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Teaching artist Karim Nagi teaches students to create the Saidi rhythm common in South Egyptian music using nothing but their own voices.

Vocabulary You Will Learn:

• As-Sa’id—The South of Egypt.
• Saidi—A 4/4 rhythm very common in South Egyptian music.
• Dum—The low, bass sound in Sa’idi rhythm.
• Tak—The sharp, high sound in Sa’idi rhythm.
• Tublah—A goblet-shaped drum commonly used in South
• Egyptian music.
• Tublah Baladi—A large, round drum, commonly used in South Egyptian music. A tublah baladi features two skins on either side bound to the drum by rope, which are tapped with two different sticks to create a rhythm.

Materials You Will Need:

• A drum, if you have one. Otherwise, you just need yourself!

How to Create Your Own Sa’idi Rhythm

1. First, sitting upright, start shrugging your shoulders slightly in repetition.
2. Next, start rocking your torso forward and backward as you continue shrugging.
3. Begin counting to 8 in 4/4 time as you rock. Start with 1 when you are leaning forward, count up to 8 as you lean back, and then come back to 1 as you return to the forward leaning position.
4. Now replace the numbers you are counting with the dum (low-pitched sound) and tak (high-pitched sound) in the following order:
   
   • Dum
   • Tak
   • —
   • Dum
   • Dum
   • —
   • Tak
   • —
     

5. If you have a drum, you can experiment with using it here. Try tapping different areas on the drum, using different shapes of your hand to create the low-pitched dum and high-pitched tak sounds.
6. If you have a drumstick, you can also experiment with using it to create the rhythm and the different pitched sounds.
7. If you don’t have a drum or drumstick, continue using your voice and body to create the rhythm!

In this video, Karim teaches us to create the Saidi rhythm using our bodies, voices, and a drum. If you want to go even further, think about these questions:

• If you don’t have a drum, what object in your home could you use to create the As-Sa’id rhythm? What different pitches can you create by drumming on this object with your hands?
• What object in your home could you use as a drumstick on your makeshift drum? If you use the drumstick instead of your hands, how does that change the sounds you are making?
• Can you try to “decorate” the rhythm the same way Karim does in the video? What do you notice about the way the rhythm sounds, and the song you are creating, once you add decorations?
• At the end of the video, Karim says that it is important to learn about other cultures so that we can all become friends and have fewer conflicts. What is something you could share about your own culture that would help others to understand you better, and become your friend?

Accessibility

Don’t forget that you can turn on “Closed Captioning” to view the YouTube video with English captions

More about the Teaching Artist

Karim Nagi (he/him) is a native Egyptian immigrant to the USA specializing in traditional Arab music and dance. He studied with primary sources for decades, and has become an established teaching artist and culture bearer. His Arabiqa program has visited more than 400 schools across the country. Karim’s goal is to share the beauty of Arab culture, dispel stereotypes, and create interpersonal harmony among people of different cultures. For more information, visit:.

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Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

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