As of late I have been focusing on learning Middle Eastern Rhythms, and just finished an amazing 5 week class series on Rhythms with the fabulous Mira Betz and Lisa Fiera. Since I have a mostly Tribal Fusion background, I am lacking in my knowledge of Dombek rhythms and zill playing (but I can dance to French 60's pop and Balkan fusion jams like nobodies bizzness! :D ). But really, I have made myself hunker down and start studying the classics. And I have to say I am totally enjoying it.
Lisa Fiera turned me on to a fantastic online resource for learning the Rhythms.
This fellow named Jas has a webpage with a beat generator! Go to THIS webpage and scroll down to where it says "Q: So I want to learn some rhythms. Where do we start?" and below that is a whole list of common Mid East beats, just click on the links next to Saiidi or Baladii or whichever strikes your fancy and it will give you a few different version of the beat. How awesome!
I also found a kick ass looking DVD for zil playing. Previous to this I bought Jamilla Salimpour's zill CD, and though it is informative, I still felt a little lost. I've never taken classes with a teacher that taught basic zills on a regular basis. I've only had a smattering of ATS gallop cymbal training, and a couple of Suhaila classes with zills where I was totally over my head and lost for the entire class.
What I am really thirsting to learn is which zill rhythm to play along with which song beat. Also, I'm a visual person, so videos are better learning tools for me.
Check this out:
And the DVD is here: Zill Drills
And then I have to practice dancing while playing all of that. Yikes!
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