The following are rhythms commonly found in the Raks Sharqi routine.

In the breakdowns shows below, "dum" signifies the deep tone of the drum achieved by striking the centre of the doumbek with the whole hand. The "tek" is the high sharp sound made by striking the outer edge of the drum with the finger tips The "ka" is the same as tek but alternated with the other hand. An accomplished player can achieve up to seven distinct sounds on the doumbek.

For simplicity's sake, the breakdowns here include only the major defining accents of each rhythm, without all the possible decorative accents that give the rhythms such range and diversity of feeling.

Good sources for more education on rhythms:

CDs

Hossam Ramzy's Introduction to Eygptian Dance Rhythms - Verbal breakdown and examples of rhythms.

Jalilah's Raks Sharki 4 [pi'ra:nha]
Examples of 19 different rhythms of Arabic music.

Uncle Mafufo's Basic Rhythms Vols. 1 and 2 - Verbal breakdown and examples of rhythms by the drummer of California-based duo, Sirocco.

Uncle Mafufo's Essential Rhytms for Middle Eastern Drumming - Drumming instructioal CD.

Videos

Michael Beach's Basic Middle Eastern Rhythms Vol. 1 - Examples of the different types of Middle Eastern percussion instruments and instruction by drummer for Brothers of the Baladi.

Uncle Mafufo's Basic Rhythms for Arabic Drum - Middle Eastern drumming instructional video.

Hadia's Raks Esharqi Vol. 3 Rhythms - Teaches the dance movements appropriate to each rhythm.

4/4 Rhythms

Baladi or Beledi

Known more correctly as masmoudi sagheer, this rhythm called baladi because of its popularity. Soulful, sultry and earthy. Beledi often follows malfouf in the oriental routine, contrasting the flurry of movement in the entrance with more stationary, langorous steps.

Saidi

This folky rhythm from the Saidi region of Upper Egypt is used in raks tah'tyb and raks assaya, the men's stick and women's cane dances respectively. It has a powerful, earthy feel. Often found in pop music mixed with the upbeat accents of the maksoum.

Maksoum or Wahda Wa Noss

I call this one the "party rhythm". Its upbeat, playful air brings a bounce to all your beledi movements as you dance closer to your audience and share the joyful, exuberant side of raks sharqi. It is used in many Arabic pop songs and works well in the disco-ized tunes.

Debke

Debke is a line dance often performed informally at parties with the dancers on the ends twirling napkins or hankies. It involves a lot of stomping and hopping, inspired by all the heavy dum accents. It is native to such countries as Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq, the rhythmic accents differing in each.

2/4 Rhythms

Malfouf

The driving, gliding feel of this rhythm makes it perfect for entrances and exits as the dancers sweeps across the stage with veil held aloft.

Fellahy

This fast and bouncy rhythm inspires shimmies, jiggly bounces and sassy walks. It is named after the fellahin or Egyptian farmers. While normally limited to a small portion of the oriental routine (it's exhausting after a short time and the movement possibilities are limited), the Ghawazee dancers of Egypt use this as their mainstay rhythm, playing zills througout!

Ayoub

Very similar to the malfouf but the substitution of the dum for the tek on count 2 gives a much heavier feel inspiring convulsive movements of the torso--hence its use in the Zar dance. It also appears variously as entrance, exit and mmiddle sections of the oriental routine.

Khaleegy

This rhythm comes from the Arabian Gulf or Khalig and is used in the Saudi dance of the same name. It is similar to ayoub but its more upbeat accents give it a more lighthearted feeling. The dance is done in beautiful bright oversized dresses call tawbs.

8/4 Rhythms

Chiftitelli or Wahda Kebir

This is a rhythm originating in Greece and Turkey, and is actually the Greek name for bellydance. It is probably the most easily recognizable rhythm for Westerners. Its mesmerizing pulse inspires all the snakey, undulating movements and is often used by Western dancers for floor work, sword and candle dances. When used in Arabic routines it is usually played at a faster tempo.

Masmoudi

The masmoudi has all the same major accents of the beledi but spread over 8 counts instead of 4. For this reason, beledi is also called masmoudi Sagheer, or little masmoudi. Mousmoudi kebir (big masmoudi) is sometimes used instead of the malfouf for an entrance with a more stately, regal feel, or it may constitute a rhythm change elsewhere in the routine. Below are two variations.

Al Zaffa

This is the Arabic wedding march. The bellydancer invites the bride and groom up onto the stage to parade around with her to this rhythm.

Other Rhythms

Karsilama 9/8

This one can take a little getting used to with it's unsualy 9 count rhythm. It's easiest if you count it as ONE, TWO, THREE, ONETWOTHREE, that's 3 slow counts and 3 fast ones.

Shabia (Moroccan) 6/8

This one can really stump you when it shows up in the middle of an oriental song as we don't generally learn bellydance steps to this rhythm and most of them don't fit. It feels like the Western waltz: ONE-TWO-THREE, ONE-TWO-THREE and feels like the ballet waltz step: down-up-up, down-up-up, so try stepping in 3 counts and using hip twists.

Samahi 10/4

This unsual 10-ct rhythm is thought to be from Andalusian times and has a lot of potential for dramatic accent sequences. It is usually found in classical music but appears occaisionally in the oriental routine.

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