The advanced Baladi Rhythm
To create a richer sound for the Baladi rhythm on the guitar, we will add 2 pairs of strums in between the original basic ones. Those added strums mimic what the drummer does when playing the rhythm on the derbakkeh. As mentioned earlier the basic Baladi beats are: dom tak tak dom tak. The drummer can add two pairs of drum hits to enrich the original Rhythm: dom tak te ra tak dom te ra tak. Those added strums are translated into two extra downward and upward strokes.
To get the idea, watch the video below as the beat hits are done on the guitar front body first and then on the strings. The steps for this advanced form of the Baladi rhythm are:
2. Downward stroke of all the chord’s strings with the index finger (I)
3. One Downward stroke, one upward stroke and another downward one played fast after each other, all with the index finger (I)
4. Downward stroke with the thumb (T) on the Bass note only.
5. One Downward stroke, one upward stroke and another downward one played fast after each other, all with the index finger (I)