Choreography Creation Intensive Lesson 1

Musical Theory, Song Mapping & Start Moving!

Musical Theory

To start our Choreography Creation Intensive I feel like it's important that everyone has a similar base and understanding of Middle Eastern music. This is extremely important because we use the music to guide us, and our ability to understand and interpret our guide makes an enormous difference in our ability to create based on what we've understood. The less you understand, the less you have to say back. The more you understand, the endless the possibilities become. And those endless possibilities also have guides, structures, concepts connected to the music, so you don't feel overwhelmed by your possibilities, but you feel guided by them. 

In our first section of the intensive, we're going to be focusing on becoming familiar with the traditional instruments used in Arabic music, their sounds, and the traditional musicality that is associated with them. We're starting here as a foundation for expansion, many dancers have their own special way of interpreting, personal expression is important. With a solid understanding of Arabic music, what to listen for and a traditional take on interpretation, it then allows you to pick and choose wisely about your own interpretation choices with artistic integrity and understanding. 

JUST BECAUSE WE START HERE DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE TO STAY HERE.

Tradition and evolution don't have to be at odds with each other. Just because it's "traditional" doesn't mean you have to do it, or that it's even popular to do anymore. Evolution is natural, tradition and understanding are fundamental. This program is designed to help you listen to music, and understand your choices so that you can then make the best-suited choice for you as an artist, a dancer, and your artistic expression. These skills and processes can be applied to Western music as well as fusion styles.  

One thing that I have truly learned throughout my years studying Middle Eastern dance and music, is that it is hard to condense Middle Eastern musical theory into a westernized box. So often when we learn from natives we are taught in an oral culture style. "You do as I do",  "Like this, not like that", but little explanation of what "this" or "that" actually is. Music and dance are an expression of history, culture, heritage, and tradition passed down from generation to generation consciously and subconsciously. As westerners, we are often raised and attached to our methodical breakdowns of concepts, theories, and applications. Many times this inhibits us from really embracing and receiving the energy, feeling, and message that is transcended through Middle Eastern music and dance. It is my belief that these feelings, energies, and expressions are the magic of what makes traditional music and dances what they are. It is hard to capture that magic and teach it, which is why natives can effortlessly express it, and Westerners are often left with technique but no soul, combinations but no expression. It is my intention in this Online Intensive to straddle the line between Westernized and non-Westernized, to break down concepts and theory in order to give a Westernized insight to a Non-Western expression. 

THOUGHTS ON THE LEARNING PROCESS

You will hear and learn many things along your path in Arabic dance and music, from many different reputable, and most likely, less reputable sources. You will hear master teachers and experts negate each other, dispute ideas and history, take everything in stride. Try and internalize the information and apply it to your dance in the most applicable way. Listen to the information that you are presented with, store it in the belly dance file folder in your mind, and take the time to sort them out and decide what you feel makes the most sense and why. Often it’s a little bit of both, not all or nothing. The perspective you approach something from can have a big effect on what does or does not make sense.

This online intensive is not the end-all, be-all of belly dance musicality, choreography, or Arabic music by any means, nor is it trying to be. It is more so, information that I have compiled over the years and have used to create understanding and an approach to movement. I am constantly learning new information, adding to my stockpile, and filling in the missing puzzle pieces. I encourage you to do the same. 

SUGGESTED RECOURSES

If you’re looking for music resources I highly suggest Maqam World. One of the authors of the site co-authored a really informative book called Inside Arabic Music, which is in-depth and impressive in scope and nature. Additionally, if you’re having trouble naming an instrument, identifying a rhythm, there are so many resources online these days, Google is a good friend ;)

THEORY, TiminG & Rhythms

As dancers, we may, or may not, have much experience or any formal training with music. It is important to understand basic concepts in order to effectively listen to your music and understand what is happening. The majority of Arabic music that is used for belly dance is comprised of rhythms that fall into 4/4, 2/4 timing categories. Additionally, you will see 3/4, 10/8 & 9/8 rhythms which are used, but they are not nearly as widely used as 2/4 & 4/4. These timing signatures are not profoundly important in Middle Eastern music. I've seen many articles, spoken with many musicians and depending on where they are from, what style they play, how Westernized they are, it will really affect the answers that they give you.

LAYER CAKE CONCEPT

I often like to talk about the “layers” or “levels” in the music, and what I’m referring to is the instruments in the music. Like sheet music, if you were reading each instrument’s music at the same time, you would see it stacked on top of each other, see how they align or don’t, how they engage together or stand apart. Seeing how this happens helps us understand the music, traditional musicality interpretation, and what our own creative options are as dancers.

The first layer is the beat. The beat is essentially an invisible timing concept used to keep everything in place, while the rhythm and the musical phrase on top of it actually express the music. I like to think of it as a cake. The Beat is the plate your cake sits on, the Rhythm is the cake and the melody is the frosting. You have to put your cake (Rhythm) on top of something, that's the plate (beat). Without the frosting (Melody & Vocals) the cake (Rhythm) is bland and lacking. No one eats the plate (Beat), or really thinks about it, the plate (Beat) is something that is there to keep the cake (Rhythm) and frosting (Melody Vocals) from going all over the place. 

Melody & Vocals - Frosting
Rhythm - Cake
Beat - Plate

Here is a basic breakdown of counting for the more common timing signatures and some rhythms that are associated with them. 
2/4 = has 2 beats per measure (Fellahi, Malfoof)
4/4 = has 4 beats per measure (Beledy, Saidi, Maqsoum)
3/4 = has 3 beats per measure (Waltz)
9/8 = has 9 beats per measure (Karshilama)
10/8 = has 10 beats per measure (Samaii)

The speed or tempo at which the rhythms are played is up to the musicians, the timing signature does not determine that, though some rhythms will be played within certain traditional tempos restraints.  Some Arabic rhythms are almost exactly the same, but played in a faster tempo they are called one thing, and played in a slower tempo they are referred to as something else, this is where that oral culture comes in. I would consider the identification of tempo significantly more important than worrying about the time signature. Tempo is a factor you will use to decide which moves to use, to work with the rhythm or the beat, whether or not you want to travel, or how you want to use a specific section of music compositionally when looking at your song in its entirety and so on. 

Whether you're in 2/4 timing or 4/4 makes no difference, but the tempo of the music does matter very much for musicality purposes. Whether a rhythm is called "Goodbye" or "Hello" makes no difference. How you choose to use those rhythms, based on how they’re played, does make a difference. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't take the time to learn the names of the rhythms and common language used to express musical terms or situations, it just means that knowing what a rhythm is called isn’t probably as valuable at a certain point as understanding how to move to it.

Percussion

The most prominent percussion instrument, the leader of the percussion section, and the one that will be dictating a lot of the embellishments and accents you will be using is the Tabla/Darbouka/Doumbek (name varies but the instrument is the same). The basic sounds that this instrument makes are the DUM, TEK & KA, but slaps and rolls are common sounds that you will also hear. The dum is representative of base hits (heavy) and tek & ka are accent hits that are sharper and more high pitched. Dum and tek are played with the right hand while ka is played with the left. I heard once that you can play the basic form of any rhythm with just your right hand, which would only use dum and tek, leaving the left hand free for embellishments.

Back to our previous conversation about the beat, timing, and measures. A measure is based on the timing signature, the beats, but will be most audibly noted by the Rhythm played, which will repeat multiple times allowing you to get a feel for where the beat is. 

EXAMPLE

Beledy Rhythm (4/4) - Here I have presented a basic form of Beledy rhythm, and in bold the bass (heavy) strikes of the drum. Notice that there are heavy bass strikes played that are not directly on the invisible beat. There are 4 beats per measure.

Beat 1       Beat 2   Beat 3    Beat 4                            
Dum  Dum   -  Tek  Dum  -  Tek  -  (Measure 1)
Dum  Dum   -  Tek  Dum  -  Tek  -  (Measure 2)
Dum  Dum   -  Tek  Dum  -  Tek  -  (Measure 3)
Dum  Dum   -  Tek  Dum  -  Tek  -  (Measure 4)

The beat and the rhythm are two different things. A lot of Arabic rhythms start with a Dum on Beat 1, which makes it easier to identify the repetition of the pattern and then variations throughout the rest of the song creating complex and dynamic patterns. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish rhythms because musicians commonly embellish and create variations throughout the song, one rhythm can end up sounding very different by being played with additional dums, teks, kas, slaps or added pauses. 

When trying to listen to your music and assess what rhythm it is ….

• Figure out how many counts are in the measure (Equal to the same number of beats).

• Listen for how many Dums you hear in each measure and how they’re placed throughout the measure.

• Listen to the backup percussion! This is probably the most useful technique and the least thought of. The lead tabla is the star of the percussion section. He gets to do a lot of embellishments, take liberty and get creative, the other percussion instruments RARELY get to do this. So when you’re listening for what rhythm it is, you really want to look for the bass beats (dums) in the Daf/Duff and Duhulla. These instruments will be holding down the standard unembellished version of the rhythm throughout the sections, while the tabla shows off, so they will really tell you what rhythm is being played.

For listening pleasure, really enjoy Amir Sofi's Middle Eastern Rhythms Vol. 1 & 2, you can find them here on Spotify. They have a lot of rhythms and I enjoy his format of counting out the timing with the beat beforehand and then gives you a basic rhythm (sometimes with more embellishments) and then shows you how the rhythm is used in a song. Writing out the rhythms can be helpful, but listening for the cues is essential. Rhythms don’t always sound the same, or as clean when you get into the messy layer cake of the music.

Traditional Movement THEORY for Percussion

STACCATO

For generalization purposes, we're going to discuss dance moves into two categories even though there are many ways to overlap them or transcend these classifications. These categories are Staccato and Legato.

Staccato movements are moves that have a clear beginning and end and cannot be continued after they reach their endpoint, they have finality. Examples are hip lifts and drops, chest lifts and drops, pelvic locks, all of which generally don’t take long amounts of time to arrive at their final destination and that final destination is a clear endpoint). For example, a hip lift: when you lift your hip it reaches a height that you cannot surpass, force is exerted and your body meets an endpoint where your body creates an accent by reaching finality and its anatomical limits. You can then choose to move it back down to a point that also cannot be surpassed. You create a finite ending and beginning for this move with an accent placed at the end. If you were to engage in a hip lift/ hip drop but not add an accent and never stop the move it wouldn't really be what we know as a hip drop anymore. Staccato movements are largely represented by their creation of an accent, something stark, sharp, hard, blunt, final.

TABLA & OTHER PERCUSSION

The traditional way to dance to the tabla is to follow its hits with staccato accents on your body. The strikes (dum, tek, ka) that the drummer makes create the rhythm, and the rolls or slaps will be used as embellishment. When the drum is hit the sound ends, your body should reflect this in its movement. If you are dancing to a drum, generally speaking, it does not make sense to move using continuous movements, but staccato movements to reflect the accents and ending points of the hits made on the drum. The rollS, or rapid and repeated hits to the drum, are an exception. These are commonly marked by shimmies, and some rhythms move so fast or are filled with so many extra accents that it gives the same desire to want to shimmy. The more advance the material the more ways you can start to pick these options apart. 

Something to consider is the difference between the Beat, the Rhythm, and the percussive Accents & Embellishments. It’s very useful to deduce which one of these you gravitate to when you dance because most of us do fall on one of these more than the others. Be wary of this and push yourself to work outside of your comfort zone. Often many dancers over-utilize the Beat, underutilize the Rhythm, and gravitate towards Accents & Embellishments.

Do you know what the difference between dancing on the beat and dancing to the rhythm is? Can you do both?
Do you understand how you can dance on the beat using Legato and Staccato moves equally?
Do you understand that all of these are valid options but have a time and a place?
Please use the exercises below to help you deepen your understanding of the music and how YOU move to it.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Along with using the appropriate move per instrument, you should also think about the specific SOUND the instrument makes and the appropriate move and technical execution for that sound. As we become more advanced with our musicality you want to reflect the sounds of each instrument differently. We do not treat all dums, teks, kas, and slaps the same. You are the personification of these sounds, so work hard to reflect them as best as possible.  We will approach this first with the percussion. There are many many sounds that the percussion instruments can make and many different feelings that they exhibit. The Daf/Duff, Tabla, Riq, Zills all have different musical sounds, and within their own instrument exhibit different ways to be played and expressed. Do not do these instruments the disservice of treating them equally. 

Melodic Instruments & TRADITIONAL MOVEMENT THEORY

Percussion makes up one-half of a very important team, now we’re going to discuss the melodic instruments, traditional approaches for their movement vocabulary, and movement theory. 

Legato movements are in direct contrast to staccato movements because they have continuously flow without pause. They never have to end because there is no finite ending for them, except to release and transition to another move or come to a stop. These movements ebb and flow. Examples would be Figure 8's, hip circles, snake arms, you can engage in these moves and the flow will continue until you decide it should stop. There is no specific accent that would indicate the beginning or the end of the move unless you overly emphasize one section more than the rest. Creating an emphasis in a legato movement is a musicality technique.

Here are some of the more common melodic instruments that you will hear in traditional Arabic music. Each of them has a flexible traditional structure, these are guidelines, not hard rules.

Ney - The ney is traditionally danced to with lighter, softer movements, with an emphasis on the arms and hands. There is not a large pelvic influence, and the movement tends to stay in the upper body but does not have to. The stance is pretty lifted as the body tries to exhibit the light and even ethereal qualities of the ney. A deeper stance and earthier movements are avoided.

Violin - The violin is an extremely soulful instrument prominent throughout Arabic music. The movement vocabulary tends to range from the center of the chest out, moving from the heart, and into the upper or lower body. The stretch of this instrument is larger than the ney, so the range of motion tends to move further from the core and outwards. There is a push and pull that exists through the center of the body as the movements range around the core (in a similar fashion to how the violin is physically played by the musician). While there is a large incorporation of the upper body, the lower body is also often utilized, though the stance does tend to enable the body to expand outwards and back inwards.

Accordion - This traditional Beledy instrument is highly associated with core and pelvic movement. The arms are less utilized and you really work through the core of your body creating a dynamic ebb and flow. This stance tends to be a bit wider and lower than the Ney and Violin, as it is associated with Beledy style.

Kanoun - The Kanoun has a lighter and maybe tenser sound that is traditionally associated with the shimmy. The strings are plucked at a rapid speed creating quick and springy sounds that translate largely into shimmies on the body in a higher stance. In addition to shimmies, using melodic movements on top to follow the rise and fall of the notes creates a dynamic interpretation. Because of the way it is played, it also leaves a lot of opportunity for staccato movement application.

Oud - The Oud has a deeper, earthier sound that is interpreted with a deeper stance and a slightly larger range of movement outside the body. Because it is often played slightly slower than the kanoun, you are often able to pick out individual notes which allows you to use staccato movements more often. There is more of a focus on the core and lower body with this instrument and less arms and upper body.

Vocals - The singer(s) hold an important place as a melodic instrument that should be utilized often when possible. The approach can change from the style of dance, to sound, and tone of voice. Try and think about the vocals as a general melodic instrument and apply the same general concepts as you do to the melody.

MELODIC MOVEMENT THEORY

When dancing to the melody, there are a couple of general trains of thought on how you can play with the music, below are 3 concepts that will help you visualize the most common approaches.  

Concept #1 - Melody On the Beat 
The most common and basic is simply to use legato (continuous and fluid) movements to represent the melody. The moves are generally applied following the BEAT (which the melody is staying on top of), and the movements are applied equally within the beat. At a beginning level, this is applied without too much consideration for the path the melody actually takes, so it ends up being applied in a flat way without specifics. It is not necessarily following the melodic line as it varies throughout the phrase, but it is using legato movement so it appears to have a connection to the melody but it’s on a semi-superficial level.

This is another example of dancing to the beat even though you think you are dancing to the melody. This basic concept comes out as: 'melody equals fluid movements, percussion equals hits and staccato movement', but the interpretation can come off as superficial if you are working off the beat only and not incorporating the melodic lines and rhythm. Many people do not realize that they are constantly working off the beat and not actually following the melody or percussion more specifically, but because the melody and rhythm fall on the beat, everything seemingly lines up. Both the rhythm and melody work within the beat, on top of the beat, the frosting and cake sit on top of the plate, but to only use legato movements for melody and staccato for percussion and primarily on the beat, can make for a shallow interpretation compared to what the music is actually presenting you. Your bite of cake might end up being more plate than anything... 

This is definitely not to say that you cannot and should not dance to the music in this way, because there are beautiful and fantastic ways to use this musicality concept, but this is meant to bring to light something that many dancers don't discern about their own movement. The beat is important, the beat is fantastic, use it! But push yourself to gain the skills to dance more specifically to the rhythm and the melody as well. 

The percussion equivalent of this would be only ever dancing to the beat. Understanding the path the melody takes and following it is just as important as understanding your rhythms and how to work with them. 

Concept #2 - “Follow The Melody” - Ebb & Flow, Emphasis

”Follow the melody” is something that you can often hear a teacher say, but what does that mean? As an instrument plays their notes our job as the dancers is to try and reflect that concept visually. Using the concept of Ebb & Flow, ebb is when you make a change, and flow is when you let a movement continue on. Like a river, sometimes it curves and sometimes it just follows its path, sometimes it ebbs and sometimes it flows. If a melodic instrument is playing 4 notes, La, La, La, La. Every time the note La is played, you want to try and Ebb. Between the notes, you want to flow towards the next Ebb, not arriving too quickly. In this way you can really “follow the melody” reflecting the notes played through your ebb and flow process. Of course sometimes the notes last longer, sometimes the flow is shorter, all of this changes how you execute the ebb and flow concept.

Emphasis can be utilized by creating added interest or intensity in order to “engage” with the music. If you are doing a hip circle, the movement can be very flat, there is no one point when emphasis is required, BUT we can add emphasis in order to connect with the note(s) of the melodic instrument. In this way, we’re not just using a legato movement because we’re dancing to melody, but we’re creating a physical representation of the connection between our engagement/intesity/activity and the intensity/activity of the note being played.

This second concept is to pay more specific attention to the path of the melody; the highs, the lows, the quick changes and subtle endings. This would still use primarily legato movements, but in a more specific application with deeper interpretation and timing. Instead of just applying the moves in a superficial and basic approach, you flow in and out of legato moves that can be constantly changing and developing. You pause with the pauses in the melody and use subtle and obvious cues alike to create a more dynamic and organic flow. There is definitely an in-between stage between concept one (working on the beat to the melody) and concept 2 (following the melodic phrase specifically). This is usually accomplished when a dancer understands that it's necessary to follow the melodic more closely than just to the beat, but they do not hear the music with enough detail to express it completely, or they lack skill in combining moves to fully represent the music. This is a natural stage to pass through from concept 1 to concept 2. 

You want to work hard to represent the music with your body in all that it offers and we will work on exercises in the coming weeks to deepen our ability to hear the music, pick it apart and how we choose to move to it.

Concept #3 - Stacatto with Melody
 The third and more complex interpretation option is to also incorporate staccato movements for some aspects of the melodic instruments. While most of the time the melodic instruments follow a clear connection of notes from beginning to end of a phrase, they can also play single notes or a sequence of single notes that will allow you to potentially approach them with staccato moves. This is very true with plucked instruments like the Oud and the Kanoun, which give ample opportunity for staccato movements to be used with the melody. I personally do not suggest picking apart an entire melodic section for staccato moves only, but to add this option at times is more than appropriate. 

In my opinion, the best choice is to combine all of these options however you see fit to give the best representation of the music, and to best represent your own expression. This is the power of artistic expression, you decide what parts of the music you want to dance to, and how you want to represent them.

LAYER CAKE CONTINUED 

Don't forget what place the melody holds in the concept of the musical layer cake. Melody (frosting) does not range freely above the cake (rhythm) and it definitely isn't outside the concept of the beat (plate). The frosting sits on top of the cake, often starting in the same place and ending together. The melodic phrase sits on top of the beat and the rhythm but usually finds itself starting and finishing during the same confines of the rhythmic or timing phrase. Prominent notes played within the melody often correlate with prominent dums and percussive combinations. While they are providing different things to the music, they are working together, often giving emphasis at the same moment and then separating slightly to contribute their own attributes to the song. This concept can be important when you start working with both aspects of the music at the same time. These are conceptual areas where you can exploit dynamics in the music or make artistic decisions about what you want to work with considering they may be expressing similar concepts at the same time. That being said, there are many times when the melody and the rhythm are not perfectly aligned. They are in sync, but they’re not starting and stopping at the same exact moments, there is overlap occurring between measures and it can be hard to seamlessly move between the layer cake if you’re not aware of this. There are obvious moments when they are expressing very different things, but it's good to recognize that they mimic each other and are working together in the song, not separate from each other. This can make your flow from dancing to percussion and melody feel very natural versus a hard contrast.  

MELODIC & PERCUSSIVE MUSICALITY COMBINED

The options to combine staccato and legato movements together for a mix interpretation are really endless. This is where things start to get fun! But also, complicated, and people start to feel overwhelmed by the options. Many combinations combine both legato and staccato within the same sequence or measure which can be very natural. BUT there will definitely be moments when it will serve you better to focus on melody or percussion alone. Most dynamic dancers flow in and out of using these two seamlessly, working with the drum and then melodic lines only counts later, this is definitely a developed skill that comes with time. We will have exercises the help you close down your options and make informed decisions about which parts of the music you want to work with and express. 

One main tool for combining melodic and percussive interpretation together is layering: layering movements is the concept of doing more than one move at the same time, maybe in the same timing or maybe not. One move can be going slow while the other moves quickly, or they can be moving at the same speed. When you layer, you have the option to play different instruments in your body at the same time. Your arms might be following the melody but your hips are percussive, or your lower body follows the melody while your upper body expresses percussive accents. Options are endless and this is where technical skill really comes into play. More advanced interpretation is made easier by higher levels of skill and control. 

LAYERS

Layers are a dynamic and iconic aspect of Middle Eastern dance. Essentially defined as “doing two movements at once”, it gives us the possibility to represent multiple aspects of the music at the same time, which is an intrinsic aspect of this dance. Some of the most straightforward examples are shimmies with an additional movement, any movement accompanied by an arm path, or any move done while traveling with a foot pattern. Layering gives us the ability to be more nuanced and expressive in our musicality.
For example, if there are exciting accents from the tabla but the tempo and rhythm are really fast, maybe I’ll do a traveling pattern and add hipwork. If the music is very romantic, floaty, and expansive I will probably try and reflect the romance with my upper body while using my lower body to reflect the expanse by taking up space, sharing the floaty feeling through both parts of my body. If I’m in a slow Taqsim section that has a lot of tension and vibration feelings, I will look for movements to softly layer shimmies on top of my legato flow of movements. These are all organic and natural ways to layer movements that present themselves in this dance style. While in class we may drill challenging combos of timing and multiple movements, a lot of times the representation of it in the dance is much more subtle. Use these ideas of layering while you work through your choreography, deducing the feeling of the section, the tempo, the energy, the rhythm, the melody, and how maybe a non-overcomplicated combination of moves can give us the interpretation we’re looking for.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

It’s important to remember that we have flexible structures and guides of traditional musicality choices, but even within that there are A LOT of options, and rules can be broken ;). I want to encourage you to see this as YOUR artistic expression, your choice. You may say, “I don’t know what to do, there' are so many choices.” That’s ok, you just need to find 1 that you like and use it. It doesn’t have to be the best move in the world, you just have to say, “ok, I like this, this works for what I want and I’m going to use it here,” and have a sense of confidence in your decision. At a certain point, you just have to make a decision about what you want to do and commit to it, embrace the move fully and dance it with confidence. We will work throughout the series, implementing exercises to strengthening this challenging process.

Movement Integration - Music Theory & Improvisation

Song Mapping 

Now we're going to begin a process that I have developed over time and use to break down my music and make it easier to digest and create from. Choreography mapping has so many benefits, it cannot be overstated. From allowing you to look closer at your music which makes you see more possibilities, giving frame and reference to what you're hearing to make better choices, allowing you to look at the song in a larger context which makes it easier to decide how to use sections, as well as breaking the song into bite size pieces which then makes it seem more approachable. There are many more advantages to using a choreography/song mapping system, I'm excited to see what benefits you will discover. 

SONG MAPPING TEMPLATE

Go to - File, - Make a Copy, in order to have your own for your song.

How to Make a Song/Choreography Map

Using the Song Mapping Template, listen to your song as many times as necessary to fill in the categories appropriately. Depending on the complexity of the song, this can take you anywhere from 30 mins to several hours if you're being detail-oriented and really studying your music. This is not the time to rush, but sink into the music. Relax and take your time, close your eyes, and identify information for each section of music. You will end up hitting pause a million times, rewinding, and starting over, don't worry, just take your time and fill in as best as you can. Watch the video below where I take you through the Song Mapping Process.

BASIC SONG MAPPING TUTORIAL

The first 6 columns in the template (or first half) are musical information such as; Time/Counts, Musical Instruments Present, Rhythms, Tempo, ect. The second half of the map is more conceptual and creative such as; Feeling, Style, Context, Movements To Use, etc. I suggest starting out by detailing the musical information in the first 6 columns and then moving on to filling in your creative and conceptual ideas for the second half.

• Time & Counts - The first thing that I do when I'm listening to my music is mark the sections by what time they start and end in the song, and then how many counts exist during the section. This gives me an idea of the length, length of the section compared to other sections, and seeing the timing next to all the other sections can help you make decisions about how to use your time wisely. Maybe a section is extremely long and you use more dynamics in it to try and keep things entertaining and varied, maybe you edit part of it out in order to meet your time limit restraints. 

- So start your music and listen for the first dramatic change in melody, percussion or tempo. Go through the song noting all the section changes, timing and counts. 

- Sections can last between a couple of seconds (if it's just a transition) or up to a minute or more. Most commonly they're between 20 seconds to 40 seconds. 

- If the melodic line repeats, and the percussion is the same, that means the section is still the same. It is extremely common in Arabic music for a phrase to repeat multiple times within a section of music before transitioning on to something else. 

- If you hear a variation in the music but it's similar to the previous phrases in melody, main instruments, etc. you can decide if you consider this a different section or not. Notate in the way you understand the music the best, and gives you the most insight to your song. It doesn’t matter if the composer did or didn’t mean for this to be considered a different section, it’s about how YOU hear it so that you can represent it how you see fit artistically.

- An entire section may repeat later in your song, exactly the same or with a variation. Sometimes I name these sections in order to have something to refer to it as or a way to think about it, and when I fill out the section in my mapping I'll just put "repeat frolic violin section" or whatever I want to call it. MANY times repeat sections in Arabic music will have subtle or dramatic variations, make sure you are paying close attention to these details and notating them. If this is the case I might write "repeat frolic violin section with accordion variation" This will give you good ammunition for how to change up your movement in a repeat section of music. 

• Main Melodic Instruments - The second thing I do is then assess which instruments are MOST prominent in each section. Most commonly you'll have 1 melodic instrument, maybe two that share the spotlight and then you can notate if you feel the percussion is very prominent or not. If one instrument is hogging the spotlight and the other is just supportive, leave that secondary instrument for the next section. If it's a strong call and answer section, I would potentially name both instruments as leads.
   

• Secondary/Supportive Instruments - The next step is to notate the other instruments you hear in the section but maybe aren't as prominent, but can be seen as supporting roles. Commonly the violin will show up in sections that it's not the lead melodic instrument just to add accents or play call and answer with another melodic instrument. Or maybe the tabla or sagat have gotten really active during this variation, add that information.
   

• Rhythm, Percussion, Percussion Details - In these categories, I notate which main percussion instruments I hear, which rhythm is being played, any accents that stand out to me. If you hear something you really feel drawn to in percussion, mark it here and you can work around that with your other musicality options. You might note which supporting percussion instruments inspire you here, like zills, riq, duff, and how you might wanna play with those to create diversity in your piece. Take advantage of the variety, so you can keep your piece diverse and dynamic. (If you do not know what the rhythm is called, never fear! Figure out where the dums are, how many counts are in the phrase, any major teks, and work from there. Listen to the backup percussion for that consistent basic rhythm pattern. This is usually more than enough to give you concepts on how to move to the percussion.) Again if you struggle here, check out Maqam World.
   

• Tempo - Assessing tempo (speed) is important because it makes options of what you wanna do clearer very quickly. Tempo can usually tell you whether or not you're going to travel, or if it'd even a musicality option. If you have a tremendously slow section lead by an oud as the main instrument, chances are you aren't gonna be traveling all over the place. You want to diversify travel, stationary and stage useage throughout your piece, so when you've assessed that you only have a couple sections you can travel in, you'll be a lot more likely to make sure you travel during them and that they are effective displays of your skill or favorite moves. If you feel like you can travel in all the sections, it'll force you to identity musicality options that allow you to stay in one spot. 
   

• Style - In this section describe if there is a specific style of music being played. Is it a traditional Beledy? Saidi? Mawal (improvised vocal solo)? Not every section while have a specific style to it, but it’s good to identify if it does in case this pushes your interpretation into one direction or another. 
   

• Feeling - In this section, I want you to describe how the music makes you feel. Is it light and airy? Does it feel like a rain cloud is overhead? Does it feel like quicksand pulling you into the ground? Does it make you want to frolic through the fields? You can give any kind of personification to this that you want. I just want you to try and put a feeling or energy to the section to enable to you develop of a concept of movement. You can also think about this has “how does this music feel to me?” “How does this music make me want to move?”
   

• Types of Movements - What types of movements does this section make you want to use? What do you want to challenge yourself to use in this section? Write down the types of movements that you associate with the sounds you hear in this section. The types of movements you associate with the personifications, feelings and energy that you described in the “Feeling” category. Any specific moves you want to use in this section, or combinations you want to infuse. 
   

• Context - In this next section I want you to make choreography notes based on the entire context of the song. This is a VERY important section that I want you to give a lot of thought to. Spend time analyzing your section based in these contextual options and whatever else you feel will help the development of your piece. This is often a really challenging section for dancers to become comfortable using. It is based on your artistic expression and intention, using the information from the piece to help you craft the expression you want.

Stylistic Context - It's a Beledy progression so I don’t want to travel too much, but in order to create diversity I’m going to travel in this section, this section or this section.  

Placement Context - What other sections are near or far from this section? Are there a lot of traveling sections near this section? Is everything slow? Is there a lot of accordion used? Think about the context of your section in reference to the other sections to decide how to create variety and keep things dynamic. 

What is Lacking Context - Look through your sections to see if there’s anything lacking. Maybe the entire song is very fast and it always makes you feel like traveling. Take a look at your song and identify which sections you could potentially take a break from traveling and stand in one spot. By identifying what you don't have much of, you can then look for places to insert it and bring out different aspects of your music. This allows you to create more diversity in your piece and keep things from becoming too monotonous.

Repetition Context - This section repeats 3 times, so if the first section I’m going to do this, I’ll develop on that for the second section and in the third section, I’m going to incorporate new moves that I haven’t used in the previous two. Also, you can think about any diversity within the musical repetition itself. Many times a repeated section has simple or even dynamic variations and if you pay attention to your music, you can exploit these variations within repeated sections which will make you feel like you have more to work with and aren't constantly doing the same moves to the same sections. 

Artistic Context - I want my piece to feel sad and longing, so even though there are fast parts, I’m going to try and slow them down and give them a feeling of falling and dragging.

• Traveling & Floor Patterns - Some dancers really enjoy working from floor patterns before they think about movement. If that’s you, that’s fine. Just make sure that the concept of the movement isn’t overwhelmed by the floor pattern that you’re trying to stick to. In this section, you can put any traveling ideas or floor patterns as you see them fitting into your dance space relative to your movement ideas and overall piece.

• Lyrics - Many pieces have lyrics and it’s very important to know what you’re dancing to. You can use this section to put the lyrics, the lyrical translation, and any ideas you may have about how you want to use them towards your piece and expression.

• Extra Notes - Use this section to make any kind of notes or questions you have as you’re working through the song map. Maybe you have questions about the performance space, staging, lighting, costume ideas? Or maybe you want to remember to figure out what rhythm that is, etc. Feel free to use this section as you see fit.

• Add A Section - Is there something missing? Do you need an additional section? Maybe a section to point out where you want to shimmy? Maybe a section that catalogs the specific sagat patterns being used? Feel free to add an additional column for any information that you need!

BASIC SONG MAPPING TUTORIAL VIDEO

Here is a tutorial video on how to use and work with the Song Map Template,
and additionally here is a sample of a song map in progress.

Start Moving &
talking walkthrough

NOW, we can start to move! Now that we've got some theory under our belts and we've thought deeply about our song, we're going to start to move around. And when I say move around, I mean just that. A lot of challenges with choreography come from the internal desire, need, pressure, for the choreography to have to be something specific, have to be amazing, have to be perfect, have to be this style or that. We're gonna let that go for now.

START MOVING TO YOUR PIECE - EXERCISE

Now I want you to start moving around! First what I’d like you to do is start moving around to your piece section by section. Don’t dance the entire piece through and through, just take a look at it section by section as you have sectioned it out on your song map.

• Look at your song map, and start moving around to the first section. Move, explore, enjoy the section and then look back at the song map and see if you’re using the moves you initially wrote down. Are you? If you are, great, explore them!
  If you’re not, why? Try and incorporate them intentionally.
  Do they not make sense anymore as you try them out? No big deal, what would make sense?
  Update your song map and try again!

• Repeat this process with each of your sections, just getting a better idea of whether or not your initial movement ideas make sense and if they don’t, adjust your song map.

• Once you’ve done this exercise a bit, you’re ready for The Talking Walkthrough!

THE TALKING WALKTHROUGH

The Talking Walkthrough is an exercise that helps you put your ideas into movement and lets me see where you’re going with your ideas in a physical format. Many dancers overestimate what this video needs to be, it’s basically the very first rough draft of your piece in all of it’s unfinished imperfection. Your uncrafted and messily organized ideas put into movement.

TALKING WALKTHROUGH - EXERCISE

• I want you to record yourself “walking through” your pieces with your song map in your hand. I basically want you to mark the piece as you see it, looking at your song map as you go if you forget and are unsure. When you arrive at a section where you don’t know what to do, simply say, “I don’t know what to put here”. You can talk to the camera as you go, don’t be afraid to describe things, jut make sure you’re also moving. Don’t stop and talk for 2 minutes nd then keep dancing. Work your way through the piece as best you can.
  
  Please watch the video below of me showing you what a Talking Walkthrough looks like. See that it’s imperfect, see that I ramble a bit, see that I’m just talking about and thinking through my ideas as I move.

TALKING WALKTHROUGH VIDEO TUTORIAL

FEEDBACK, CRITIQUE
& CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

One of the objectives for this series is that each participant develops their ability to receive feedback, critique their’s and others work, and provide supportive constructive criticism. I know how challenging it is to watch videos of yourself, and how difficult it can be to put your work (especially unfinished work) up for “judgement”. I also know that it is hard to look at something critically, then verbalize what you’re seeing, and offer a critique that can be constructive and supportive. Because of this I’ve incorporated a Feedback, Critique & Constructive Criticism section that will accompany each lesson of the series. This series will require you to send in videos regularly, which might be scary, you’ll then receive feedback that you might dread reading. Eventually be sharing bits and pieces of your works in progress with each other, receiving feedback and support from your group.

So, I am offering myself up as the sacrificial lamb ;) every Lesson of this series will include a video of me for YOU to critique. This way you can all practice analyzing dance based on the theory we’re discussing during that Lesson, put into words what you’re seeing, and help develop constructive criticism that will support my development.

FEEDBACK, CRITIQUE & CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM VIDEO

QUESTIONS

• What is it that you felt went well?

• What is it that you felt could have gone better?

• How does this relate to the theory we’re working on in this Lesson?

• What suggestions would you give for improvement?

LESSON 1 ASSIGNMENTS

DUE ON TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY 4TH & 5TH OF OF OCT

These to be turned into amandaroseonline@gmail.com

1. Questionnaire & Song - Make sure your Questionnaire is turned in and your song has been approved!

2. Song Map - Carefully fill out Song Map for your song and turn it in - take your time, this process can take hours. (If you need help or you have questions please post and ask! This can be a challenging exercise but extremely helpful!) 

3. Descriptive Paragraph - Think about your song and write a descriptive paragraph about your ideas for your choreography, whatever those ideas may be, and what that means to you. Put as much detail as you want, this is for you and myself to understand your point of view starting off this process. 

4. Talking Walkthrough - Submit the Talking Walkthrough video to amandaroseonline@gmail.com

5. Feedback, Critique & Constructive Criticism - Answer the questions about the video and give your feedback.

6. Homework Turn-In Day - Do you want to turn your homework in on Tuesdays or Wednesdays?

7. Intensive Buddy - Do you want an intensive buddy? Someone that you can chat with, bounce ideas off of, have take a look at your choreo, and support each other throughout the series? (I will only being assigning buddies to people who want them and want to be them.)