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Author Topic: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion  (Read 6527 times)

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Jack Campin

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #20 on: May 12, 2014, 07:24:34 PM »

The scales aren't what make a tune bellydanceable, it's the rhythm.  There isn't a heck of a lot of point in trying to play bellydance if you don't have a percussionist.

Useful reference on Middle Eastern rhythms: http://www.khafif.com/rhy/

9/8 is rather unusual for bellydance.  The commonest rhythms are variants of 2/4 and chiftetelli, an 8/8 metre divided 3+3+2.  It occurs all over the place (I forget the Latin American name for it; in klezmer it's called "bulgar" after a kind of dance that has nothing to do with Bulgaria).

Most bellydancers like to have changes in metre and tempo during the dance. This is probably THE most popular bellydance tune, partly because it started out as a hugely popular song by the all-time-greatest-star composer/singer combo in the history of Arab music and partly because it has so many metrical surprises that give a pretext for dramatic flourishes:

http://arabicmusicsheets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/enta-omri-song-sheet.html (the video is Um Kalthoum in stadium-epic model

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj5aa4_julia-acerbo-enta-omri_creation (a somewhat saner length)

(I have played it, sort of, on the clarinet.  I was hanging on by my fingernails.  It is not at all easy).
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Chris Ryall

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #21 on: May 13, 2014, 08:40:38 AM »

Not sure what your point is, Jack?  The rhythm thing is applicable to all dance music, and yes, there is an important swing in the belly music that is perfect for the hip swing in the dance itself, and (as ever) mess that up and it becomes just another flat pub session tune.

But both of the counter examples you offer have the *phrygian b9, characteristic of this genre of music. Am I missing something? Are you saying that eg Nellie the elephant played with the right swing would do?


*play is not all that hard on melodeon! It is 3rd mode of our diatonic scale. So start tune on tonic B using G row, or tonic F# on D row. cross fingering makes things easier. You will end up dotting in the odd Eb (in B) or Bb (in F#) as these scales are ambiguous wrt major/minor

Major "lead in advert" (a new record)alert on that dailymotion link!! Click at your peril ...
« Last Edit: May 13, 2014, 08:44:21 AM by Chris Ryall »
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Jack Campin

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #22 on: May 13, 2014, 10:40:05 AM »

Nelly the Elephant wouldn't do, but the problem isn't that it's in a major scale, but that it's in straight 6/8 with no variations.  (You get 6/8 of a sort in Iranian and Caucasian dance, but hardly at all in Arabic or Turkish).

This one (much simpler) is sometimes used and it's basically in major.  The odd phrasing and weird rhythmic lurches are what make it dancer-friendly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUwWZqj_juU

Same tune, done in a fancier melodic style but in a rhythm nobody could dance to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNdgxYPzSno

Here's another Abdel Wahab tune commonly used for belly dance - again, note the violent shifts in rhythm.  No microtonality that matters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STFNmWGfetU

It's a pig to find dance videos using it, because "Aziza" is very commonly used as a stage name by bellydancers.  This is all I can find - not very sharply played and the dancers don't really know what they're doing, but it gets them on their feet anyway:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZmb9IOzcGk

Rather twee version with Turkish lyrics where she's barely dancing at all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=CA&v=tZCKGcbmP9U

Really neat score animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1re7E149kE
« Last Edit: May 13, 2014, 11:08:29 AM by Jack Campin »
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Jack Campin

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #23 on: May 13, 2014, 09:51:07 PM »

Found a useful search string.  Look on YouTube for "baladi accordion" or "baladi accordeon".  LOTS of videos of belly dancing to accordions.

Unfortunately they all seem to be Westerners doing it, though, and variably well.  I haven't found any more traditional Egyptian or Lebanese performances.
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Randal Scott

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #24 on: May 16, 2014, 04:49:21 PM »

The scales aren't what make a tune bellydanceable, it's the rhythm.  There isn't a heck of a lot of point in trying to play bellydance if you don't have a percussionist.


Well, we can sufficiently execute rhythm on "melody" instruments--I've accompanied bellydancers on solo oud.  But your first point is valid: in fact we often accompany dancers on percussion instruments alone

Clarinet is generally more challenging
« Last Edit: May 16, 2014, 04:52:01 PM by catty »
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Jack Campin

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Re: Belly Dance / middle eastern accordion
« Reply #25 on: June 27, 2014, 05:14:32 PM »

BTW here is someone playing "Aziza" on a zurna (bombarde) - I wouldn't have imagined that was even possible, but this sounds like the tune was composed for it:

http://www.zapkolik.com/video/davul-zurna-oyun-havalari-azize-769941

I can't see who the player is, but that's REALLY impressive.
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