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 digitalnova rated 5 months ago - A music video about the destruction of the beautiful city of Beirut, Lebanon.
I picked it not just for the lyrics, which are great and are here click me, but to show one comparison between Arabic and Western music.
It's a tragic piece but a great example of a special feature of Arabic m...
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1 Reviews
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- digitalnova rated 5 months ago
- A music video about the destruction of the beautiful city of Beirut, Lebanon.
I picked it not just for the lyrics, which are great and are here click me, but to show one comparison between Arabic and Western music.
It's a tragic piece but a great example of a special feature of Arabic music: rapid and dramatically shifting rhythms.
Rapidly Shifting Rhythm
If you listen to it (with an open mind), you can hear rapidly shifting rhythms in the background. In western music, we have a consistent rhythm with most pieces.
Most western music will consistently follow a 3/8's rhythm, for example, throughout the entire piece. An Arabic piece, however, can rapidly shift from one rhythm to the next. This creates that music that westerners know mostly as the music of belly dancing and snake charming.
Rapid Rhythms
The rapid pelvic moves of belly dancers are in tune with the exceptionally rapid rhythms of Arabic music which can move to the pace of 28/4's or a measure and drop to 10/8's the next. Compare this to the most common 4 beats a measure (4/4) standard of Western music.
The Rhythm Drives The Music
Like a western rock band's drummer creating a backbone rhythm for other performers, the arabic rhythms tend to drive the music of all the players. (Barker)
-Shifts from rapid rhythm to slow rhythm and everything between; over and over again driving everything you do. Sound's like alot of fun. Try the music too.
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