Need a good belly dancing tune

Beoracha · Post by **Beoracha** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:27 pm

My wife recently lost 50 lbs

and said she would do some belly dancing for me if I can provide the music. I need something fairly simple I can play on a D or C whistle so it doesn't require much concentration. Any genre of music would be good as long it has some dance inspiring quality. Any suggestions?

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 8:30 pm

Bonaparte's Retreat.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 9:14 pm

It seems like the music that would inspire thoughts of belly dancing would not be in a key or mode, or whatever the right term would be, that could be played on a D whistle. I would provide the music in the form of putting some nice belly dancing music on the CD player. You could tell your wife you wanted to give full attention to her performance.

I have to say that I doubt any music would inspire me to belly dance, however, so my opinion is probably not very useful here. Good luck!

Beoracha · Post by **Beoracha** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:29 pm

Thanks for the tips. I'll have to look up Bonaparte, not familiar with that one. I've read about some good Indian music in some other threads around here, it might be worth investing a few dollars.

I would think anything with a medium speed and a definite rhythm to it would work. I saw a local Celtic group play something once with a girl belly dancing. Had a lot of drum. Most impressive.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 10:42 pm

This website has sheet music from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia. I think some could be played on a D or C whistle. Maybe there is one there that will sound sort of exotic. Some looked simple enough to play. I couldn't try them out because everyone here is asleep.
http://www.geocities.com/hydragathering/anderson.html

I don't have that graphics program the guy mentions. It opened up just fine in QuickTime for me.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 11:14 pm

When I was a kid we sang a little tune that I think was actually by some Classical composer. The words to the A part ran something like:

All the girls in France do the hootchie-cootchie dance
All the boys in France put bananas down their pants

The B part didn't have words. It just went:

na na naa nananaa na naa na
na na naa nananaa na naa na

Then the A part came around again, but with na-na instead of words.

I don't know the real name of the piece, but it seems to work well in E dorian, and it has that belly-dance mood (thus our fine words).

brewerpaul · Post by **brewerpaul** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 5:08 am

Rather than try to learn some new tunes, get a new whistle.

Dan Bingamon's "Ahava Rabah" whistle is tuned to a modal scale especially suited to Hebraic and Middle Eastern music. You can play tunes you already know and they will come out sounding very exotic. He has a new plastic version for $25. At this price, everyone should check these out:

http://www.tinwhistles.us/whisethnic.htm

I suppose pics of your wife in belly dancing regalia are out of the question...congrats to her on the weight loss!

bjs · Post by **bjs** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 7:48 am

Dan Bingamon's "Ahava Rabah" whistle is tuned to a modal scale especially suited to Hebraic and Middle Eastern music.

I got one of those (brass) and enjoy jamming with "The rough giude to belly dancing CD". Mostly now I just use my Overton soprano D. The Ahava Rabah scale is fun and can be transposed to be playable on a D whistle:
F# G Bb C C# D E rather like scales D and G mixed with a Bb thrown in but
be carefull never to play an A. I never found tunes with dots that I liked so please if anyone has links let us know. The ahava rabah jam on the aforementioned site is nice though.

missy · Post by **missy** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:04 am

(we tend to do weird things with songs.......)

Going on what Cynth said - belly dancing music to me sounds "minor". So, take any song you normally play in a major key and play it minor instead. This would mean a song in "D" - move it up a whole step and you'll get Em (on a diatonic instrument, anyway).

We've done this with "Hangman's Reel" (we say instead of being spared, we hang him) and "Whiskey 'Fore Breakfast" (it's either Jewish or Russian, we can't decide).

As for Bonaparte's - it's the "C" part that is like belly dancing! It's that "nah,nah,nah" thing someone else referred to.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:07 am

I have the very thing you need. It's a Breaton En Dro. Easy to play. We played it one night at the pub and a German lady of about 65 years raised her hands and started doing that snakey movement thing. It's very belly sounding. Email me at tmuckian@whitmores.com and I'll send you the music.

Beoracha · Post by **Beoracha** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:15 am

I can always count on getting a lot of good and diverse advice here. I'm still a beginner so it'll take me a while to absorb all of it. (2 years and 10 cheap whistles so far) I tried moving up a note and playing a song. Interesting effect. I can see how the right whistle and song would work together.
I also checked out some of the near and middle east tunes. Lots of possiblities.
Kalamatianos is a nice song.

Her name rhymes with banana so maybe I can sing that song too.

She doesn't have the clothes so we'll both have to improvise. Maybe the Daisy Duke version.

I better get busy on my homework. Thank you everyone.

Whitmores75087 · Post by **Whitmores75087** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 4:03 pm

Beoracha,
You ok?

Beoracha · Post by **Beoracha** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 8:14 pm

Oops. Oh hi there. You must have posted while I was typing. I just happened to come back and saw your post. I'm very slow......Sure I'll send my address. Thanks!

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 10:02 pm

Darwin wrote:When I was a kid we sang a little tune that I think was actually by some Classical composer. The words to the A part ran something like:

All the girls in France do the hootchie-cootchie dance
All the boys in France put bananas down their pants

The B part didn't have words. It just went:

na na naa nananaa na naa na
na na naa nananaa na naa na

Then the A part came around again, but with na-na instead of words.

I don't know the real name of the piece, but it seems to work well in E dorian, and it has that belly-dance mood (thus our fine words).

I remember singing:

There's a place on Mars where the women smoke cigars
And the brand they take is enough to kill a snake
And if you didn't die you're a pretty lucky guy

We didn't know the B part, and I think an extra line
got added to the A part. Anyway, this is the basic
tune we sang ours to although we didn't really have
it right. Click on the maiden to hear the music:

http://www.gildedserpent.com/articles3/ ... -cairo.htm

Beoracha · Post by **Beoracha** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 5:59 am

Bravo! Excellent article too. Thanks Cynth. You answered a question for me that I didn't even need to ask. I've been banging that tune out off and on for a month and wondering what it was! I didn't connect it with Darwin's lyrics, just knew I'd heard it in pop culture. I had not heard it put to words.

My wife spent a few hours studying dance moves on the web and exercising her belly. It looks like it takes a fair amount of physical conditioning of certain muscles. Lots of good sites on the subject. Maybe I'll be ready to play about the time she's ready to dance