4/4 rhythms
4/4 rhythms are going to be what you are most familiar with. Most western music is in the 4/4 time signatures. These are the rhythms you will find in most pop Arabic songs and many of the songs used for belly dance.
Maqsoum (4/4)
Maqsoum is probably the most common 4/4 rhythm in belly dance music. It is also the basis for a bunch of other rhythms. Beledi, saidi, fallahi and masmoudi are all based on the maqsoum rhythm. You can listen to a clip of maqsoum below. The song is available for download from Amazon.
Beledi (4/4)
Beledi, also known as masmoudi saghir or little masmoudi, is a very popular rhythm in belly dance music. It is a variation on maqsoum wherein the first tek is replaced by a doum. This gives the rhythm a heavy feeling on the front end. You can listen to a clip of beledi below. The song is available for purchase on Amazon.
Saidi (4/4)
Saidi is sometimes referred to as reverse beledi or inverted beledi. It is like maqsoum with two doums in the middle OR like beledi with the positions of the double doum and single doum switched. This is the rhythm usually used for Egyptian cane numbers. You can purchase the CD with the full song from Amazon.
There is a 4 doum version of saidi that uses a double doum in both the first and middle positions. This is an earthier/heavier sounding version than the regular version. I have written it out and provided a sound clip below. You can download the full song from Amazon.
All the music clips on this page are licensed through iLicenemusic.com