Malfuf ملفوف

A short, circling 2/4 rhythm used in Arab folk and popular music. Its 3 + 3 + 2 pulse pattern gives the phrase a rolling momentum and makes a useful bridge between longer cycles. [1][2]

2/4Egypt & the Levant

Hear the shape of the rhythm.

BASIC PATTERN

Eight sixteenth-note pulses in 2/4. The three attacks divide the cycle into 3 + 3 + 2 pulses.

Darbuka

1DR

e—hold

&—hold

aTR

2—hold

e—hold

&TR

a—hold

D · DumT · TekK · KaS · Slap· · Rest

What do these notes mean?

Practise Malfuf Try Classic

Names & context

Arabic name: ملفوف
Arabic alternatives: لفّ
Other names & spellings: Malfouf · Malfoof · Laff · Laf

Video tutorials

Malfuf: an English introduction
Poetic Percussion · English · Beginner lesson
**Watch & try.** An English introduction to the basic two-beat Malfuf groove. Repeat it evenly before developing variations, ornaments and connected phrases.
Open on YouTube ↗
Poetic Percussion · ✅ Darbuka Lesson 8 📚 - Malfuf 2/4 Rhythm

Sources & further reading · 2 references

MaqamWorld · Malfuf / ملفوف
عالم المقامات · Malfuf / ملفوف

Learn

Malfuf · ملفوف

Hear the shape of the rhythm.

Names & context

Video tutorials

Malfuf: an English introduction

Malfuf ملفوف