Year 10 - Music
The instruments and rhythms of Palestinian folk music
Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern music
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Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to identify some key instruments and understand some key rhythms in Palestinian folk music.
Key Notes
- Arabic music has a long and complex history and is extremely varied.
- Two key instruments in Palestinian folk music are the doumbek and oud.
- The doumbek uses three sounds - doum (middle of the drum), tek (edge of the drum) and ka (ring finger on edge of drum).
- Palestinian folk music uses a wazn, a rhythmic cycle or pattern. Maqsum and saidi are two examples of this.
Vocabulary To Learn
- doumbek: a drum used in Arabic and Palestinian folk music; it is played with the hands and fingertips
- oud: a stringed instrument with 11 strings used in Arabic and Palestinian music; it is an early predecessor to the guitar
- wazn: a repeating rhythmic cycle or pattern that forms the rhythmic basis of a composition
- maqsum: a common wazn across the Middle East
- saidi: a specific upbeat wazn that uses fast rhythmic patterns
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Hand drum technique is the same across the world.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Arabic music has a long and complex history and is extremely varied. Two key instruments in Palestinian folk music are the doumbek and oud.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'doumbek'
a drum used in Arabic and Palestinian folk music; it is played with the hands and fingertips.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Hand drum technique is the same across the world. Correction: Techniques are very different on different hand drums around the world. Tabla, doumbek and djembe all use very different techniques, for example, the doumbek technique uses fingertips in a way that djembe does not.
More Lessons In This Unit
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