Seven Essential Drum Rhythms
Here are seven key rhythms found in Arabic music that all Oriental dancers who dance Egyptian style should know.
Malfuf – 2/4
Dum tak-tak
Malfuf is commonly used when a dancer enters or exits the stage. It is a two-beat rhythm with only one dum. The quickness of the two-beat rhythm and the lightness of feel give Malfuf a lively yet relaxed and rolling feel. It’s energetic enough to capture the audience's attention when the dancer enters, but still leaves them wanting more.
Maqsum – 4/4
Dum-tak tak-Dum tak
This is the most common belly dance rhythm. The word maqsoum itself means half or halved. One theory is that the name and the rhythm come from halving (in the sense of playing half as fast) the very fast and very basic fellahi rhythm.
Fellahi –2/4
Dum-tak tak-Dum tak
Fellahin are farmers and this is a simple fast beat, good for movement/spins. The rhythm is the same as Maqsum but played in 2/4 instead of 4/4, so it is half as long.
Saidi
Dum-tak dum-Dum tak
Saidi is from the same family of rhythms as Maqsum but has two heavy dums in the second half instead of one. Saidi comes from the Said region of Egypt, also known as Upper Egypt - the 'i' ending indicates something from or to do with the Said. Saidi dance is traditional, powerful and earthy and usually accompanied by this rhythm.
Masmoudi Sagir (“little” Masmoudi) – 4/4
Dum-dum tak-ke-tak Dum tak-ke-tak
The Masmoud are a Berber tribe of northern Africa, and the 'i' ending indicates something from or to do with the Masmoud. This is another basic belly dance rhythm, though with a different feel to the Saidi and Maqsum because it starts with two heavy "dums".
Masmoudi Kabir (“big” Masmoudi) – 8/4
Dum-dum tak-ke-tak Dum tak-ke-tak
Masmoudi Kabir is the same as Masmoodi Sagir but in 8/4 instead of 4/4 so it is twice as long. The asymmetry and strong "dums" are more obvious in this longer version and mean you need to accent the rhythm rather than dance straight through it. Try a heavy percussive move for the "dums" and shimmies or flowing moves for the "taqs".
Khaleegi
Dum Dum tak
This rolling, syncopated rhythm is from the Gulf region – Khaleegi is not therefore an Egyptian drum rhythm but many Egyptian dancers include Khaleegi numbers or sections of their set to please their Saudi audience members and so it has become a common part of Egyptian dance repertoire. The feel remains quite different to most Egyptian music.
Note – some rhythms can be played in a number of different ways and won’t always exactly match the rhythm given here. For example both Saidi and Maqsoum can start with two "dums" instead of "dum tak", but can still be identified by the differences in the second part of the rhythm, as well as by the emphasis and the feel.
With thanks to Keti Sherif and with help from Suhaila Salimpour’s Drum Rhythms CD - and a couple of random drumming websites!