Music Recommendations

Photo of musical instruments

This is a list of good CDs for bellydance, compiled mostly by Aimée. For more recommendations, there is also a list compiled by former OMEDS teacher Doreen which you can download, or check out the 'Music' section on Caitlyn's website.

Most of these albums can be got on Amazon, or another good source of bellydance music and DVDs is Aladdin's Cave. Alternatively, you can listen to music for free (and legally) using Spotify if you don't mind your practise being interrupted by the odd advert.

Beginners

These albums are ideal for practising to and getting a feel for Middle Eastern music and rhythms, without being too fast or complicated.

Tim Garside - New Sounds of the Old Pharonic: Good steady beat, uncomplicated melodies, easy for beginners to dance to, Egyptian rhythms - Please speak to Aimée if you want a copy.

Natacha Atlas - The Best of Natacha Atlas: Mix of European and Arabic music, with some up tempo tracks which are perfect for shimmy practice. Most of the songs have a nice steady beat and beautiful vocals, geat for practising.

Brothers of the Baladi - Presence of the Past AND Further Journeys: Brothers of the Baladi are an American band who play a variety of styles of Middle Eastern music (and the occasional bit of rock). These albums contain traditional songs from many areas of the Middle East, original compositions, and some instrumental solos. All are excellent to dance to.

Helm - Tribal Dance Tribal Drums: Each track on this CD uses a different Middle Eastern rhythm, which is also the name of the track. They all have a steady rhythm, with speeds varying from very slow (good for practising slow, controlled movements) to quick enough for shimmying to. Ideal for learning rhythms, and practising finger cymbals. Unfortunately this album isn't easy to get hold of though.

Caitlyn's classes

Artists whose music Caitlyn often uses in class:

  • Oriental Angels
  • Hakim (Egypt)
  • Tarkan (Turkey)
  • Haifa (Lebanon)
  • Nourhanne (Lebanon, some Khaleegi material)
  • Fares Karam (Lebanon)
  • Natacha Atlas (Egypt/Belgium?)
  • Sefarad (Turkey)
  • Hossam Ramzy (Egypt)
  • The Desert Grooves CDs
  • Mustafa Sandal (Turkey)
  • Ishtar/Alabina (Israel)

Compilations

Here are a few compilation CDs that have a wide selection of music and that we think are good value for money - perfect if you want to start exploring Middle Eastern music but don't know where to start!

Rough Guide to Bellydance and Rough Guide to Bellydance Café: These CDs have a wide selection of music, all suitable for dancing - Rough Guide to Bellydance has purely instrumental music, ranging from fast and exciting drum solos to a slow and beautiful Turkish chiftitellli. The Rough Guide CDs all have excellent cover notes too, which give you lots of information about the musicians and styles. Also check out the Rough Guide to the Music of Turkey, Rough Guide to Arabic Café, etc.

Beginner's Guide to Bellydance: This is a 3CD set, which is fairly cheap and contains several hours of music. Each CD has a different theme - Traditional & Cabaret, Tribal & Drum Solo, and Fusion. The first two CDs are excellent and cover many musical styles, and many artists including well known musicians like Hossam Ramzy. However, most of the music on the fusion CD isn't really suitable for bellydance, though it can be nice for warmups or drilling moves to.

A Night In Istanbul: A 2CD compilation of Turkish music, with more traditional music on the first CD and pop/club music on the second. Good music, much of it good to dance to and even the songs that are not so easy to dance to (some are in unusual time signatures) are generally beautiful to listen to. This one also has fairly informative sleeve notes.

The Best Belly Dance Album in the World... Ever! 2: Yes, it really is called that. Good strong tunes and beat, some fast tracks but generally good for all levels.

The music of Islam (Vol 1): Classical Egyptian, very gentle beautiful music, sometimes with very complicated rhythms.

Bellydance Superstars (volumes 1-7): These compilations are very popular and include a wide range of danceable music, from timeless classics to modern Egyptian pop and tribal fusion. However, since they are so popular, the songs on them tend to be used a lot, and you might end up getting quite sick of them.