What Is an Iqa’? Darbuka Rhythm Basics
What an iqa’ and an usul actually are, how they relate to time signatures, and which rhythms to learn first.
10 questions answered
RHY-001 What is an iqa’ (plural iqa’at)? #
It’s an Arabic rhythmic mode: a fixed pattern of strong and weak strokes that repeats every measure (or every cycle) underneath the melody. Maqamworld lists more than 40 iqa’at. They run from short 2/4 folk grooves up to classical cycles of 32 beats, and Wikipedia notes that historically there were over 100, many of them now out of use. The longest and most complex ones you’ll only meet in the muwashshah vocal repertoire.
RHY-002 What is a Turkish usul, and is it the same thing as an iqa'? #
Same idea, different tradition: the usul is the Ottoman/Turkish version. It’s a rhythmic cycle that underpins the melody, and it can even shape how a whole composition is built. Usuls run from 2 beats to as many as 128. Turkish students traditionally learned them by slapping their knees while singing the piece. Plenty of rhythms are shared between the two systems under different names: düyek ≈ maqsum, çiftetelli ≈ chiftetelli, curcuna ≈ jorjina, devr-i hindi ≈ dawr hindi, aksak ≈ aqsaq.
RHY-003 Is an iqa’/usul the same as a time signature? #
Not quite. A time signature only tells you how many pulses are in the bar. An iqa’ also tells you which pulses get a low dum, which get a high tek, and which stay silent. Maqsum, baladi and saidi are all 4/4, and they’re three completely different rhythms. Wikipedia’s article on Turkish rhythm makes the same point: usul and meter overlap, but they aren’t the same thing.
RHY-004 Why are there only two “main” sounds in the notation if the drum makes many sounds? #
Because traditional theory boils every rhythm down to two sounds. Dum is low and sustained; tak is high and dry. The Turkish vocables are düm (strong, low) and tek / tekkya / teke (light strokes of different lengths). Everything else you can do on the drum (ka, slaps, pops, rolls, snaps) is ornament laid over that dum/tak skeleton.
RHY-005 Which rhythms should a beginner learn first? #
Start with the 4/4 “big three”: maqsum, baladi and saidi. That’s where most teachers begin, and it’s where I’d begin you too. After those come malfuf and ayoub (2/4), chiftetelli and masmoudi (8/4), and karsilama (9/8). Darbukaplanet calls masmoudi one of the “big six” rhythms for doumbek. Arabinstruments suggests baladi as the first rhythm most players learn. Maqamworld describes maqsum as by far the most-used iqa’ in Arabic music, and it’s my favourite: I reckon I play it about 70% of the time I perform.
RHY-006 Why do rhythms “modulate” in a song? #
Arabic arrangers switch between related iqa’at to change the energy without changing the tempo. Maqamworld notes that maqsum switches to baladi and wahda, and that baladi switches to maqsum and to malfuf. When baladi goes to malfuf, two bars of malfuf take the place of one bar of baladi. Learning to hear those switches is a huge part of accompanying songs, so train your ear for them early.
RHY-140 What is a “zak”? #
It’s a stroke named in the Nesma/Henkesh booklet: a high, hard sound that can replace a tak “without changing the rhythm”. You use it to punctuate a dancer’s sharp hip accents. It’s also the hardest sound to produce well, so give it time. A quiet, open-hand zak (lowercase z) is what fallahin (country people) play, which is why fallahi’s taks are often softened into zaks. Their notation key is D/d (dum, low dum), T/t (tak, low tak), a dotted T (high tak), Z/z (zak, quiet zak) and - (rest, “es”).
RHY-141 What does “iss” (إس) mean when Arabic teachers speak a rhythm? #
It’s the rest. Arabic lessons speak maqsum as “dum tak iss tak, dum iss tak iss”, which is exactly D T - T D - T - with each iss as a silent pulse. Masmoudi saghir (baladi) is “dum dum iss tak, dum iss tak iss”, i.e. D D - T D - T -. Nesma’s booklet calls the rest “es” for the same reason. Saying the rests out loud is the Arabic equivalent of counting “and”, and it’s a habit worth copying.
RHY-142 Is a “ka” a different sound from a “tek”? #
Mostly it’s the same sound played by the other hand. Carmine’s key has T as the right-hand high tone and K as the left-hand high tone. Blackroot says a tek is essentially an accented ka, and separates the two only to teach hand order. In practice, treat T as the stronger rim stroke and K as the lighter one.
RHY-143 Why do some teachers insist on chanting the rhythm aloud? #
Because chanting fixes both the pattern and the rests in your memory, and the rests are the half most people lose. Blackroot calls “do the chant” the tool beginners most often skip, and says those same beginners keep stumbling as a result. The Turkish tradition of knee-slapping while singing and the Arabic “dum tak iss” habit both rest on the same idea. Do it out loud, even if you feel daft.