Get Involved in Middle Eastern Music!

I would like to start a bi-monthly music salon. What I want to do with this is to get musicians together to play and rehearse music mainly from the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans. Everyone, no matter your musical level, is encouraged to attend these salons – drummers, melody players, dancers aka zill players!

Last fall I spent 5 months in Cairo, Egypt where I began my journey into Arabic music. I really don’t want to loose what I’ve learned, so I’d like to see if anyone in the Atlanta area is interested in coming to weekly music rehearsals/ jam sessions/ learning sessions about Arabic music. I would like to be able to share what I’ve learned so I can practice and not forget it! Any instrument would be welcome, just keep in mind that quartertones are harder to play on some instruments than others.

I have some sheet music from this semester in Cairo, but I’m open to learning things by ear as well, which is how it really is done. The
sheet music is all in C as I play the violin, so any of you b flat or F or alto or bass players be prepared to transpose the music if you want to play it.

I don’t profess in any shape, form, or fashion to be an expert in Middle Eastern music, just a student who wants to grow her skills with an ensemble! I would like this to be very low key and fun and hopefully a way to grow a handful of students and musicians that appreciate and want to perform Middle Eastern music, especially so that when the big names come in town, we can really benefit from their instruction.

I am just playing facilitator for this event. I will share my knowledge and I hope others will participate and do the same. Everyone is encouraged to bring both sheet music and songs to the salon for us to play. You do not have to read music to be here, nor do you have to have any experience in music to participate. I would like to be able to foster a community of people wanting to learn music and be able to play at haflas and events.

Here is some general information:

Date and Time:
Sundays: May 10th, May 31st, June 14th and 28th, July 12th
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Cost:
I ask everyone bring a donation of $5 cash for rehearsal space for each rehearsal.

Place:
We will meet at Awalim’s rehearsal space in the Virginia Highlands
1031 Reeder Circle Atlanta, GA (house is up the hill, rehearsal in the garage studio)

Events:
Eventually I would like to be able for this salon to be able to perform at haflas…

Communication:
If you are interested in this salon, please join the google group: groups.google.com/group/memusicatl

I'll be home for Christmas...

Egypt tried to screw me over one more time before I could get home...but such is the nature of Egypt. But, il'humd'il'allah I was able to get a flight to be back in the states on Christmas Eve!!!

Merry Christmas everyone and may your holiday be warm, joyful, and full of family and friends...hope to catch you in the new year!

Oh, and totally not my picture of the pyramids, I wish I were that cool :)

Music Salons/ Jam Sessions in the ATL

Salam aleikum min el Qahira!

This past semester I’ve learned so much about Arabic music. I really don’t want to loose what I’ve learned, so I’d like to see if anyone in the Atlanta area is interested in coming to weekly music rehearsals/ jam sessions/ learning sessions about Arabic music. I would like to be able to share what I’ve learned so I can practice and not forget it! Any instrument would be welcome, just keep in mind that quartertones are harder to play on some instruments than others.

I have some sheet music from this semester in Cairo, but I’m open to learning things by ear as well, which is how it really is done. The sheet music is all in C as I play the violin, so any of you b flat player be prepared to transpose the music if you want to play it.

We could hold it at different locations in the Atlanta area or agree to have it at a central place. I don’t profess in any shape, form, or fashion to be an expert in Middle Eastern music, just a student who wants to grow her skills with en ensemble! I would like this to be very low key and fun and hopefully a way to grow a handful of students and musicians that appreciate and want to perform Middle Eastern music, especially so that when the big names come in town, we can really benefit from their instruction.

So, who is interested?

Arabic music percussion

These are notes from one of my Arabic music theory classes - we had two guest artist come to class and talk about Arab music percussion. I think what was very interesting was their explanation of dom, tek, and es...I guess we've been doin' it wrong (or different) for a while now!! Oh and the pic above is from a bedouin dinner I attended in August.

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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.

Updates to blog, and other random thoughts

Pic taken from the minaret of Ibn Tulun mosque in Said el Zayeb

Being in Egypt for so long has made me realize some things about dance and music. The first is that I am so glad I came back to music, back to being a musician. Making the music instead of dancing is just as satisfying to me as it is to interpret the music through my body. I missed it. It’s the core of any dancer, and I firmly believe any dancer should study music to further their musical interpretation and ear, especially those who are diving into the world of Middle Eastern dance. Arabic music is breathtakingly beautiful, take the time to sit down one day and look up the lyrics of a song you want to dance to. Currently, I can't get this song out of my head...probably because its played on the radio and t.v. all the time...everywhere...so I'll link the video clips with English subtitles so it will get stuck in your head too, mwh ha ha ha!

www.youtube.com/watch

Updates to ma blog, majidacairo.blogspot.com

The last couple of blog posts are pics from my trips to Dubai, Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo, and the Citadel in Islamic Cairo. I will be going to Sharm el Sheikh this weekend, a city on the Sinai Peninsula, pictures to follow insh'allah next week. December 4th my Arabic ensemble will have a concert on campus. We will be performing 12 songs, some new, some old, some original works, all Arabic! Hopefully I will be able to post some video of the concert, it will be my debut playing the qanoon!

Cairo Blog and Pictures

majidacairo.blogspot.com

Right now I'm uploading pics everyday and writing everyday as well, we'll see how long that lasts, lol.

Enjoy!

Shimmy a thon - A fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis

Hello all,

My friends have been organizing Shimmy a thon since 2005. The founder, Nisaa Amira, has a little sister with cystic fibrosis and has organized this event in her honor. Now the event has been passed on to another dear friend of mine, Inara, who will be planning her first Shimmy a thon for this September. Each year Shimmy a thon hosts workshops, an evening show, and a shimmy contest in which ALL proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. We have raised over $50,000 since 2005 from this yearly event! The following blurb is about Shimmy a thon 2008 - please come out and support this wonderful event. If you would like to help us, feel free to copy this blurb and send it to friends, students, and fellow dancers/ peers. We appreciate your support!

*******************
Shimmy-a-thon 2008

The 4th annual Shimmy-a-thon pairs the art & joy of bellydance with the financial support to help find a cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
CF is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. (70,000) worldwide).

Together we can make a difference!

Saturday & Sunday September 27th-28th, 2008

Quality Inn
Cobb Conference Center
755 Cobb Place Blvd.
Kennesaw, GA 30144

Workshops:

Aziza Nawal
Drum Combos
Sat. 10:00-12:00

Yasmine
Funky Fusion
Sat.1:00-3:00

Onca
Swirling Skirt & Sassy Fan
Sun. 10:00-12:00

Shimmy-a-thon Bellydance Show
Cobb Conference Center
7:00PM

Shimmy Contest
Sun. 1:00 until the last shimmier drops
Crowning of “Miss Shimmy 2008”

Confession

So apart from 1/2 a day in Nassau, Bahamas, I've never been outside the country. Yeah, really. My father is Jordanian, my grandmother was Honduran. I grew up in a tri-lingual household, but I've never been out of the US. I'm not fluent in Spanish or Arabic, but I want to be, and for as much as I know about the Arab culture, sometimes I really feel like a fake. Yeah.

Broke dancer, What else is new?

Economy 1, Dancer 0

So, with this summer's gas prices, low class attendance, and all around economy, I am trying to scramble some money for rent, Egypt, and Pennsic - and failing miserably....

To help rectify that situation, I've posted some items from my dance closet that I am willing to part with. PM me if you are interested in any of these items, and I am willing to bargain if you want to buy multiple items. Pay Pal is my preferred method of payment. I will probably also be posting some more items throughout the week so keep your eyes open!

Thanks!

~Majda

Don't miss pre-reg for Linda's Belly Grooves Workshop!

Hello lovely dancers!

This is a happy reminder to take advantage of the pre-registration for the Belly Grooves Workshop with Linda of Nashville on Sunday, July 13th! We still have spots available for the show, so register today to reserve a spot! Again, here is the information:

Date: Sunday, July 13th Workshop 11 AM - 2PM, Show at 7:30 PM
$60 pre-registration (Before May 31st)
$65 after May 31st and at the door
RISPA Studio in Alpharetta, GA

Sunday Show at Veranda Taverna
Doors open at 7 PM
Show starts at 7:30 PM
NO Ticket Charge! Veranda will be offering $5 Tapas and Drink Specials
just for us!

Visit www.amanijabril. com for a link to registration and payment

See you at the 'shop!

~Majda

--
Majida Anwar
Marketing Director,
Amani Jabril
Middle Eastern and World Dance
www.amanijabril. com
amani@amanijabril. com
404-550-4692