About Darbuka
The darbuka is the drum played throughout the Middle East. Each country has their own version of the drum and their own way of playing it. It's used in folk, pop music and to accompany oriental dance. In the last decade it has also become a shining solo instrument.
Darbuka is also known as: tabla, dumbek, doumbek, darbake, dumberleki.
Darbukas can be made out of metal with plastic skin or clay with natural skin.
About Split Hand Style
Split-hand is a style of playing darbuka where you use individual fingers instead of the whole hand, like in the Arabic style. It allows the drummer to play much more intricate and fast patterns, similar to Indian tabla players. This style began about twenty years ago in Turkey, and since then, there has been what I call a "revolution" there with many drummers practicing and getting inhumanly fast. Darbuka players from around the globe are coming to Istanbul to learn this style.
Split-hand players tend to prefer using clay darbukas with natural skins, but this technique also sounds amazing on the metal Arabic drum.
Misirli Ahmet, a Turkish darbuka player, invented the Turkish Split Hand Technique around the turn of the century while living in the Sinai Desert with his brothers. Many drummers got ideas and inspiration from Ahmet, and he deserves recognition as the father of this technique.
There are now many other players like Bünyamin Olguncan and Suat Borazan, who have taken the idea of split-hand and branched out creating their own unique styles.
This school has courses for all levels of darbuka drumming. The style taught is the modern Split Hand technique which uses the individual fingers.
About darbuka school
What course is for me?
INTRO COURSE FOR A LITTLE TASTE
Intro course! Learn the basic hits, some the main rhythms and a short composition!
WANT TO BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION IN DARBUKA - DARBUKA METHOD!
This is the current style used in this school that uses all the individual fingers and gives you amazing speed and dexterity. The Darbuka Method teaches this style from the beginning and you end up playing advanced material.
LEVEL I
LEVEL I is a bundle of 7 courses suitable for new players.
UNLIMITED ACCESS - HAVE IT ALL!
The unlimited option offers you all of the courses in the school plus brand new lessons every week!
DARBUKA SCHOOL LIVE!
NEW weekly Facebook live-streaming classes by Raquy and Bunyamin! CLICK HERE for the schedule!
TO LEARN TYPICAL BELLY DANCE DRUMMING
Many gigs for a darbuka player involve playing for belly dancers. Here are some courses that prepare you:
Mastering the Belly Dance Drum Solo
Top 20 Darbuka Rhythms
You can always refer to the breakdown of the notation key used in this school in the free notation course.
Personal Coaching
We offer a wonderful personal coaching program where, after an initial meeting to see your level and discuss your goals, you get weekly assignments where you send videos back and forth with Raquy in order to work on exactly what you need.
Students' Testimonials:
“I began seriously following Raquy’s style of drumming during our first lockdown 2020 and joined her online group drumming classes. What a treat that was for me! Her energy and passion for the Darbuka flows through to her playing and is contagious. Raquy has a wealth of knowledge, she is a classically trained musician and is incredibly skilled everything is broken down and explained.”
“Raquy’s also has the online Darbuka School is rich with content for every level of Darbuka player. I recently overcame my apprehension and commenced Personal Coaching with Raquy, it has been the best decision in my learning journey. I feel challenged not overwhelmed and have a new passion for Darbuka. Raquy has an incredible gift for teaching she is patient and supportive, I have noticed so much improvement in my playing which comes from the confidence she instills.”