darbuka.orgby Ibi Malik

Play · start here · free

Learn to Play the Darbuka

Eleven step-by-step lessons, each with a video, that take you from never having held a darbuka to playing proper Arabic rhythms.

Written for

Any darbuka, 22–23 cm ideally

The course works on whatever drum you have. If you’re still choosing one, 22–23 cm is the sweet spot — see What Makes a Good Darbuka.

This is where you learn to play. I’ve split the course into eleven lessons, and each one builds on the one before — so start at the top and work your way down. Don’t move past a lesson until you’ve understood it entirely. Trust me, later on you don’t want to stop in the middle of a rhythm and think, “What’s a Doum again?”

Every lesson opens with a video of me teaching it, with shorter clips further down on each technique and the mistakes I see most often. Every rhythm comes with a tab you can play aloud, at any tempo, with a metronome — and they’re all together in the rhythm library for when you just want to practise.

Put in around an hour a week and you’ll get through the course in two to three months. But remember what my teacher told me: he meant an hour a day!

· Introduction Where it all starts: how I’ve laid out the course, why strong foundations matter, and how much you should really be practising.

Part 1 Foundations

  1. 1 Darbuka Structure & Origins Let’s get to know the instrument: what the darbuka is, where it comes from, the names it goes by, the types you’ll come across and its parts.
  2. 2 How to Hold the Darbuka How I hold the darbuka, sitting on a chair or on the floor — and why the room you play in matters more than you’d think.
  3. 3 The Doum The Doum is the heartbeat of every rhythm. I’ll show you how to play it with a deep, booming sustain — and the mistakes that make it sound flat.
  4. 4 The Tek The Tek is the sharp, ringing stroke at the edge of the skin. Here’s my technique, how to practise it, and the mistakes to watch out for.

Part 2 Your first rhythm

  1. 5 Reading Drum Tabs Drum tabs are how I write down every rhythm in this course. Here’s how to read them: beat cycles, rhythmic emphasis (iqa’) and four notes in a beat.
  2. 6 The Heavy Sa’idi Your first rhythm! We’ll learn the Heavy Sa’idi by saying it, then walking it, then playing it on the drum.

Part 3 Ornamentation

  1. 7 The Ka The Ka is your first stroke with your other hand, and the key to ornamentation. It’s tricky at first — but I promise you it will come.
  2. 8 Basic Ornamentation Time to make the Heavy Sa’idi sound beautiful. We’ll add the Ka in three steps and learn the quick Teka that links one cycle to the next.

Part 4 Putting it together

  1. 9 Using a Metronome You’re going to hate the metronome at first — I did too. Here’s how to set one up, play in time with it, and why it’ll make you a better musician.
  2. 10 The Maqsum Family Meet the Maqsum family — Maqsum, Baladi and Sa’idi — the bread and butter of Arabic rhythms, in basic and ornamented forms. My favourite lesson!
  3. 11 Jumping Between Rhythms Now we link it all together: when to play basic or ornamented rhythms, and my drills for switching between them seamlessly.
· Closing You made it! A recap of everything you’ve learnt, how long to keep practising, and why the basics are where mastery begins.