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These days if you want to learn how to belly dance you have countless instructional DVDs to choose from but most are not inclusive enough to cover all that is needed to be the<\/em> dance video for beginners. Many are made specifically for the beginning student, but in my opinion, most do not really have sufficient material needed to train the beginning dancer to performance level. While there are many specialty instructional DVDs (arms, veils, combinations, props, choreography…) that can be used to accompany the primary instructional dance DVD, they are quite numerous and can take quite a toll on one’s bank account.\u00a0 It can take years to reach real performance level as there is so much material to cover.\u00a0 And when one learns it all, it is only to learn that there is yet even more to learn. It all depends on the degree of expertise the dancer wants to achieve. <\/p>\n I might say the same for instructional Middle Eastern drum DVDs. <\/p>\n However, the three "how to play the drum" DVDs I am reviewing really do introduce the beginning drummer to the drum and, if used as a three unit package, these three DVDs can take the drummer or dancer\/drummer from absolute beginning level to the stage.<\/p>\n All three drummers are from back East – New York City and New England.<\/p>\n In the DVDs, all three use on screen dum tek notation, not musical notes notation. All three DVDs have great tables of contents, indexing and tracking. They are all quite easy to maneuver and readily jump from chapter to chapter. The chapter selection menus give easy access to the rhythms and exercises, and other features. All three drummers are non-threatening, using the gentle "drumming for dummies" technique. Middle Eastern drumming is a folk art – and the three drummers teach traditional drumming, but from three different perspectives.<\/p>\n American drummer Carmine Guida<\/strong> teaches the drum for drum circles and drumming for American style bellydancing; Egyptian Karim <\/strong>Nagi<\/strong> teaches workshops for dancers and drummers implementing Arabic drum technique and Syrian\/Lebanese Amir Naoum<\/strong> is a concert and club drummer who teaches Arabic drumming in the "less is more" style.<\/p>\n All three drummers teach the basic drum rhythms needed for bellydance performances.\u00a0 In my opinion, if you bought all three of these DVDs, started with Carmine’s humorous, gentle method, continued and mastered Karim’s technique drills and then continued on and absorbed Amir’s method of getting that Arabic\u00a0 feeling and sound – (the spaces are just as important as the hits), you would have all you needed to know about basic drumming for dancers, be they American style, Tribal style or Arabic style. For this I would give all three DVDs 4 + zils.<\/strong><\/p>\n One important disclaimer: Except for drum circles, before performing, you first need to find, listen to, learn to identify and play along with recorded Arabic and bellydance music.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/productreviewgraphics\/carminedrumtn.jpg\")
<\/span><\/strong>Baby Beginner Doumbek Workshop with Carmine T. Guida<\/span>\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
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