Gems of the Middle East, Volumes 1, 2, 3

A Rhythmical Analysis

Title Gems of the Middle East, Volumes 1, 2, 3

Author Mary Ellen Donald

ISBN None

Publisher Self-Published

Category Music Education

Shira's Rating

Volume 1Cover Volume 2 Cover

What It's About

Mary Ellen Donald has released a 3-volume set of books which are sold individually which serve as valuable educational resources on Middle Eastern music for both musicians and dancers. It is a companion to a collection of musical recordings called Gems of the Middle East that Mimi Spencer made with Mary Ellen Donald which I have reviewed elsewhere on this web site. The recordings consist of a 3-volume set which can also be individually purchased. Each of the three books in the Rhythmical Analysis series corresponds to the songs that appear on the matching Gems of the Middle East musical albums.

For all the songs that appeared on the Gems of the Middle East music collection, Rhythmical Analysis takes a close look at the rhythms required to play them. The primary audience for the book would be percussion students learning to play along with classic Middle Eastern songs. A secondary audience would be dancers who would like to better understand the rhythms in these classic songs so they can select appropriate dance moves or finger cymbal accompaniment.

The songs included on Volume 1 are:

Song Title	Nationality
Saba Samir	Egyptian
Lailet Hob	Egyptian
Hebbina	Lebanese/Egyptian
Al-Henna	Egyptian
Norits Karoon Yegav	Armenian
Azizah	Egyptian
Al-'Ataba Ghazzaz	Egyptian
Toutah	Egyptian
Alf Lailah wa Lailah	Egyptian
Hijaz Baladi	Egyptian
Ya Sitti Ya Khityarah	Spanish/Lebanese
Ahwak	Egyptian
Hani	Egyptian
Hijaz Finale	Egyptian
Nibtidi Mneen al-Hikaya	Egyptian
Bint al-Balad	Egyptian
Hagala Drum Solo	Egyptian

The songs included on Volume 2 are:

Song Title	Nationality
Tamrihinna	Egyptian
Mazamir	Egyptian
Ya Reem Wadi Thaqif	Saudi Arabia
Tafta Hindi	Arab Traditional
Raghizi Apopse I Kardhia	Greek
Rampi Rampi	Turkish
Erev Shel Shoshanim	Hebrew
Ya Dala Dalla	Lebanese
Akhud Habibi D'Ana Yamma	Egyptian
Chapkin Chapkin	Turkish
Sahara City	Egyptian
Chifte-telli Taqsim	Egyptian
Fakkaruni Finalé	Egyptian
Sabroso Drum Solo	Mary Ellen's Original

The songs included on Volume 3 are:

Song Title	Nationality
Sawwah	Egyptian
Medley Anta Omri La Guardienne des Cles Ya Ain Munayyati Al-Elbi Ya'shaq Kulli Gameel	Medley Egyptian Lebanese Levantine Egyptian
Kapetanaki Sala Sala	Greek Greek
Princess of Cairo	Egyptian
Wa D'Ana	Saudi Arabia
Longa Riyadh	Egyptian
Andah Alaik	Egyptian
Me Bounatses ke Boforia	Greek
Mavi Mavi	Turkish
Libi Drum Solo	Mary Ellen's Original

For each song, Mary Ellen provides an analysis of how to play it from a percussionist's perspective. She breaks each song up into its distinct melodic components, identifies how many times each melody is repeated and when on the Gems arrangement of this song, and which rhythm is appropriate to play for each melody. She also provides the English-language translation of the song's title (but not the lyrics).

Although Mary Ellen's analysis is intended for people who want to play percussion instruments (which could include a dancer's finger cymbals), I found it very helpful as a tool in creating choreography. When I create a new piece of choreography, I listen to it many times, and write down when & how many times each melody section is repeated. Then I decide how to structure my choreography, once I understand how the song is structured. Once I understand this, I also understand how and when to include repetition in my choreography so it won't be too difficult for my students to learn. In this book, Mary Ellen has done this initial analysis for me. I can skip right from selecting a song to working on dance moves to use with it.

Here is an excerpt from one of the analyses:

Note: each time the wahida is played, it is suggested that the tambourine play the first four measures with one long shake per measure.

Melody A, twice: "walking" maqsoum

Melody B, twice plus a two-measure tag: malfouf

Melody C, once: wahidah, this is, eight measures of wahidah followed by a grab, slap, or clap, followed by three beats of silence, then three more measures of wahidah

Melody D, once: "walking" maqsoum

Melody B, once plus a two-measure tag: malfouf

Melody C, once: wahidah, this is, eight measures of wahidah followed by a grab, slap, or clap, followed by three beats of silence, then two more measures of wahidah

Melody E, once: with breaks (this is followed by musical notation indicating the rhythm to play for the break)

Whenever Mary Ellen provides musical notation for a break, she includes instructions on technique to use on each of three percussion instruments: doumbec, tambourine, and finger cymbals. For example, if you're playing tambourine, her instructions for each note indicate whether to use a doum, a tec, a left, a slap, a hit, a shake, a long shake, a rim, or a finger roll.

In addition to the analysis of the songs, this book also contains:

Comments about how the book is structured
A key that explains the stroke notation that Mary Ellen uses when showing the technique to use for breaks
A 24-page autobiography of Mary Ellen Donald, which is certain to fascinate anyone who has ever dealt with her

Its Good Points

I liked this group of books very much because:

It provides easy-to-understand practical advice for drum and riqq (tambourine) students to learn how to play certain songs. It spells out exactly when it is appropriate to play each rhythm, and provides recommendation on which technique to use when for the breaks.
The decision on which songs to include is excellent. These are well-known classic Middle Eastern songs that are sure to be popular with Arabic audiences. It's not a waste of time to master these songs, because they're widely known and much requested.
For dancers, it provides a useful guide to understanding which finger cymbal rhythms would be most appropriate to use when dancing to these songs.
Because it's a companion book to a series of musical recordings featuring Mary Ellen playing percussion, anyone working with this book can listen to the corresponding recording to hear how Mary Ellen applies her own advice to playing these songs.
When I create new choreography to one of the songs on this collection, it saves me time by telling me how many times each melody repeats and when. That makes it easier for me to plan how the choreography will flow.
The book is printed on a high quality of paper that is easy to read and durable. The plastic spiral binding makes it lie open easily so a percussion student can use both hands to play instead of trying to find a way to hold the book open.

On The Negative Side....

Mary Ellen did such a great job with this book that there really isn't much to criticize.

Above, I pointed out an advantage of the spiral binding. However, as a non-musician, I found it to be a bit inconvenient because I can't tell which book is this one by looking at the spines on my book shelf -- all I see is plastic spiral binding of several books side by side. I have to pull them out to see which book is which.

In Conclusion

Excellent tool for learning more about Middle Eastern rhythms and how they are used in Middle Eastern songs, particularly with respect to Arabic music.

Where To Get It

To purchase a copy, contact:

Mary Ellen Books
P.O. Box 411562
San Francisco, CA 94141-1562
U.S.A.

Phone: (+1) (510) 654-DRUM, or (+1) (510) 654-3786

Web Site: www.maryellendonald.com