Saudi Ardah Rhythms

Saudi Ardah rhythms: Saudi Ardah represents an artistic vocal color. Its structure is based on the beats of various melodies. It reflects the themes of Ardah poetry. Rhythms combine harmonious beats produced by performers on small and big drums exclusively dedicated to performing Ardah.

Beats form an essential element of the Saudi Ardah, whose performance is based on the harmonious drumming of small and big drums for producing the Ardah beats. Big drums produce one beat, known as Tafreda, while small drums produce two beats, known as Muthaniyah. Small drums are known as Tathlith Drums because their drumming produces two of the three beats along with the big drum.

Saudi Ardah is based upon a basic rhythm composition featuring a binary unit frequency. The strongest beats are produced by Dum Beat. They are produced by drumming in the middle of the drum with a bamboo stick. As for the Tek Beat, it is formed by drumming at the same location upon muting the sound produced by the leather parchment of the drum by using the same bamboo stick. Big drums produce the basic rhythm composition, replicated around eighty times or more. These drums are known as Takhmir Drums because they produce the basic rhythm composition or the key rhythmic beats.

After a few replications of the basic rhythm composition produced by Takhmir Drums, Tathlith Drums start producing the rhythmic tune that accompanies the basic beat. This mixture of beats produces what is known as the counter-melody, which is opposed to the basic tune. Nonetheless, both melodies are of equal importance. The term Tathlith finds its origins in two sources: The first reflects the intent of the performer to play the drum per three beats, as an internal division of the 6/8 binary unit frequency. This reflects the natural musical and artistic talents that the musician has mastered, which shows that the performers of the traditional beat of the Saudi Ardah were naturally talented in music. As for the second source for the term tathlith, it reflects the intent of the performer to play three beats, with each group of beats featuring a Tek Beat, thing that further translates the definition of this concept.

Saudi Ardah rhythms are produced by two main sources: Takhmir and Tathlith Drums. The beats are accompanied by a set of movements done by the performers who engage in a harmonious performance of the steps, as they become one at the levels of physiologic, rhyme, and tune. This instance was explored by Jaques-Dalcroze, a Swiss musician who developed eurhythmics, a harmonious bodily movement to the sound of music. The rhythmic and musical wealth of the Saudi Ardah is the outcome of the natural environment of the Kingdom.