Mastering Finger Cymbals Book

Book by Mary Ellen Donald. Contains 11 lessons with numerous popular belly dance rhythm, suggested dance steps, exercises to strengthen cymbal technique and basic music theory. (Spiral bound, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, 75 pages, beautifully illustrated 1976) Includes: Basic music theory Exercises to strengthen cymbal technique Tips for coordinating dance steps and cymbal patterns Popular belly dance rhythms, and Guidelines for creating rhythmical variations Two disc Companion CD sold separately. Mary Ellen Donald has been involved in Middle Eastern music as a dance student and a musician since the late 1960's. She is known by many as the "Guru of finger cymbal playing." Mary Ellen studied dance with Jamila Salimpour, drum and tambourine with Vince Delgado, Tony Lammam, and various Arab drummers. She has written, produced and published several books and tapes on Middle Eastern music. Since the 1970's she has performed in numerous concerts, on albums including Magda Helmy, Gallal Kutub, Yusel Mostafa, and Light Rain, and on the soundtrack ABC-TV series, the Young Indiana Jones. Mary Ellen continues to be in high demand as a musician, teacher, and organizer of events. Her youthful vitality and highly developed sensitivity to music may be partially attributed to her being legally blind. Excerpt from The Caravan, Vol. 13, #6, May/June 1997