Raqs Nerd: before you spend big money on a music course... do this first

So - you all know I'm a dance nerd. It's literally in the title of this email.

And I'm also a music nerd.

So it brings me great joy to see more and more bellydancers with a real hunger for musical learning, and to see more musical training options for dancers starting to appear, to meet this desire for knowledge

But (yes there's always a but): I also feel that a lot of dancers are still neglecting, or rushing through, the most important step of musical learning. The step without which, none of the musical knowledge we gain in "music for dancers" classes, or lectures on cultural context, or anything else, can fully click and become real for us.

And, it's the step which I believe is the "missing link" that so often leads to Egyptian dancers and musicians complaining that foreign bellydancers just don't have the right feeling; don't have the music "in their blood"

This vital step (actually, a lifelong practice) is deep, present, intentional listening

And the thing about this practice is, it's not very sexy and marketable, in this age of 30-second tiktok videos and instant transformations. It's a slow and gradual process of reshaping your own mind, not a quick fix where we can show a "before and after" in a few weeks. It's also not something anyone has much incentive to promote or encourage, because nobody is monetising this (besides record companies and streaming platforms - and to them, we're completely insignificant).

But as a dance teacher, and also as somebody a long way down the rabbit hole of immersion in Arabic music, I have my own personal incentives:

I want to see my students continue to grow and flourish as artists, in a way that's only possible for dancers who make deep listening a part of life

And more selfishly, I want to have more people I can share my excitement about music with and them get it

So what do I mean by deep listening and musical immersion?

First of all, on the most basic level, I mean just sheer exposure to the music - being around it, letting it wash over you, having it be a part of the soundtrack of your life, and generally racking up as many hours of hearing Arabic and SWANA music as you can. This is the part that dancers who've grown up within the source cultures, get naturally - absorbing the soundscape of this music, in the same effortless way we pick up our native language.

And there are easy ways to get more of this kind of passive exposure: listen to music while you're working, doing chores, working out, walking, commuting... and take advantage of playlists and YouTube recommendations. If you aren't sure where to start, resist the temptation to look specifically for "bellydance" music - instead search for keywords like Egyptian songs, Lebanese songs, Shaabi songs, Tarab music - so that you get to hear music that people actually listen to within the culture.

This by itself already makes a big difference - especially if you're pretty new to this dance, and you didn't grow up with the music. It will build comfort and familiarity, and you'll start to absorb the structure of the music on a subconscious level.

But that's just level one...

Level two means going beyond mere exposure - which works by unconsciously makes your brain familiar with the patterns of the music - and into deep active listening

And this is where the real pleasure is found - where the music truly becomes a delight in itself, not just "something to dance to"

When we go to this next level, our times for listening need to be more carefully chosen - the music is going to become our sole focus as much as possible, so we don't want distractions. Less "putting a playlist on while I cook dinner", and more "lying on the sofa with headphones on and a cup of tea". Or listening on a long train journey, or a long road trip. Or my personal favourite, listening while I have a massage (my massage therapist has heard a lot of Egyptian music at this point).

The music needs to be more carefully chosen, too - becuase this is no longer about subconsciously absorbing, and all about tuning in to details and layers. We want music with substance here, with rich melodies and details to train our attention on.

This doesn't necessarily mean just the "big" classics, like Oum Kalthoum - though it can do! But older and/or more tradition-based music, one way or another, will tend to give us more to listen for than recent pop music - whether it's "tarab qadim" art music, mid-20th-century "long songs" (Oum Kalthoum, Abdelhalim Hafez, Warda, et al), traditional folk music, classic urban shaabi music, or instrumental baladi music...

But whatever the genre, we'll get the most from music which has a range of real analogue musical instruments creating different sounds, and an improvisational element in how it is played.

Once we've got some uninterrupted-ish listening time, and some music lined up - what do we listen for?

Here are some ideas...

Paying attention to rhythmic shifts and transitions - and to changes in energy

Noticing which instrument is playing at any time, and its sound quality - and becomign aware of how different instruments weave in and out of the music, or interact and respond to each other

Listening for the percussion - noticing the basic rhythm, and where it's accented or textured, and which instruments you're hearing (tabla? riq? sagat?)

Carefully following the line of the melody, trying to hear every little detail in the main instrument or the singer's voice - even the tiniest little shifts

Observing how in "quiet" song sections and vocal improvisations, the supporting instruments echo or "carry" the melody between the singer's phrases

If there are backing singers - noticing how and where they respond to or take over from the lead singer.

Paying attention to how the melody interacts with the rhythm - is the main instrument or singer working on the beat, between the beats, or even completely independently as if there was no rhythm there at all?

And of course - tuning in to the emotional colour of the music, how you feel, and where the feeling changes - even just for a moment...

These are just a selection off the top of my head of the things I find myself intensely concentrating on when I'm listening to something really good - and I find that with my favourite music, I am always noticing new details and tuning in to new aspects, every time I pay attention to it. This is one of the great beauties of traditional Arabic music - the sheer level of detail within it is incredible, like a fractal...

What will you get from this?

In short, you will tune your ear to really appreciate the music as a listener - and you will build a deep familiarity with how this music works and how it flows, even without any formal training (just as listeners within the culture do), so that if you do decide to take in-depth music classes, you'll be ready to apply and contextualise everything you learn

And by developing this kind of deep focus on the details of the music, you'll also become more susceptible to experiencing tarab - the ecstatic state produced by music (no need to try to force this, you will know when it happens, and it's not especially predictable - consider it a blessing when it does!)

And even though the music I prefer for this kind of deep listening practice isn't usually the exact same music I'd be performing to, the connection and emotional attunement developed in this way absolutely will carry across into your entire dance life and change how you hear and experience all of your music

And to finish - a few listening suggestions...

These are rather eclectic - a few pieces of music that I've got a bit obsessed with at some point in time, that I feel have a lot of depth for this kind of focused listening (I am resisting the temptation to overwhelm you with a million links, and giving just a few that come to mind):

​Sayed Darwish - Ana Haweit​

​Shadia - Oulo Le Ain El Shams​

​Oum Kalthoum - Ana Fi Intizarak​

​Mohammed el Qasabgi - Zekrayati​

​Ahmed Adaweya - Mawal Ya Betaa El Tofah (my current favourite!)

I hope you enjoy 😊

With Love,

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PS - every part of this newsletter is written by me, a flesh and blood human being, using my own thoughts, feelings, opinions, and writing style - now and always. This is a generative AI free zone 🚫🤖