Zills, Part Deux

[Norma]

The other zills thread made me think of this and I suppose I could (and should and will) ask my teacher, but I'll pose it to you guys here.

How do you pick music if you want to perform with zills?

I've been taking a zills class and my teacher has songs with all of the rhythms we've learned thus far--gallop, 3 3 7, baladi, masmoudi, chiftetelli, saidi, etc. (Sorry if I butchered all those spellings.) But I know she's choosing them so that we can hear the beat and play along, not necessarily for performance. So to all you zill afficionados, how do you decide?

 

[Suhad]

Actually, she is preparing you to perform with the zills -- listen to the music and it will tell you when to zill, and even tell you what patterns you could use.

I learned to drum so for me it's natural to zill in certain patterns based on whatever drum rhythm is happening at that moment, but presently I'm learning complementary zill patterns for the different rhythms. This is a mind blower for me but I like it! It's really taken my appreciation for zills as a percussive instrument to a different level.

You might consider taking drum lessons just for the purpose of learning the rhythms better, then you will have a better idea of what zill patterns go with what rhythms. Just remember that as long as it goes with or compliments the rhythm whatever you choose is fine.

Taxims (the soulful improvisational parts of the songs) are usually not good places to play zills but other than that, feel free to experiment -- the more you experiment to find what works and what doesn't, the better prepared you will be.

 

[Yshka]

Hi girls, I actually have a question about zills too. My teacher asked me the other day to prepare a choreo using zills. I want to use Egyptian music but most of those already have zills in the music so it feels kind of weird to play to a song that already has zills..

What is your take on this? Is it appropriate to do something like that? And what else can you do in a situation like this?
Any suggestions for music that s good for a zills performance?

Thanks!!
Iris