General Music Final

Teacher Resource Guide

Arabic Music in the General Music Classroom

Zahaba Allayol

(Traditional Egyptian Song) (

)

Dabke

(Traditional Arabic Dance)

Yal Asmar Ellon

(Traditional Syrian Song) ( )

Please refer to the "Teaching Arabic Music Preface" before beginning this lesson.

Overview

This teaching guide will introduce three Arabic musical traditions that could be used for general education and/or concert performance. Teachers can use the music to incorporate more diversity into the curriculum and also to provide authentic performance opportunities from a variety of cultural traditions.

Teaching by rote to young students is also extremely powerful; it speeds up the music learning process and develops their aural skills in a more organic way. For this teaching guide, all of the songs will be taught by call & response, and repetition. The most authentic way to teach Arabic music is by rote because that is how the tradition has been passed by generations. Additionally, Western notation cannot completely capture the complexity of Arabic music (quarter tones, maqams, etc.)

Zahaba Allayol

"Zahaba Allayol" or "The Night has Ended" is a traditional Egyptian song. If you search Zahaba Allayol on Youtube, you can find it as an Arabic nursey rhyme.

Translation

"The night has ended and the sun has risen and the bird sang `saw saw.' He saw the cat he said to her `bes bes,' she said `nau nau.' His mom said `Leave the cat alone.' He left the school and threw his notebook and he bothered the cat. She scratched his hand when he pulled her tail. And that's the end of someone who doesn't obey his mom."

In the Mohammed Fouzi video, two additional verses of Arabic text are included. For this lesson, we will focus on the first verse only.

Scale

This song is very close to Jins Saba Dalanshin, a short scale in Arabic music (to learn more go to Maqam World [ ] or read "Inside Arabic Music"). Maqams and jins are a complex scalar system which can be difficult to learn through notation, so using aural transmission is the best approach. The notes in Jins Saba Dalanshin that are used in the online recording of "Zahaba Allayol" are: D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb. In the video, Mohammed Fouzi begins on the quarter tone between Ab and A. For our purposes, I transposed up a whole step to play it on the notes listed above.

Instrumentation

When using this song with students, it is important to decide whether it will be a cappella or accompanied. Do not attempt to create accompaniment for this music on a piano: the piano will not harmonize with the quarter tones. In the Mohammed Fouzi video, you can see him playing an accordion, an instrument commonly used in Middle Eastern music bands. While there isn't an accompaniment for this song, you can turn the original recording down and have students sing along. The voices in the video are young students, so their voices will match nicely with your young students.

Classroom Activities

Teach this melody first on a neutral wide/nasally syllable like [ae] because it will help students develop the correct space to sing Arabic text. You can also play this as background music while students do work, dance, etc., so they can have the tune in their ears.

Teach the melody on an "ae" vowel (use the IPA symbol) to help encourage a brighter, more resonant sound.

Game

1.) Spread hula hoops (or something the students can step on) around the floor. 2.) The ornery bird hides his/her eyes at the front while students spread out in the room. 3.) The students walk around to the beat. (The bird can look now.) 4.) The students have to be in a hula hoop on the words "Saw saw" and "nau nau." If they

are not in the hula hoop with at least 1 foot, they are fair game to be tapped and sit out. 5.) You can change birds every time or keep the same bird for a few rounds.

a. A fun alternative is having everyone become birds once they are tapped out, thus trying to eliminate all the cats.

Dabke

Derbecki Ensemble

From: Exotic Dances of the Middle East ? The Derbecki Ensemble

"'Dabke' is the name of the dance which plays an important part at all Lebanese and Syrian Haflis (party-gathering)...the popularity of the dance `Dabke,' is attributed to the fact that any number of people may participate at the same time, by joining hands and `following the leader.' The dance diagram was drawn by Corrine George (my grandmother) upon direction of Ramon Farris (my great uncle). Truly exciting is this album "dabke" in which The Derbecki Ensemble of Cleveland, Ohio has dedicated one complete and continuous side to a medley of the most familiar and best loved melodies used for the dance of the dabke.'

The separation of each tune is set to the haunting rhythms of the Derbecki (Derbecki, an hourglass shaped brass drum open at one end) very effectively played by Labbie George. Side two displays the vocal talents of lovely Laurice Peters the groups vocalist, and George Khayat whose vocal talent is only surpassed by his sensational playing of the oud (an eight string, barrel type mandolin, played with a chicken feather pick). No authentic instrumental group portraying the music of the Middle East is complete without the oud. While the songs of this album are mostly from Lebanon, they reflect the true flavor of all Arab nations-geographic boundaries are not recognized by these lively tines and exciting rhythms."

Explanation of dance

"The `Dabke' can be danced by any number of people...forming a line with the leader at the head.

Each person clasps arms with the person on their right and left, hips and arms touching, to get a closeness in the line. There are six steps involved in the dance.

Step breakdown:

The first step is to the right, with the right foot, placing the weight on the right foot.

The second step is the left foot crossing in front of the right foot, with the weight on the left foot.

The third step is the right foot moving to the right again, with the weight on the right foot.

The fourth step is stepping forward with the left foot, (stamping on the left foot) keeping most of the weight on the right foot.

The fifth step is stepping to the left with the left foot, shifting the weight to the left foot, and then at the same time, the Sixth Step is kicking the right foot forward, hopping slightly on the left foot.

Repeat as often as desired, with leader taking liberties.

Time of the SIX steps: QUICK ? QUICK ? QUICK ? SLOW ? QUICK ? QUICK.

The above Dabke Dance description, laid out by Ramon Farris former manager of the Cleveland Arthur Murray Studios in Cleveland, Ohio, and Akron, Ohio, and the Fred Astaire studios, Cleveland, Ohio."

-Henry George

Below is the map for the dance, which can be done with any dabke song. Learning the Dabke is as easy as Googling "Dabke dance" on Youtube and finding music to move to. Practice the dance over and over until you learn it and are confident. Then you can teach it to your students.

The `Dabke will take some practice, and can be a great tool to helps students learn left and right

Additionally, you can add this excerpt to a concert program; students recite lines as speaking parts to provide context for the audience (which may be a great option for students who have stronger speaking voices than singing voices). This is a great way to develop stage presence while explaining the historical context to the audience.

From: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music ? The Middle East (page 576)

"It is now midnight, and the poets have been singing for nearly three hours when the host takes the microphone to introduce a local dabke dance troupe and invite the guests to attend the wedding festivities the next day. Then, the costumed dabke troupe begins to perform to the music of a mijwiz (a two-piped double reed wind instrument) and a darbakke (a handheld drum), and the singing of a local poet. The dabke is a line dance performed by men. There are several Palestinian dabke song patterns, each consisting of a basic tune that allows for a great deal of vocal or instrumental ornamentation. Once the dance troupe's performance ends, the floor is open to the audience members, about twenty of whom form a circle around the musicians and dance. Musa has been given a chair, and at the conclusion of the dabke a smaller ring forms around him and the musicians, who begin to play and sing the henna song. Two women--the mother and a great-aunt of the groom--dance into the circle. Each is wearing a brightly colored long dress and a white scarf. The groom's mother carries a small basket containing flowers and henna. They dance with the groom for some minutes and then seat him on a chair and begin to decorate his hands with henna. As the older women work, several other

women--all ants of the groom--enter the ring and begin to dance. It is nearly two o'clock in the morning when the festivities end."

Yal Asmar Ellon

See "Yal Asmar Ellon" Teaching Guide on Maggie George's website to find out more in-depth concepts about this piece as an ensemble song. This is a folk song and can be performed monophonically as seen in Amwaj Choir's performance. Young singers have the ability to learn this song and should learn it by rote.

Additionally, there is a presentation on Maggie George's website including geography, composers, instruments and more. If you need pictures, sounds, and names of Arabic instruments, refer to the presentation. This piece is a perfect opportunity for you to introduce professional musicians to your young students. It is also a bridge to any lesson plans of yours that involve improvisation, since there is much improvisation (taqsim) in Arabic music.

Lyricist/Poet

This song is a traditional Syrian folk song originating from the city Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria (after Damascus.)

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