Dabke

Lebanon · 1900s

Dancing Happy Epic Sentimental Intense

Your digging level for this genre

0/8

🏆

Description

Dabke is a high‑energy Levantine line‑dance music associated with communal celebration, especially weddings and village festivals. It is driven by stomping rhythms and call‑and‑response vocals that cue and propel the dancers, who hold hands or shoulders in a line led by a raas (leader).

Musically, dabke sits in the Arabic maqam system, with melodies often built on Bayati, Hijaz, Kurd, or Nahawand. Traditional ensembles feature reed pipes such as the mijwiz and yarghul, piercing double‑reed zurna, and hand percussion like the darbuka (tabla), riqq, and daff. Since the late 20th century, electronic keyboards with quarter‑tone tuning have become central, creating the distinctive modern “wedding keyboard” sound that powers contemporary dabke‑pop and electro‑dabke.

History

How to make a track in this genre

Top albums

Shlon

Omar Souleyman عمر سليمان

Erbil

Omar Souleyman عمر سليمان

Wenu Wenu

Omar Souleyman عمر سليمان

Musique de France

Acid Arab

To Syria, With Love

Omar Souleyman عمر سليمان

King of Keyboard

Rizan Said

Main artists

Top tracks

Locked

Share your favorite track to unlock other users’ top tracks

Influenced by

Arabic Folk Music

Arabic folk music is an umbrella for the rural and community-based song, dance, and instrumental traditions of Arabic-speaking societies across North Africa, the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Nile Valley. It centers on modal melodies (maqām), cyclical rhythms (īqāʿāt), and expressive vocalism (mawwāl, zajal, layālī) delivered with microtonal ornamentation and call-and-response refrains. Typical instruments include the oud, qanun, nay, rabab, simsimiyya, mijwiz, kawala, mizmar/zoorna, and an array of frame and goblet drums (riqq, daff, tabla/darbuka). While strongly local and vernacular, these styles have long interacted with courtly/classical practices, Sufi devotional repertoires, and festive dance forms, producing regionally distinct idioms such as Saʿīdi tunes in Upper Egypt, Bedouin songs of the Arabian deserts, Levantine dabke songs, and Maghrebi folk repertories. Today, Arabic folk persists in weddings, seasonal festivities, processions, work songs, and community performance, and it continues to supply rhythms, modes, and stories to modern pop, shaabi, and diasporic fusions.

Levantine Arabic Music

Levantine Arabic music refers to the musical traditions and popular styles that arose in the Levant (primarily Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and Jordan). It blends urban maqām-based art song, rural dance repertories such as dabke, and modern pop production, all articulated in Levantine Arabic dialects. The style is defined by modal melodies (maqāmāt like Bayātī, Ḥijāz, Rāst, Kurd), intricate vocal ornamentation, and cyclical rhythmic patterns (iqā‘āt) such as maqsūm (4/4), malfūf (2/4), and various 6/8 dabke feels. Core timbres come from the ‘ūd, qānūn, nāy, buzuq, mijwīz, riqq, and darbuka, often paired with violins and, in modern contexts, keyboards, drum machines, and sampled percussion. Lyrically, songs center on love, longing, memory of place, and social life, ranging from intimate ballads and muwashshaḥat/qaṣīda settings to festive wedding songs. From the mid‑20th century onward, Beirut and Damascus became key hubs, with composers and arrangers modernizing orchestration while keeping maqām-centered melody and Levantine dance grooves intact. The result is a versatile spectrum—from tarab-inflected classics to sleek pop-dabke and indie fusions—that remains central to weddings, festivals, and radio across the Arab world and its diaspora.

Arabic Music

Arabic music is the modal, largely non-harmonic art and folk music tradition of Arabic-speaking societies across the Middle East and North Africa. It is centered on the maqam system (a constellation of scales, characteristic melodic phrases, and modulation pathways) and the iqa'at cycle-based rhythmic system. Its sound is defined by microtonal intervals (often featuring neutral seconds and micro-inflected pitches rather than equal-tempered quarter-tones), expressive melismas, and a heterophonic ensemble texture in which multiple instruments ornament the same melody simultaneously. Core instruments include the oud, qanun, nay, violin/kamanja, riqq, and darbuka/tabla, with larger firqa (orchestral) lineups common in 20th‑century Cairo. The tradition values poetic text-setting, extended improvisation (taqsim and layali), and the affective aesthetic of tarab—intense musical ecstasy and emotional transport.

Maqāmic Music

Maqāmic music is the art-music tradition of the Arabic-speaking world organized around the modal system known as maqām. A maqām defines a scale with characteristic microtonal intervals, a typical melodic pathway (sayr), and a set of melodic building blocks called ajnās (singular: jins). Rather than functional harmony, expression is created through melodic development, ornamentation, and modal modulation. Performances alternate between composed forms and improvisation. Free-rhythm improvisations (taqsīm) explore a maqām’s color and move fluidly between related modes, while metered vocal and instrumental pieces employ cyclical rhythms (iqāʿāt) such as maqsūm, samāʿī thaqīl (10/8), and waḥda. Core timbres include the ʿūd, qānūn, nay, kaman (violin), riqq, and darbuka, with the human voice prized for nuanced intonation of “neutral” intervals (e.g., half-flats). Common forms include muwashshaḥ, qaṣīda, wasla, samāʿī, and taḥmīla.

Arabic Classical Music

Arabic classical music is the art-music tradition of the Arabic-speaking world, built on the modal system of maqam and cyclical rhythmic modes called iqaʿat. It prioritizes ornate melody, nuanced intonation (including microtonal intervals), heterophonic ensemble texture, and a balance between composed forms and improvisation (taqsim). Core forms include the samaʿi (often in 10/8), longa (2/4), dulab (short prelude), muwashshah (strophic song), and the wasla (a multi-movement suite). The aesthetic of tarab—emotional ecstasy and deep musical rapture—guides performance and listening. Typical instruments include the ʿūd (fretless lute), qānūn (plucked zither), nay (end-blown flute), violin/kamanja, riqq (tambourine), and darbuka/tabla, often assembled as a takht (chamber ensemble) or, in later periods, the larger firqa (orchestra).

Folk

Folk is a song-centered acoustic tradition rooted in community storytelling, everyday life, and social history. It emphasizes clear melodies, simple harmonies, and lyrics that foreground narrative, protest, and personal testimony. As a modern recorded genre, folk coalesced in the early-to-mid 20th century in the United States out of older ballad, work song, and rural dance traditions. It typically features acoustic instruments (guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica), strophic song forms, and participatory singing (choruses, call-and-response).

West Asian Folk Music

West Asian folk music is the umbrella for vernacular song and dance traditions from Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Caucasus, the Iranian plateau, and the Arabian Peninsula. It is tied together by shared modal systems (maqām, dastgāh, and mugham), asymmetrical and cyclical rhythms (iqāʿ/usûl such as 10/8 samāʿī, 9/8 karsılama, 7/8 and 5/8 aksak patterns), heterophonic textures, and rich microtonal ornamentation. Signature timbres come from instruments like the oud, bağlama/saz, tar, kamancheh, qanun, santur, ney, duduk, zurna, davul, darbuka (doumbek), riqq, daf, bendir, and frame drums. Repertoires span epic narrative songs (dāstān/ashugh traditions), love lyrics, lullabies, laments, seasonal/work songs, circle dances (e.g., dabke, halay), and devotional/Sufi repertoires. Transmission has historically been oral, rooted in social life—weddings, coffeehouses, communal rites—and later amplified by radio, records, and diaspora scenes.

Islamic Modal Music

Islamic modal music refers to the interconnected family of modal systems that developed across the Islamic world, most prominently the Arabic maqam, the Persian dastgāh/radif, the Ottoman-Turkish makam, the Maghrebi nuba, and the Central Asian shashmaqam. These systems share core ideas: a repertoire of modes built from characteristic scale fragments (ajnas or tetrachords), microtonal intervals beyond Western 12-tone equal temperament, recognizable melodic paths (seyir or sayr), and cadential formulas. Music is primarily monophonic and heterophonic, with melody and timbre taking precedence over functional harmony, and it is articulated through cyclical rhythms (iqāʿāt/usûl) and highly developed improvisation (taqsim, taksim, avaz).

Raqs Baladi

Raqs baladi is an Egyptian social dance and the musical style that accompanies it, literally meaning "country/local dance" in Arabic. It emphasizes grounded, earthy movement and a warm, intimate musical feel rooted in everyday life. Musically, raqs baladi is modal (maqām-based) and rhythm-led, featuring a prominent baladī/maqsūm groove on tabla (darbuka) and riqq, with melodic improvisations (taqsīm) on accordion, oud, or ney. The hallmark "baladī progression" often begins with a free or rubato taqsīm and gradually locks into increasingly driving 4/4 rhythms. Compared to stage-oriented raqs sharqi, raqs baladi is less theatrical and more conversational, celebrating neighborhood gatherings, weddings, and family events. It is a cornerstone of Egyptian musical identity, blending rural folk roots with early 20th‑century urban instrumentation.

Has influenced

Arabic Pop

Arabic pop is the mainstream, commercial song style of the Arabic‑speaking world, blending Western pop structures with Arabic melodic modes (maqām) and regional rhythmic cycles (iqa‘āt). Arrangements typically pair traditional instruments like the oud, qanun, nay, strings, and darbuka with electric guitar/bass, keyboards, drum machines, and modern synthesizers. Vocals are highly ornamented (melisma, trills, turns) and delivered in widely understood dialects such as Egyptian and Levantine, as well as Khaliji and Maghrebi Arabic. Songs favor verse–pre‑chorus–chorus forms with catchy hooks, glossy production, and video‑forward presentation. Lyrically, themes of romance, longing, celebration, and everyday life dominate, spanning intimate ballads to up‑tempo dance anthems.

Arabic Hip Hop

Arabic hip hop is the Arabic-language expression of global hip hop culture, emerging from the Arab world and its diaspora. It fuses rap flows and beat-making with Arabic dialects, poetic forms, and regional rhythmic/melodic vocabulary, creating a distinctive voice that reflects local realities and identities. Musically, it spans classic boom-bap to modern trap and drill aesthetics, often sampling or emulating oud, qanun, nay, and percussion such as darbuka and riq. Producers frequently weave maqam-based motifs (e.g., Hijaz, Bayati, Kurd) and popular rhythms (maqsoum, saidi, dabke) into 4/4 hip hop frameworks. Lyrically, artists alternate between colloquial dialects and fusha (Modern Standard Arabic), address social and political issues, and code-switch with French or English in North African and Levantine contexts.

Worldbeat

Worldbeat is a pop-oriented fusion that blends contemporary Western production (pop, rock, dance, and electronic) with rhythms, instruments, scales, and vocal styles drawn from diverse musical traditions around the world. It typically features layered percussion, polyrhythms, call-and-response vocals, and multilingual or code-switching lyrics, while maintaining accessible song forms and hook-driven choruses. Arrangements often juxtapose drum kits, bass guitar, and synths with instruments such as kora, mbira, oud, sitar, djembe, balafon, or charango. As a retail and radio category in the 1980s–1990s, worldbeat served both as a creative space for cross-cultural collaboration and a marketing umbrella, attracting praise for bridge-building and criticism for occasional exoticism or unequal credit-sharing.

Electropop

Electropop is a branch of pop music that foregrounds electronic instruments—especially synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers—to deliver catchy, hook-driven songs. It preserves the verse–pre-chorus–chorus architecture and melodic immediacy of pop while replacing most traditional band instrumentation with programmed rhythms, synthetic bass lines, and glossy textures. The style emphasizes earworm toplines, precise rhythmic grids, and tightly produced arrangements that often highlight contrast between minimal, punchy verses and expansive, anthemic choruses. Timbres range from warm analog pads and arpeggiators reminiscent of the late 1970s/early 1980s to ultra-modern, hyper-detailed sound design, making electropop both retro-leaning and future-facing depending on the artist.

Dance-Pop

Dance-pop is a mainstream-oriented pop style built for both radio and the dancefloor. It blends hook-driven songwriting with club-ready rhythms, typically using a steady four-on-the-floor kick, bright synthesizers, and punchy, polished production. Tempos usually sit in the 110–128 BPM range, and arrangements emphasize memorable choruses, clear verses and pre-choruses, and concise structures suitable for radio edits. Compared with club genres like house or techno, dance-pop prioritizes song form, vocal presence, and accessible harmonies, while still retaining an energetic groove. The sound palette often includes layered synths, sampled or electronic drums, tight bass lines, ear-catching toplines, and modern production techniques such as sidechain compression and stacked vocal harmonies.

World Fusion

World fusion is a broad, exploratory approach that blends musical traditions from different cultures with contemporary forms such as jazz, rock, ambient, and electronic music. Rather than being tied to a single folk lineage, it privileges hybrid instrumentation, modal and rhythmic vocabularies from around the globe, and collaborative performance practices. Compared with the more pop-oriented worldbeat, world fusion tends to be more improvisational, texture-driven, and studio- or ensemble-focused. It commonly juxtaposes instruments like oud, kora, sitar, tabla, duduk, and frame drums with electric guitar, synthesizers, and jazz rhythm sections, often emphasizing modal harmony, drones, polyrhythms, and odd meters.

Mūsīqā Lubnāniyya

Mūsīqā lubnāniyya (Lebanese music) denotes the modern popular and art-music traditions that emerged in Lebanon, blending Levantine folk idioms, Arabic maqam-based composition, and Western pop/jazz orchestration. It is characterized by melodic lines rich in ornamentation and microtonal inflections, buoyant dabke rhythms for dance repertoire, and poetic lyrics in Lebanese Arabic that range from romantic to patriotic and nostalgic themes. In the second half of the 20th century, Beirut’s studios, composers, and star singers shaped a distinctive sound—at once rooted in regional modalities and open to European chanson, classical orchestration, and jazz harmony.

Arabic Rap

Arabic rap (often used interchangeably with Arabic hip hop) blends the core techniques of global hip hop—MCing, DJing/production, breaking, and graffiti culture—with the languages, rhythms, and melodies of the Arab world. Artists rap primarily in colloquial dialects (Darija/Moroccan Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Gulf Arabic) and often code‑switch with French or English. Production ranges from classic boom‑bap to modern trap, frequently incorporating Middle Eastern/North African percussion (darbuka, riq, bendir), maqam‑based riffs (Hijaz, Bayati, Kurd), Gnawa grooves, Rai/Chaabi textures, and Levantine dance rhythms. The result is a style that carries hip hop’s social commentary and storytelling while sounding unmistakably local. Lyrically, Arabic rap spans protest and political critique, street reportage, identity and diaspora, humor and wordplay, and increasingly pop‑leaning hooks and melodic autotuned refrains.

Arab Groove

Arab groove is a dance‑oriented fusion that marries contemporary club and funk rhythms with melodies, modes, and percussion from the Arabic‑speaking world. Built on steady 4/4 beats at mid‑tempo (often 95–115 BPM), it layers darbouka/riqq patterns and maqam‑based hooks over funk, disco, downtempo, and trip‑hop frameworks. The result feels both cosmopolitan and rooted: nightclub‑ready production carrying the swing of iqa'at such as maqsum, sa‘idi, and malfuf, plus ear‑catching Hijaz/Bayati motifs on oud, qanun, or synths. The style flourished in the 1990s–2000s through diasporic hubs (notably France and the UK), compilations and club nights, and artists who bridged Arabic pop/raï with electronic production. It remains a gateway sound for global audiences discovering modern Arabic music.

Challenges

Digger Battle

Let's see who can find the best track in this genre