A Ghaval Lesson from Peyman Nasehpour

Ghaval is the Azerbaijiani Frame drum, the same as the Persian Dayereh and Uzbeki Doira.

Lazgi
(note from stu) Our audio lesson rhythm for today is Lazgi, a cycle of 6 beats. In the mp3 file, Peyman first demonstrates the basic rhythm. This is followed by a series of variations referred to as 'khal'.

At very fast tempos, the abbrieviated version known as savarkaran lazgi, demonstrated 3rd, is very interesting, in that the method used by Azerbaizian percussionists to deal with very fast tempos is similar to the approach used by percussionists all over the world: notes are left out, leaving only the skeleton', if you will, of the rhythm. That said, here we go! On to the audio file:

Ghaval Lesson (Windows Media] | Ghaval Lesson [mp3]

There are four standard Azerbaijiani rhythms for the ghaval:

Lazgi , the subject of this page, is the most famous Azerbaijani dance rhythm, normally played at medium to high tempo for instrumental music.

Diringi is a light rhythm for dance music, though it is found in vocal music also. It is played in both low and high tempo, depending on the occasion of the performance. Diringi can be considered the same as Persian Reng.

Yalli is another light rhythm for different rhythmic compositions of vocal and instrumental music.

Mahni is in fact the rhythmic form for vocal music. The most famous rhythm for Mahni has been linked here. Mahni can be considered the same as Persian Tasnif.