Thread: How do you fit it all in during practice? (warning rant ahead)

I love this dance. It's what I am doing just about every spare minute. I am also a mom with a family and their needs so while I get about an hour (2 if lucky) of practice a day, I am wondering How do I fit it all in?

For example, I am trying to learn different drum beats right now so when I hear a drum solo I can recognize them and just dance to them.

I also want to learn to find beats in musical pieces,

Oh and there's the veil and zil thing I want to practice too.

Yes and drilling. I could spend 30 minutes just trying to do horizontal figure 8's correctly, keeping the hips level (I know I already griped last month about layering a shimmy which I am still working on)

Do you all go through this or do you just dance? I think basic technique is important and I want to get it right, but there aren't enough hours in the day to work on these things. I try breaking them up into days of the week for example (okay don't laugh) but it seems I am making little progress.

Class time is spent doing a little of this and that (it's a rec type class and has to be broad)

What are some things that work for you all?

Not sweating it too much.

Really, there *aren't* enough hours in the day to fit in all we'd like. So, you do what you can, when you can. Are you on a timetable of some sort--i.e., "I must learn how to zill to a chiftetelli by X date"? If it helps you to have goals, keep them small and doable for now. "I will perfect my horizontal figure 8 in two weeks," and just concentrate on that. Or, parcel it all out while you're doing other things. Work on layering your shimmy in the shower. Listen to rhythm cds while chauffeuring the kids. Practice your hip drops while hovering over the boiling pasta.

And stay calm. It's dancing; it's supposed to be fun!

Taj is right. You can't do everything everyday. You need to parcel it out and set priorities and goals. You can either pick one or two movement goals and work on them until your happy, or you can parcel it out throughout the week ("Today is Thursday so I'm going to work on shimmies today. I'll do veil and zils on Friday.") If you try to do everything all the time, you'll only end up frustrating yourself.

Listen to the music, listen to the music, listen to the music! Even if you are driving or sitting at your computer, or on the treadmill you can be dancing in your head.

Here is the deal about the drum beats. Drums are easier to hear in some of the pop and shaabi pieces, but sometimes they are from drum machines added later in the mix. Saidi is frequently used in pop music, but faster and with different flavor than you would hear it in other forms of middle eastern music. And sometimes it isn't even a typical middle eastern rhythm at all. But you can easily hear the drums it is a place to start.

Next, drummers change rhythms throughout a piece. It is typical for a saidi folky piece to start out with maqsoum or masmoudi seghir, launch into saidi, slip back into maqsoum. Learn to listen for the change.

In drum solos, there is some pattern involved. There are standard transitions or cues between measures, between sets of measures, at changes to different rhythms. The more you listen to lots of drummers and drum solos, the better you will be at picking up on them. Usually there are sets of four with a transition into the next set of four like this:

DD tek a tek D tek a tek DD tek a tek D tek a tek DD tek a tek D tek a tek DD tek a tek D teka tek TEK

After a while this just become second nature, but it takes listening to the musc all the time. And this is one of the best uses of your time.

Souzan

It's not possible to fit it all in during a week, and I think it's the challenge that keeps me coming back. I agree w/Aazura. Portion out your week so you work on something different everyday. You could also dedicate an entire week to drum solos - listening to music, practicing with videos (you don't have to do the whole thing at once), etc... I like this method because it allows me to keep a string of thought going through the week.

Personally, I like to organize my schedule on Mondays. I've been working on choreographies for the last three weeks for an upcoming hafla. Starting next week I'll be using videos to practice my zilling, arms, and locks. The following week I'll pick two or three different elements. I can't do it all in one week! You have to pace yourself.

Oh, I spend about 20 minutes stretching after dance so I like to listen to ME rhythms CD and hum along. Makes the time go by fasted plus it softens the pain when I'm not thinking about it!

I don't always have time to do an hour or two straight (though w/Michelle Joyce's 90/90 challenge, I've been finding the time). I practice it all day though. Shimmy at the microwave, belly roll while folding laundry, chest circles in the car, etc.

It's shocking how much that helps.

Yes I do the air zil while running, chest pops behind the steering wheel etc. I guess I am trying to do it all at once.

On some level I must be mad that I discovered this so late and feel the need to catch up haha.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

On some level I must be mad that I discovered this so late and feel the need to catch up haha.

What do you mean by "so late"? I think you're referring to age, stop it. That's a defeatist attitude...You're alive and you have your arms, legs and brain, I hope. There's no reason to think you're late to anything. Now go practice and stop mopping around thinking you're old.

Originally Posted by Mayliz

What do you mean by "so late"? I think you're referring to age, stop it. That's a defeatist attitude...You're alive and you have your arms, legs and brain, I hope. There's no reason to think you're late to anything. Now go practice and stop mopping around thinking you're old.

Hee! Mayliz brings the tough love!

I use this mp3 album where a professional drummer explains all the rhythms, SPEAKS them, and then plays the rhythm. I can listen to that on my iPod (but I do alot of traveling back and forth throughout the week). Send me a PM if you want me to send you the link on amazon.com, or else I'll forget.

BDF

Woo Leyla! What you said! I do all sorts of upper body at my desk at work. I shimmy waiting for the elevator. I listen to Arabic music almost exclusively. At first, instead of accumulating a gazillion DVDs( because you most likely will, eventually), focus on supplementing the time you spend in class with just one or two DVDs that drill the basics and take them a step further. There are really good ones out there. If your basics (including arms) are built on a solid foundation, the harder stuff will be prettier, stronger, and more effective...and more fun!

Originally Posted by Mayliz

What do you mean by "so late"? I think you're referring to age, stop it. That's a defeatist attitude...You're alive and you have your arms, legs and brain, I hope. There's no reason to think you're late to anything. Now go practice and stop mopping around thinking you're old.

..l;,Touche Thanks M.L. No, I wasn't implying I'm old but just that if I'd discovered this 20 years ago imagine how good I'd be now!!

Okay so I was moping a bit.

If your getting an hour a day practice your doing good. Its more than the average student. Being a mom and wife does not make it any easier. Trust me when I was raising three kids there would have been very little time for me to get my classes and practice in, so lighten up and keep on doing what your doing and you will make progress.

An hour a day, every day, is excellent for someone with another life! I wish I could spend that much time on my own dance (instead of preparing classes and admin - oh, and the day job and requirements for living like cooking, cleaning, shopping ..g.:)

Set achieveable goals - just a couple. Write them in your dance book. Spend (say) half your time on those and the rest on general technique/drilling etc. When you met a goal - add another. That way you will be able to see what you have achieved.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

I love this dance. It's what I am doing just about every spare minute. I am also a mom with a family and their needs so while I get about an hour (2 if lucky) of practice a day, I am wondering How do I fit it all in?

For example, I am trying to learn different drum beats right now so when I hear a drum solo I can recognize them and just dance to them.

I also want to learn to find beats in musical pieces,

Oh and there's the veil and zil thing I want to practice too.

Yay zills!

About drumming and beat patterns...unless you are wanting to be a teacher or a pro, you don't have to learn the names of the rhythm patterns. It's more important to learn to dance to them, to get a feel for usual patterns (how drummers typically change from one rhythm to another), and learn how to "chant" them in rhythm.

Don't get me wrong, theory is important. But theory is just that. Don't drive yourself nuts with rhythm identification minutiae when you could be dancing or drilling!

Some people swear by a written rotation of things to work on; I've never been so organized, but you could try that system out.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

..l;,Touche Thanks M.L. No, I wasn't implying I'm old but just that if I'd discovered this 20 years ago imagine how good I'd be now!!

Okay so I was moping a bit.

Maybe you wouldn't have been any good by now. Maybe you would have been too young and over-confident when you were learning and not given a rats ass about making an effort. Maybe you would be still be doing the same old fashioned moves you learnt 20 yrs ago and not developed.

20 yrs ago you wouldn't have had acces to 1/8 of the material we now take for granted and you would still had to have been constantly relearning technique to keep up with an evolving dance form.

Nobody learns this dance very fast, no matter how long ago we started.

I didn't read most of the posts due to time. Here's my suggestion; write out a structured one-hour practice session for yourself. 5-10min warm-up. 10min shimmy drill. 30min focus on your intent for that session. Then cool-down and stretch (*very* important!).

For each session have a purpose and write it down. This will keep you focused. One week focus on veil. Next week focus on new move. Next week focus on level changes. Etc etc. Work zills into each practice. that way you'll learn as you go along (and keep moving even if you're zills screw up). That also gives you at least 7 hours a week for intensely training on one thing (which isn't near enough, but it's at least it will get you going!).

Good luck! Come drop into a class if you ever get a chance. Would love to see you again!

An hour a day is excellent, however you spend it.

An awful lot of my meangful practice happens outside of any structured practice time.

I have middle eastern music on in the house all the time. I'm humming along while I pay the bills, shimmying or working on figure 8s while I clean the stove or load the dishwasher, etc. Often a piece of music will grab me and I'll take off into some improv dancing for a minute or two...

As far as learning rhythms -- I found that teaching myself to drum them got them into my head faster than anything. I have a drum now, but I started out with a coffee can. You can probably find a really simple tutorial on youtube, but real quickly 'spank' the center of the drum with your flat right hand for 'DUM' use your right fingertips near the edge for 'TEK' and your left fingertips near the edge at the top for 'KA'

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

..l;,Touche Thanks M.L. No, I wasn't implying I'm old but just that if I'd discovered this 20 years ago imagine how good I'd be now!!

Okay so I was moping a bit.

A little TL keeps the shrinks away .

I just had to say it because I spent (read, wasted) like two years of my life thinking that had I started X, Y or Z at an earlier age, I would've been so much better by now. It's silly because I took many things for granted in my teens and early twenties.

One more thing...I think it's awesome that you do extensive research and you're not simply satisfied with your weekly class. There are those who simply go to class once a week and don't bother learning anything else.

Originally Posted by NandaDncer

Maybe you wouldn't have been any good by now. Maybe you would have been too young and over-confident when you were learning and not given a rats ass about making an effort. Maybe you would be still be doing the same old fashioned moves you learnt 20 yrs ago and not developed.

..l;,..l;,Maybe I'd be a self described "6 week wonder" instead of a 104 week wanker like now.

Lauren, I get it about the drum beating, I have been studying a really good dvd on it and I can drum them and recognize them, but when I listen to a drum solo by another artist, I can only pick out 1 or 2 beats, They seem to layer one over the other. Soon the ALL start sounding like

DD teka DD teka tek. I suppose this too will come with experience.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

..l;,..l;,Maybe I'd be a self described "6 week wonder" instead of a 104 week wanker like now.

Lauren, I get it about the drum beating, I have been studying a really good dvd on it and I can drum them and recognize them, but when I listen to a drum solo by another artist, I can only pick out 1 or 2 beats, They seem to layer one over the other. Soon the ALL start sounding like

DD teka DD teka tek. I suppose this too will come with experience.

LOL!!! SO many drum solos are *whatever* layered over Maksoum or Masmoudi Seghir... I think what you're hearing is probably accurate!!!!

Drum solos are tough. You're better off dissecting oriental pieces - anything long off a Jalilah's Raks Sharki series CD is a good bet.

Is it along the lines of ME music for dummies? IOW, does the disc have a "tutorial" of sorts where the kind of rhythm is pointed out?

Jalilah's CD (the rhythms one) does the rhythm without anything else and then places the rhythm in a small clip. It's very cool. I believe it's the 4th one.

I personally don't practice everything every time. I vary it, so I don't overwork certain muscles.

Originally Posted by HOOKEDNOVICE

Yes I do the air zil while running, chest pops behind the steering wheel etc. I guess I am trying to do it all at once.

On some level I must be mad that I discovered this so late and feel the need to catch up haha.

Ditto to the poster who said it's supposed to be fun. I'm in an intermediate class AND a beginner class. And I think I'm overdoing it a little, but the beginner class helps me in the intermediate class so much.

I think tucking in zill drills here and there, figure 8s at the stove, ab rolls in front of the heater in the morning, all good. But don't let it make you crazy.

What are you late for? This is life! All parts are important. If you tend to be obsessive, see if you can just enjoy this, and not get too crazy. (voice of experience)

Let the joy of the dance be what it is.

Originally Posted by nadyasidhe

If you tend to be obsessive, see if you can just enjoy this, and not get too crazy. (voice of experience)

Let the joy of the dance be what it is.

..l;, Hit the nail on the head. Why do I always get so TASK oriented???

sounds like you are lucky to get 1 to 2 hours make the time count!