Arabic Belly Dance Music

Earlier the music for Arabic Belly Dance was very traditional. The scenario changed drastically and altered significantly after the French invasion is the late 19th century.  Till this time the Arabic music was void of music notations.

The classical Egyptian Tarab developed in the late 20th century. It is only after this that the voice started dominating the scene. The Arabic belly dancing is performed in almost all the Arab countries.

Some of the Arab countries are more influenced by other non Arab countries like Morocco, Algeria and Lebanon are more influenced by France, Egypt seems to be more influenced by the Roman culture. Consequently the Arabic belly dance music is different in different countries.

Arabic Belly Dance Music has specific rhythmic patterns that gives form to the Arabic Belly Dance . This rhythm is the basis of interpretation and visual expression in this dance. The Rhythmic patterns that are very prominent in the Arabic Belly Dance Music are Beledi Rhythm,  Ciftetelli Rhythm, Taksim Rhythm, Kashlima Rhythm and the Khaleegy Rhythm. Sometimes the rhythm is fast and sometimes slow. The Rhythm is very much dependent on two sounds : “Dun” and “Tek” .

The Arabic Belly Dance Music is usually composed with the help of musical instruments such as Buzuk, Saz, Mejwiz, Oud, Qanoun, Nay, Debakkeh (Tabla)

The Oud is a pear shaped lute. It has a short fretless neck. This neck can be plucked with either a feather or fingers. The feather is now made of plastic.  This musical instrument has a rich low tone. The music generated from this make  it suitable for long Tarab evenings.

Qanoun: It consists of fifty strings tied to a metallic table .This is similar to the santoor that is used in Iranian music. The strings are plucked by the musician who has strapped his right or left fingers with metallic plucks. This Music equipment adds high harmonics to the overall music.

The nay is a bamboo flute. It has seven holes.

The Saz and Buzuk are  pear shaped lute and have a long neck. These music equipments come in different sizes and have different number of frets. These instruments can be tuned in different ways.

The Derbakkeh (Tabla) is a drum. It is made of clay but nowadays made from metal. It give the basic rhythm in the  Arabic Belly Dance Music.

Rai is a type of Arabic Belly Dance Music. This is practiced and performed in Algeria. The music in this country can be tagged to be pop music but is dependent on Arabic and Algerian music. This music tends to be mixed with Reggae. Reggae is a western pop music. Performance of both French and Arabic languages is applicable to this type of Arabic Belly Dance Music.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 8:56 am and is filed under Arabic Bellydancer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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