Arabic! I've found that trying to communicate in Arabic with the drivers means a better fare. I've also had my better conversations with the nicer drivers, and they appreciate your effort to speak Arabic. One of my favorite memories of Alexandria was when my friends and I piled into a cab and the driver blasted Amr Diab the whole way back to the hotel. He even let our male friend honk the horn to the beat of the music!
4. Girls should not sit in the front seat if it can be avoided, especially if you are wearing a skirt.
5. Do not pay the driver until everyone has gotten out of the cab. Hand money outside of the cab from the passenger's side, don't say anything, and leave. I've heard of drivers being so angry as to get out of the cab, grab someone on the shoulder and demand more money. Thankfully this has not happened to me yet, and I don't plan on it happening. Knowing how much you should pay really helps to avoid this, and if you are firm about your price, the driver won't make a scene.
6. NEVER get a cab straight out of a hotel. Most of the drivers here are 'contracted' by the hotel...meaning they will charge 5 times more what should be paid. My friends took a cab from one hotel to the other, less than 5 minutes, and paid 25 pounds. I pay 20 for a 30 minute cab ride from Heliopolis to Zamalek. Take a little walk down from your hotel and grab a taxi, it'll be cheaper and you'll have a nice stroll along the Nile!
Follow these simple rules, and getting around Cairo is very easy. The metro is super cheap - 1 pound aka 20 cents one way, but I haven't explored this option as much as the taxis. The metro does have women only carts. You can ride in the other carts, but I feel at ease in the women's carts (less stares and kissy noises) and they are usually much less crowded less stuffy.
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