مقسوم
also written Maksum · Maqsoum · Maqsoom
Tap play, dial in a tempo, and let it cycle until your hands know it.
D T – T D – T –
Maqsum is the 4/4 iqa' that most students of Arabic percussion learn first, and the one that turns up in the largest share of Egyptian and Levantine popular repertoire. The name comes from the Arabic root meaning "divided": the cycle splits into two halves of two beats each, with the first half carrying the accent and the second half answering it more lightly.
The defining feature is the placement of the two dums. The first dum lands squarely on beat one, and the second lands on beat three, with taks filling the offbeats around them. That gives the cycle a walking, conversational feel rather than the heavier, front-loaded weight of Baladi.
Maqsum is played on darbuka (also called doumbek, dumbek or Arabic tabla), riq, tabla baladi and drum kit alike, and arrangers routinely double it in the bass line. As with every iqa', what you hear on a recording is usually an ornamented version: players fill the rests with rolls, ka strokes and finger snaps while keeping the skeleton audible. Regional and personal interpretations vary, so treat the pattern below as the reference skeleton rather than the only correct reading.
Where you'll hear it: Umm Kulthum – Enta Omri · Amr Diab – Tamally Maak · Fairouz – classic repertoire
Listen for a low dum on beat one, a bright tak immediately after it, and a second dum on beat three. If the two dums are separated by a full beat and a half — rather than sitting next to each other — you are hearing Maqsum, not Baladi.
Say the cycle out loud before playing it. The count line below aligns with each written step, so every dum, tak and rest has a place in the bar.
A very common variation fills the rest before beat three with a light ka, producing a "taka" pickup into the second dum.
Both are 4/4 cycles and both end the same way, so the difference lives entirely in the first two beats. Maqsum opens dum–tak; Baladi opens with two dums back to back. Baladi therefore sounds heavier and more grounded, while Maqsum feels lighter and more forward-moving. In practice, bands slide between the two within a single song, which is why the names are sometimes used loosely.
Masmudi Saghir sits at a finer subdivision: where Maqsum leaves an eighth-note rest, Masmudi Saghir often fills it with a taka figure. The result is a busier surface over a similar four-beat frame, which is why the two are easy to confuse at speed but clearly distinct when slowed down.
Maqsum is a four-beat Arabic rhythmic cycle (iqa') built on a dum on beat one and a second dum on beat three, with taks filling the offbeats. It is one of the most widely used rhythms in Egyptian and Levantine popular music.
Yes. Maqsum is counted in 4/4, usually notated across eight eighth-note steps.
They share the same second half. Maqsum starts dum–tak, while Baladi starts with two consecutive dums, giving Baladi a heavier opening.
You will see Maqsum, Maksum, Maqsoum and Maqsoom; all refer to the same iqa'.