“YaHalaly Yamalay” is a dance song, an energizing Arabic party tune that you may hear at a wedding while dancing the dabke.
In our classes we take “YaHalaly Yamalay” out of the wedding hall and use it, conceptually, as a window into Arabic rhythms. Noting that Arabic music features fascinating time signatures, with rhythms that could bring any number of beats, we count any number — 5, 12, 19… — then, just to get the feel, stomp or clap along. Because 7 is a lucky number, when we say 7 we say, “YAY!” Since 13 is unlucky, when we hear it we BOO. An exception — at points in Egypt’s history, 13 was considered lucky because it aligned with the number of Gods. So, when we say, “13 in Egypt,” what do we say…? YAY!
Tag Archives | Jordan
Not “Drink the Water”
Traditional Bedouin Music at Wadi Rum, Jordan.MOV
This week in class we sing “Drink the Water,” our version of a song from the Bedouin of Egypt’s Sinai desert that gives us the chance to impersonate desert animals. The music in this video isn’t that one, but it’s a Bedouin-Jordanian song that is amazingly great. Despite the sand and the strong desert wind, don’t you want to be sitting right there with them, clapping?
