Monday, September 13, 2010

Arabic Rhythm Patterns

Arabic Rhythm Patterns


Rhythm in Arabic music is organized into cycles of beats and pauses. These rhythmic modes are known as iqa'at  in many Arabic countries, but there are other names for this concept. In Egyptian music they are called durub . In North-Western Africa they are called mazim. In Turkish music rhythmic modes are known as usul  and in Iran they are called darb. Each cycle consists of a fixed number of metric pulses (which vary between 3 to 48 or more), including a hierarchy of strong beats, weak beats, and silent beats that define a groove. In performance some of the rests or silent beats may be filled in, but the underlying feel is maintained.

The sounding beats vary in timbre and are described with onomatopoeic syllables. The strong beat (an-naqra al-qawiya) is described using the syllable "dum" for the heavy low-pitched center sound of the drum. The weak beat (an-naqra al-laiyina) is represented by the word "tek" for the bright, high-pitched edge or side sound of the drum. While sometimes it is also translated as the soft beat rather than the weak beat, it is not necessarily less loud than the strong beat. In some ways, it shares a similar feeling to the off-beat in Western music.

One could use these two elements to demonstrate Western rhythms. For instance, a simple rock drum beat could be written as:


1     2     3     4

dum   tek   dum   tek

A waltz could be written as:

1     2     3

dum   tek   tek

The all-pervasive electronic-techno-every-beat-strong groove that seems to have become the only rhythm many people are now able to dance to would be:


1     2     3     4

dum   dum   dum   dum

Fortunately, Arabic rhythm contains more subtlety and variation than the current state of techno music! The medium beat (an-naqra al-mutawassita) is used to embellish the rhythm. While the strong and weak beats define the rhythm, the rhythmic pattern is enhanced through the addition of medium beats: variations that show the true skill of the player. In the terminology used here for strong, medium, and weak beats, the term "beat" does not necessarily imply that each beat has an equal metric pulse the way the term is used in Western music, especially with respect to the embellishing medium beats.

Arabic Grooves

In Egypt, elzaffa, or wedding march, is a musical procession of drums. The main pattern is 8 beats long.

1   +   2   +   3   +   4   +   | 1   +   2   +   3   +   4   + |

dum     tek ka  tek     tek       dum     tek     tek    (tek ka)

dum (right hand clear low tone)

tek (right hand high crisp tone)

ka (left hand, sounds like tek)




This section lists all Arabic rhythms discussed in this website. This is by no means a comprehensive list since many North African, Iraqi and Khaliji (from the Arab Gulf region) rhythms are not included. Instead this website covers the most commonly used rhythms in the Middle East. In practice, it's difficult to find a definitive list of Arabic rhythms that all textbooks agree on, or a definitive reference on which rhythms are strictly Arabic since there's often an overlap with Turkish, Greek and Persian rhythms. Listen to the Personal Performances series of Arabic music podcasts.

Episode of 22 March 2006 discusses Arabic rhythms, the riq and its role in Arabic Music.

Episode of 14 July 2006 discusses the riqq and demonstrates similar rhythms in 4/4, 2/4 and 8/4.

Muwashahat Rhythms

The Andalusian Muwashahat (plural of Muwashah) are a musical form that originated in Al-Andalus (medieval Spain and Portugal). The muwashah is often composed using a complex rhythm, ranging from 2/4 to 48/4 and greater. A muwashah may use more than one rhythm, although the norm is a single rhythm throughout. Lyrics in a muwashah are poetry in classical Arabic, and must neatly fit the rhythm (every syllable must fall on a beat).

Muwashahat Rhythms are shown in 5 different pages for convenience: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ]


The following is a listing of Muwashahat rhythms in alphabetical order:

Aaraj 5/8

Aghar Aqsaq 5/8

Aqsaq 9/8

Awfar 19/4

Awis 11/8

Ayyub 2/4

Dawr Hindi 7/8

Dawr Al Kabir 28/4

Dharafat 13/8

Fakhit 20/4


Fikra 15/4

Frankajin 24/4

Hazaj 22/4

Jurjina 10/8

Katakufti 8/8

Khush Rank 17/8

Malfuf 2/4

Maqsum 4/4

Masmudi Kabir 8/4

Masmudi Saghir 4/4


Mudawwar 12/4

Muhajjar 14/4

Mukhammas 16/8

Mukhammas Turki 32/4

Murabbaa 13/4

Nawakht 7/4

Nawakht Hindi 16/8

Nim Dawr 18/8

Nim Oyun Havasi 11/8

Nim Rawan 9/4


Sadah Duyek 16/8

Samai Ta'er 3/8

Samai Thaqil 10/8

Shanbar Halabi 24/4

Shanbar Kabir 48/4

Shanbar Masri 48/4

Sinkin Samai 6/4

Sittatu Ashar 32/4

Turrah 21/4

Wahda 4/4


Wahda Mukallafa 2/4

Warshan Arabi 32/4

Yuruk Samai 6/8



The same Muwashahat rhythms are listed in the order of their time signature:

Ayyub 2/4

Malfuf 2/4

Wahda Mukallafa 2/4

Unknown 2/4 2/4

Samai Ta'er 3/8

Unknown 3/8 3/8

Maqsum 4/4

Masmudi Saghir 4/4

Wahda 4/4

Aaraj 5/8


Aghar Aqsaq 5/8

Sinkin Samai 6/4

Yuruk Samai 6/8

Dawr Hindi 7/8

Nawakht 7/4

Masmudi Kabir 8/4

Katakufti 8/8

Aqsaq 9/8

Nim Rawan 9/4

Samai Thaqil 10/8


Jurjina 10/8

Awis 11/8

Nim Oyun Havasi 11/8

Mudawwar 12/4

Dharafat 13/8

Murabbaa 13/4

Muhajjar 14/4

Fikra 15/4

Mukhammas 16/8

Nawakht Hindi 16/8


Sadah Duyek 16/8

Khush Rank 17/8

Nim Dawr 18/8

Awfar 19/4

Fakhit 20/4

Turrah 21/4

Unknown 21/8 21/8

Hazaj 22/4

Shanbar Halabi 24/4

Frankajin 24/4


Dawr Al Kabir 28/4

Mukhammas Turki 32/4

Sittatu Ashar 32/4

Warshan Arabi 32/4

Shanbar Kabir 48/4

Shanbar Masri 48/4



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