How to Choose a Practice Song

Music is one of the best investments you can make for your belly dance education. The dancer’s job is to interpret the music for the audience, so it’s important to become familiar with Middle Eastern music. The best way to do that is to listen to as much as you can, and the sooner the better!

That said, if you’re new to belly dance and don’t want to spend much money up front, you can get by with one good practice song, at least for now. However, it’s important to choose it carefully.
 

Here’s What to Look for in a Song:

If you’re only buying one song for practice, be sure to choose one that is:

• a belly dance song: you can practice to any music, but using Middle Eastern music (especially music intended for belly dance) will train your ear while you train your body.
• moderately-paced: you need a comfortable tempo for practicing
• versatile: I recommend choosing a song with a strong beat and a “slinky” feel.  That lets you practice both sharp and soft moves.
• relatively long: so you don’t have to interrupt your practice every three minutes to press the “back” button

A song that meets all of these criteria is the best choice for practice.

 

Specific Songs

You can find a list of songs and albums that I recommend in my article Nadira’s Recommended Music for Practicing