malfouf vs maqsum

BellyBee

New member
Hi ladies, how do you tell if the rhythm is malfouf or maqsum? I distinguish a rhythm by the sound dom, like if I hear D_DD, I know it's saidi, but to me malfouf and maqsum both sound like 2 doms.
 

Greek Bonfire

Well-known member
I get stuck on this one too so I'll be watching this thread. Incidentally, I was listening to a song just this morning and got stuck on which rhythm!
 

gisela

Super Moderator
they are quite different actually. Malfouf is in 2/4 and Maqsum is 4/4.

Malfouf is the fast, high energy rhythm in the beginning of many oriental dance pieces (Magency style, Oriental routine-pieces). It sounds like Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek....

Maqsoum is longer and "groovier", "Dum tek tek-ka tek, dum tek-ka-tek"

The problem for you with hearing the dums might be that you are not distinguishing where the rhythm ends. One "round" of malfouf is "Dum-tek-tek". One round of Maqsoum is Dum-tek-tek-ka-tek-Dum-tek-ka-tek"

So you'll need to remember that malfouf is only half the length of a maqsoum and that the second dum you are hearing, actually belongs to the next round of malfouf.
 

BellyBee

New member
they are quite different actually. Malfouf is in 2/4 and Maqsum is 4/4.

Malfouf is the fast, high energy rhythm in the beginning of many oriental dance pieces (Magency style, Oriental routine-pieces). It sounds like Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek, Dum tek tek....

Maqsoum is longer and "groovier", "Dum tek tek-ka tek, dum tek-ka-tek"

The problem for you with hearing the dums might be that you are not distinguishing where the rhythm ends. One "round" of malfouf is "Dum-tek-tek". One round of Maqsoum is Dum-tek-tek-ka-tek-Dum-tek-ka-tek"

So you'll need to remember that malfouf is only half the length of a maqsoum and that the second dum you are hearing, actually belongs to the next round of malfouf.

Thanks gisela
If you play malfouf slower, isn't that gonna sound like maqsoum? Can I just distinguish them by fast or slow?
 

shiradotnet

Well-known member
Thanks gisela
If you play malfouf slower, isn't that gonna sound like maqsoum? Can I just distinguish them by fast or slow?

Actually, no, a slow malfouf still won't sound like a maqsoum. The pauses and accents are placed differently with respect to the beats. It's hard to explain in text.

A malfouf has the same accents as the rhythm people often refer to as Khaleegy or Saudi. Usually when I hear people talk about "malfouf", they're referring to the variation that has only the three accented notes played, whereas what people call "Khaleegy/Saudi" has filler notes between the accents. So, malfouf, Khaleegy/Saudi, and the Greek syrtos rhythm are all the same family as each other. A malfouf does NOT have a double "doom" at the beginning of the measure.

Similarly, maqsoum, Saidi, masmoudi, and baladi are all the same family of rhythms as each other.

A musician might count malfouf saying "ONE ee and UH two ee AND uh" with drum strikes on the underlined syllables, and silence on the not-underlined ones. It's a tricky one, actually, considering how that second note gets placed with respect to the beat - not something I'd expect a person who is new to reading/counting music to be ready to learn. Even quite experienced musicians might need some time to wrap their brains around how to play malfouf.
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Malfouf will often be heard in a specific combination that includes three measures of malfouf followed by some kind of "finishing" or ending.

Such as

Doum-tek-tek, Doum-tek-tek, Doum-tek-tek, Doum Doum Tek.

I don't usually hear it played over and over again ad nauseum. I almost always hear the "finishing" bit, which creates a nice 8 count grouping.
 
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