How I started playing Tof Miriam (riq) and Darbuka
One day when I was working at Drummer's World, a drum and percussion shop in Midtown Manhattan, Barry (the owner) asked me to help a customer who wanted to buy a doumbek. Drummer's World was an amazing shop for anything you wanted to buy, from world percussion to classical mallets. The shop still exists as an on-line store, just call Barry and get yourself a drum! When the midtown shop was around, it had a very impressive selection of Mid-Eastern percussion instruments, such as Egyptian darbukas, Turkish doumbeks in varies sizes and Riqs (Mid-Eastern tambourine). I always used to get a glimpse at that section, especially at the Riqs. I already played pandero (Brazilian tambourine) and once in a while I would take the Riq and play with it. I was a jazz student at that time and I didn't listen to music from the Middle East. I didn't think that I would have anything new to introduce to that customer about the darbukas. But I was wrong. I just wasn't aware yet of my natural knowledge and connection to the rhythms and attitude of Middle Eastern music. He asked me what type of beat you play on the darbuka, and without hesitation I start playing a 'Mizrahit' groove, a Maksoum rhythm. It was a turning point for me.
I came to NY to study jazz and absorb knowledge. I started playing Brazilian music, Cuban rhythms, and all what NY had to offer a musician, a melting pot of cultures, and by chance I realized where I came from. I used to listen a lot to Mizrahit music in my childhood, in fact that was the first music I listened to. Israeli music, that is a fusion of Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Balkan and North African. It is a genre that is associated with Sephardic Jews, and I decided that I would go deeper into it. I took three lessons with Glen Velez on the Riq. He showed me the different techniques, and the various hand positions. Tof Miriam (Hebrew for Riq) has an incredible rich sound and tone that you can get out of it. I dove straight into the heart of the sun, and started listening to Oum Kulthum and her great Orchestra. I was walking in Manhattan between the skyscrapers of Midtown, and my headphones were blasting with the sounds of the Middle East. Sooner than I thought, I started getting more and more work on Mid-Eastern percussion.
LESSONS AND WORKSHOPS
Tof Miriam (Riq) & Darbuka Lessons
I give Tof Miriam and Darbuka lessons for beginner and advanced level students.
I teach the most basic technique of how to hold the drum, and a more advanced level - different hand positions and finger strokes.
Tof Miriam is basically a mid eastern tambourine. I have students some of who are singers, one is a guitar player, who learn tof-miriam as a secondary instrument and want to add a different hue to their playing, or improve their rhythmic abilities.
I have advanced students who are mostly percussionists who wish to take their darbuka playing to the next level; and learn mid eastern rhythms.
I teach the rhythms by singing them, clapping and notation.
The third mini-workshop 'Mid Eastern Rhythms' is for musicians who are interested in learning rhythms of the mid east, and applying the rhythms to their instrument.
rhythms from Egypt: Masmoudi, Maqsoum, Malfuf... from the Balkan: 9/8, 7/8...
North Africa Morrocan, from the Arabian Peninsula: Yemenite, Khaleeji...
If you are a total beginner or an advanced player, if you play drums, guitar or violin, you are welcome to contact me for lessons in the contact page.
I give a minimum of 3 lessons. This is so that you will acquire real value from this type of encounter. A single lesson is not going to get you far. Think about it as a mini-workshop that at the end of it, you will know how to play one of these percussion instruments, and gain a deeper understanding of mid eastern rhythms.