* A note about naming

Frame drums are very widespread in different forms and under different names. For example: a lap-style frame drum in Turkey and Greece is sometimes called bendir while in Morocco (and other North African countries), bendir is typically an upright-style frame drum with a string attached to the back of the membrane, which ‘buzzes’ with certain strokes. Other names for an upright frame drum in different areas of the Levant are: mazhar/mizhar, tar, daf or daire. To avoid confusion I use the following ‘technical’ terms: “lap-style frame drum” means that drum is resting on a lap, “upright” or “upper-style” – that it’s held up in the hands… Each kind of frame drum which I teach is described in the next section.

[image below: names of frame drums in different languages and scripts. From the left:  ‘defi’ (Greek); ‘Tof Miriam’ (‘the drum of Miriam’ – Hebrew); ‘bendir’ (Arabic); ‘daf’ (Farsi), ‘kanjeera’ (Hindi/Urdu), ‘riq’ (Arabic), ‘bendir’ (Greek), ‘Mazhar’ (Arabic)]

I focus on three instruments: modern lap-style frame drum, modern upright/upper-style frame drum and modern approach to riqq.

The playing style which I represent has been developed by the percussionist and composer Zohar Fresco. He has combined a variety of playing techniques on the frame drums with deep understanding of human anatomy and ergonomics of movement. 

You can read more about this school of frame-drumming, my background and methods by clicking on the button below.

The drum is held with both hands (usually with most of its weight on the left side in case of right-handed people). That’s typical a playing position in most of traditional frame drum playing styles: Indian Kanjira, Italian Tamburello, Northern-African Bendir, Greek Defi, Egyptian Mazhar, Kurdish Daf, Polish Bębenek, Tuvan shamanic drum etc.

‘Upright’ position alows you to walk or dance while playing the instrument. For me it’s an important feature – it simply feels good to play an instrument and dance at the same time! It’s also also an efficient way to practice independence and timing (for example by walking in an even pace while playing a rhythm). What is especially interesting for me in this technique, is the connection between the body and the instrument: the player’s position is not fixed, rigid; there is a constant movement, ‘a flow’ in favor of sound and ergonomics.  

I usually recommend studying this technique before picking up riqq.

The instrument rests on the left lap (in case of the right-handed people), with the left hand resting on the top of the drum and the right one remaining free. This way of using the frame drum has been developed only since the 70’s and gained its widespread popularity quite recently. Two figures are especially famous for their their playing systems used in this position: Glen Valez from the US and Zohar Fresco from Israel. Both got inspired by techniques from different traditional percussions, both were interested in creating a technique that would make frame drum a self-sufficient solo instrument, both have studied Karnatic rhythmics.  

This playing style is good to start with, especially if you are a complete beginner. In my experience it doesn’t take much time for students to learn the very basic techniques. 

Apart from the basic strokes there’s a variety of advanced techniques in the Lapstyle Frame Drum, such as ‘snapping roll’, ‘split-hand’ or ‘rizz’. They enrich the sound and allow for fast and highly detailed playing. 

Naming ‘issues’

Drum played in this position is sometimes called bendir or daf. However since these names designate completely different instruments in Morocco and Persia, I prefer to stay with a more ‘technical’ term: lap-style frame drum.

How to choose an instrument for the lap-style?

There are two main things to consider: sound and comfort/ergonomics. 

While sound is a personal question and every beginner should take time to develop their preference, there’s quite a lot to recommend about comfort/ergonomics right from the beginning of the learning process. A drum with proper proportions makes learning more effective and helps avoid physical problems.

So here are my recommendations:

– for an optimal comfort the drum resting on your lap should not reach higher then your collar bone – especially if you are a beginner. For most of us a diameter between 14 and 16 inches should be good. This is to avoid unnecessary tensions which can appear in the shoulder blade, shoulder and arm, when the hand is held too high.

– regarding the depth of the frame for this technique – it should be at least 10 cm wide, but an ideal is 13 cm. The left hand (in case of right-handed people) and forearm need a place to rest on the frame and keep the whole instrument without unnecessary tensions in the shoulder. A higher comfort of the left hand allows it to be more mobile and effective. The ‘soft’ hand (left hand in case of the right-handed people) is as important as the ‘strong’ one, especially in more advanced playing. Working on development of the ‘soft’ side for most of us is already difficult by itself. It’s not worth making it even more frustrating by using narrow drum.

Following Zohar Fresco I recommend a frame of 13 cm deepness. The best option is a custom made instrument (contact me for hints on that!). There are also some stock-production drums available with at least 10 cm-deep frames (from Meinl and Schlagwerk).

Riqq (also known as riq, rek or… daf) is a type of tambourine usually with 5 pairs of brass jingles. It’s common to traditional and classical Arabic music. The membrane is usually fish, or nowadays – synthetic skin.

In many aspects Riqq resembles the ‘upright frame drum’. The main difference is that it includes jingles, which constitute another whole instrument to master. I teach a modern style of playing riqq, which I have been studying since 2010 from Zohar Fresco and since 2020 from Yshai Afterman.