About Chas


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Buying Drums In Fez, Morocco.

At Yair Dalal's House Jaffa, Israel.

Buying Drums at Jaffa fleamarket

I have been learning, performing and teaching Arabic percussion for around 15 years. The term "Arabic" I use in a generic sense to cover a wide area where similar styles, rhythms, technique and drums are found. More specifically North Africa the Middle East, the Arabian Gulf and some Mediterranean countries. The drums I play are Goblet shaped drums i.e. Darabuka and Frame drums i.e. Duff, Riq, Bendir etc. as well as percussion i.e. Finger cymbals and Quarqaba.

When I first started to learn I quickly found that there are very few active teachers in the U.K. and none locally and so I sought out all the available self instructional material I could find. After finding the few teachers I could and taking invaluable advice from them I now myself teach helping to promote this exciting style of drumming. Visits to Morocco, Turkey and Israel have been inspirational in learning more about the drums and the cultural background and I sell drums from these countries. I teach drumming on a regular basis both locally and nationally and also run drumming and dance workshops with esteemed teachers and dancers Karine Butchart and Carmen Jones. You can also find me teaching at various Drum camps and festivals nationally. I play with my bands MAZAJ and THE BABYLON ARABIC BAND covering some famous songs from across the Middle East ( see BANDS ) and PANJANDRUMS ( see www.myspace.com/panjandrums and BANDS ).

I have a wide range of traditional and western copies of Arabic drums and percussion for sale and I review a comprehensive selection of Arabic drumming CDs and instructional videos. I hope to provide the interested student with the range of information available here in the U.K. or across the Net which I would have found so useful when I first started out. I hope you find this site one of the most comprehensive for all the information you need for starting to learn Arabic percussion.

Although I am predominantly self-taught I would like to thank the many great players and teachers I have met so far - do check these players out, they are fantastic.

  • Erez Monk ( from Yair Dalal's band ), Israel.

  • Salah Dawson Miller , UK.

  • Hassan Erraji. Morocco / U.K.

  • Hossam Ramzy, Egypt / U.K.

  • Suleiman Warwar, Palestine / Canada.

  • Amer Matri, Syria / Canada.

  • Numan Elyer, Turkey / U.K.

  • John Sleiman, Lebanon / U.K.

  • Tim Garside, U.K.

  • Louai Alhenawi  Syria./ U.K.

Chas choosing darabukas at Emin Percussion, Istanbul. Emin was on hand to demonstrate their sounds:

 

Learning with Erez in Jaffa.

Teaching in Dalyan, Turkey.

" Do you wanna buy a drum ? "

 

TO CONTACT CHAS : chas@arabicdrum.co.uk