Music Appreciation Archives • Ahlam Academy

New Performer Series Tip # 1: Count the Beat with Your Inner or Audible Voice

Are you a new belly dance performer or maybe you would like to perform and you want to know what you should be working on to lay the best performance skill foundation? Anna’s “New Performer Series” will help teach you everything you need to be thinking about and practicing during this stage of your belly dance performance journey. The first video in this series, Anna will be talking about the importance of counting your music from the very beginning of your…

Khaleeji Music Primer

Begin to recognize the difference in Khaleeji regional music, with these YouTube Playlists Note: Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Yemen are not included, yet! Iraqi Kawliya (Iraqi Domari) Kashaba Kuwait Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates

Baladi Playlist on Spotify

Maqsoum Rhythm vs Fellahi Rhythm

Learn how to tell the difference between maqsoum and fellahi Egyptian rhythms. Maqsoum and fellahi rhythms are often played with the same doumbek pattern using very similar sounding strikes. This can confuse dancers and new drummers. Maqsoum is a 4/4 rhythm and Fellahi is a 2/4 rhythm. You can think about Fellahi being a Maqsoum played double-time or twice as fast. One of the keys is looking to the phrasing of the melodic instruments in the music is the melodic…

Music Appreciation: Egyptian Instruments

When you first start learning Egyptian Oriental dance and begin to piece together a belly dance music collection, you are bombarded (understandably) by sounds that you’ve never heard, by instruments you don’t know, with lyrics you can’t understand. Learning about Arabic music, in this case Egyptian, can feel like an uphill battle and if it weren’t for the “call of the drums” many of us would give up on getting familiar with it all together. However, with a little immersion, you…

Singer Spotlight: Abdel Halim Hafez

Abdel Halim Hafez is one of Egypt’s greatest singers. Almost 60 years later, we are still using some of his most popular tunes in our performances. Some of his songs were quite long, over an hour in length, and we are most familiar with them as individual movements of the same song. Here is my top 10 list of songs performed by him. Where possible, I will post the full and shorter versions. Note: You will be able to find…

Khaleegi: Better Understanding the Arabian Gulf’s Thobe Dance & Music

For several weeks now, I have been introducing Khaleegi (Arabian Gulf) movement, more specifically Saudi, to my students. To help students better understand the thobe (nasha’al) dance with its lovely footwork and hair tosses, as well as to give them a better idea of different musical styles of the region, I have created a few YouTube playlists for you to explore the rich dance and music traditions of the Arabian Gulf. For many years, dancers and researches from outside this…

Choosing a Great Song for Your Belly Dance Performances Part 2

Part 2 of 2: Don’t regret your song choice! Choose the right music before you create a choreography or use it in your improvisation to make the most of each performance.

Choosing a Great Song for Your Belly Dance Performances Part 1

Part 1 of 2: Don’t regret your song choice! Choose the right music before you create a choreography or use it in your improvisation to make the most of each performance.

Where to Find Belly Dance Music Guide

Many different styles of music are available for belly dance performance and practice. Most countries, regions and specific tribes or ethnic groups in the Middle East and North Africa have a particular style of music that is unique to them based on rhythms used, instrumentation, and other factors. The most important thing – is to find music that moves you! Local retail Middle Eastern Stores/Shops: If you have a local Middle Eastern food store or gift shop, frequently these places will…

Music Appreciation

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