Thread: Song catalog for rhythms

oK...I am lazy..I know somebody here has put in the hard work to do this, and I am a slacker...

I have quite a few studies for identifying ME rhythms, but most are flat and only 1 or 2 minutes long. I would like to have some good 4-5 minute songs that are well fleshed out to help my students identify the drum under the music. They need to be "fairly" basic and have only that one drum pattern (and a couple of simple variations on the pattern) thru out.

What I have been doing is listening to each and every song - one at a time -and pulling them into a playlist with the name of the rhythm if it is a strong predominate one. Tedious.....

What do you guys do????

Mary Ellen Donalds PracticeMusic see Recordings Designed for Extended Practice

Originally Posted by anala

What I have been doing is listening to each and every song - one at a time -and pulling them into a playlist with the name of the rhythm if it is a strong predominate one. Tedious.....

What do you guys do????

I do the same thing. Yes it's tedious, but I like for them to actually HEAR the music and get the flavor and feel of the rhythm. George Abdo has some quick chiftis that you might not recognize as chiftitelli if you let yourself get lost in his vocals. I like that :)

I cut and loop the sequences I want to use in class by rhythm, lyrical phrase or style... Its so much fun....;)

Riiiiight! As much fun as conjugating Latin verbs before breakfast!

Actually, that sounds like fun to me. ..g.: (Used to be a Latin teacher.)

Originally Posted by anala

Riiiiight! As much fun as conjugating Latin verbs before breakfast!

sick sick puppy....

..l;,

Originally Posted by anala

sick sick puppy....

Not sure if this is what you're looking for:

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0010DUL50/sr=8-1/qid=1252102393/ref=sr_digr_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1252102393&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Beat Bazaar: Various Artists: MP3 Downloads[/ame]

Thats is real interesting - but its not a fleshed out "song". The drum is too predominant. This is much like the music studies I already have. But I may have to add this one anyway.

Looks like a lot of minds have had the same thought. I listened to a thousand and one songs (get it?) and came up with a number of playlists with at least 3 songs per rhythm. 1. Drum only; in some cases I actually came up with accent only! so that was 1 and filled in came after. 2.Drum and one instrument played with same 'tempo' (that is, not detracting in any way). 3.Fuller sound including some variations 4. All out with instruments and vocals.

I think it worked but you're right-it's tedious as all get out.

I think such a catalog would be immensely useful! Perhaps those of you who have developed playlists would be willing to share?

..l;,

So you are teaching an interpretation class.... as a group? as a private? when i was teaching that particular thing I used Amar 14 and farha along with clips of the particular rhythms that were played in each song from Jalilahs #4. I used a VERY simple choreo for each but broke down the segments for each rhythm. You don't need a whole bunch of songs just a few really good ones that switch around through the various rhythms alot. I often taught this as an 8 week seminar that covered up to Samai. But there are a few CDs out there that have both rhythm and tune. I just like being able to teach from a good solid knowledge base of a song I know like my own skin.

So here's a good comparison.... why is amar14 (piranha) the same as a visit at the palace (Horciao Cifuentes)? A lesson worth learning
Andrea

its possible that I still have my old teaching tapes i will look

visit at the palace

I dont have that, so I am afraid I cant answer the question. These are group lessons. The #4 has nice short snippets of songs from Amar 14 and this is where I got the idea to do this. Amar is so well fleshed and lush (one of my favorites) that the drum gets covered over a lot of the time. I was looking for something in between Martin Luther and the high mass.

Originally Posted by kiyaana

Actually, that sounds like fun to me. ..g.: (Used to be a Latin teacher.)

Really? Me too, but I don't like Latin as much as other subjects... ,r:;

Originally Posted by anala

visit at the palace

I dont have that, so I am afraid I cant answer the question. These are group lessons. The #4 has nice short snippets of songs from Amar 14 and this is where I got the idea to do this. Amar is so well fleshed and lush (one of my favorites) that the drum gets covered over a lot of the time. I was looking for something in between Martin Luther and the high mass.

Well First I would play the rhythms or rhythm that was in that section alone from Jalilahs, walk them through the choreo pointing out specifics along the way, then I would play amar and show them the reasons for this and that pointing out a full orch spot or just a solo phrase. You could pump the song in to an editor and tone down the melodic part too.

You could pump the song in to an editor and tone down the melodic part too.

Thats true...I never thought about that. Great idea!!

Just another idea: Eddie Kochak's Casbah CD is nice in that it has the basic rhythm played on the drum as an intro to the song. There are some rhythm changes sometimes (so there is still a bit of work left), but very few. And, it has a lot of the good old, standard American Cabaret tunes.

emusic....here I come. I have 6 of 85 downloads left. I had a George Abdo orgy the other day.

Light Rain and Desert Wind have some kinda new agey dance music that uses Arabic rhthyms. The songs are 3-4 minutes long and might provide a good transition to real Egyptian music.

Light Rain - Dark Fire and Dream Dancer
Desert Wind - World Dancehttp://www.desertwindmusic.com/discography/newWD.htm

One of my teachers uses Jazayer Volume I through IV CDs. Each track is at least 14 minutes long and has all of the basic rhythms. My fingers hurt just thinking about it. I think this is what you were looking for??

Eternal Rhythms of the Middle East

Thats it!!!!!....bless you!!!!!

Originally Posted by anala

oK...I am lazy..I know somebody here has put in the hard work to do this, and I am a slacker...

I feel like someone just asked if they could copy my term paper.

It WAS a lot of work. I spent many, many hours listening to music, identifying rhythms, teasing songs apart at rhythmic break, and building playlists. It was a huge project that i gave weeks of my life to -- and it was also a big learning and growth experience for me in terms of learning to recognize the rhythms in all their variations in the music.

Doing that project, really, is what helped me become qualified to *teach* the rhythms. If someone else had simply shared their list with me, I wouldn't have been ready to teach it.

I suggest using premade rhythm CDs to teach the basic rhythms until you know them well enough to tackle your own music collection. Sometimes we learn through teaching.

No...you are right..it was just the request of a slacker, but many requests for assistance on here are! I didnt mean to offend your sensibilities, I just asked how different people aproach the same task - or if there was a viable shortcut. I have my own catalog started, but with a full time job the list doesnt get attention everyday. I have rhythm study CDs ;-) but none of them were in the style of what I needed. I certainly didnt want to copy all your answers, Lauren, ...I just needed a tip as to where to find an appropriate CD in the style I was looking for. Narimeh was kind enough to suggest this one "Eternal Rhythms of the Middle East" which seems to be eactly what I am looking for.

Originally Posted by anala

No...you are right..it was just the request of a slacker

Heh. On my part too! but I agree that Lauren's right--getting a list wouldn't be nearly the education obtained by figuring out songs for oneself.

Ok...without sounding too defensive here... I was not looking to be edumactated by a Vulcan mind meld...just looking for a nice CD (or series of them) that met my need for instant musical gratification....

I don't blame you a bit for asking! You're right, sharing is what we do here.

Sorry, what I meant to communicate was that I was kind of surprised by my own response, and my post was meant to be me thinking out loud about why I reacted that way. Usually I'm happy to share on Bhuz, *especially* the things I've worked longest/hardest to sort out for myself.

Once in a while the inner 2-year-old rises up and says 'mine! mine!'

I had a similar reaction once when I was rehearsing a veil duet with a student. We usually used the studio veils, but that day I brought in several of my Akais in different shapes/sizes. She, being accustomed to grabbing veils from stacks in the studio, grabbed one of them to dance with. I felt like she'd just pulled my spleen out of my body! I couldn't figure out a way to snatch it back fast enough without looking like a stingy spoiled brat. Before that very moment, I had no idea how stingy I felt about my veils.

Anyway, I assume we all bump up against our inner brat from time to time. At least, I hope it's not just me!

Once in a while the inner 2-year-old rises up and says 'mine! mine!'

Nope...it happens to me when one of my students uses one of my "special moves" in performance. The heat in my cheeks is about .25 seconds long...but long enough to make me go...WTF...you taught her to do that and she is doing it really well!!!! What I want to know is ...where does that 2 year old hide the rest of the time?

Oh...and have I told you ladies that I love and admire you lately?