Courses Darbuka Advanced Plus
Advanced
Darbuka Advanced Plus
Advanced students learn to play solo with improvisational rhythms over a ground rhythm (Maqsoum, Malfouf, Baladi). Accompanying oud with dynamics and accurate pulse, complex polyrhythms with ‘Hiwa’ and right-hand Mahbus, and playing along with recorded tracks.
Fee £350 (10 weeks)
Secure checkout hosted by the Arab British Centre , our partner venue.
About this course
Advanced students learn to play solo with improvisational rhythms over a ground rhythm (Maqsoum, Malfouf, Baladi). Accompanying oud with dynamics and accurate pulse, complex polyrhythms with ‘Hiwa’ and right-hand Mahbus, and playing along with recorded tracks.
What you'll cover
Solo playing is the centre of this course. You improvise over a ground rhythm — Maqsoum, Malfouf or Baladi — so that the room always knows where the beat is even when you have left it, and you always know how to get back to it.
The second strand is accompaniment. Playing behind an oud is a different discipline from playing alone: the pulse has to be exact, the dynamics have to leave room, and the drum has to follow the melody's phrasing rather than compete with it.
Technically you work on complex polyrhythms, 'Hiwa' ornamentation and the right-hand Mahbus, and you play along with recorded tracks, so the tempo is someone else's to set and yours to hold.
Fridays from 7:00 pm. Darbuka Upper Intermediate or equivalent experience is expected.
Places are limited to eight to twelve students. Enrolment opens on the open day and closes when the class is full.
If you're unsure whether this is the right level, we're happy to arrange a fifteen-minute conversation to place you correctly.
How to enrol
- Send a short note using the button above, or come to the open day.
- Agree the right level — a brief chat by phone or video if you've played before.
- Book and pay — we send a booking link with the term fee.
Course fees include all teaching materials. The Mukhtar Method books are sold separately. Concessions available for students and OAPs — please ask.
