the def??

Unknown

hello! as u can see i am a grl and i just wanted to no if there r lke any lessons online ot something that can teach u how to play the def.  umm simply i juss want to lern.  if there is none i guess i can go to the old way of asking  a deacon.  so plzz do not trouble urselves.  much appreciated

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mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in Christ

stgeorgebrooklyn23

hey, i doubt there is any online lessons, and i dont know any. And even if there is, it will be very hard to learn. You'll unfortunately have to ask a deacon. and he'll/she'll have to seat with you and teach you. its hard to even watch and learn, the person will have to teach you

copticcross3

what's the def??

jydeacon

He wept is correct, there are online lessons however, but i don't recomend them at all. it is best to learn them from a deacon so that you can see what's going on and the movements and everything and you can ask questions and see the different ways to play them because there is not a set way to play them, i know of about 5 different ways to play so yeah sorry for rambling on

PS Copticcross3 the def is the cymbals that the deacons play

Unknown

o well thxx im sur ill lern bi asking.!!!

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mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in Christ

Unknown

You know what. I learnt completely on my own. Im a deacon and now I play it at church. If you don't wan't anybody to show you why don't you get one (from egypt) and practice on it.

Unknown

heyy except that i live in america l0l but i think the best way is asking,  watching, or learning.  thanksss thoo

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mahraeel
plzz p4m sisetr in Christ

andrew8345

Here is a link where there are lessons to learning the cymbals. I hope it is helpful and ask for Christ's help to learn so that you may help praise His name.
http://coptichymns.net/modules.php?name=Coptic_Media&op=modload&file=index&p=Coptic Hymns/Liturgical Coptic Hymns/Learn Church Instruments/Cymbals

Unknown

jeyy thanks i cecked it out.  howver, they r a little short.  o yea umm is there like lessons online like this but witha video.  so that i can see them do it. 

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mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in Christ

p

mahraeel,
I play the def at my Church all the time. It takes weeks to learn it. In all modesty, I have a rhythmic talent and so I learned how to play when I was very young. I would really recommend that you shouldn't start because the more lessons you have, the more addicted you will be to them (trust me, I know) and also, we can't guarantee that you will:
a) Learn how to play properly
b) Ask the correct person at your Church to teach you how to play
c) Learn anything at all (teaching people about how to play the symbols is very complex) and actually may confuse you.
This is just advice from me, so I am not sure if everyone agrees or not.

Unknown

welll, i understand wat it is ur saying.  but however, i want to try.  im not syaing i will be the best becuz im nota  deacon and im already not like five yrs.  howver, i wnat to try as if it were an instrument.  an instrument may l00k impossible, but u will lern sooner or latter as l0ng as u try.  am i rite?  thats y, i was l00king foward to it.  l0l but thxx for ur advice. 

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mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in Christ

jydeacon

I think more or less, the symbols(def) are very difficult to learn, as well as the triangle(trianto) because i can honestly say no two deacons play them the same, whether thats a good thing or not i don't know but it is very difficult, i personally know about 4 or 5 ways to play the def, so that might not be the best thing to do, you might want to try the triangle first because i think that has more or less a universal beat. its kinda played like the tabla.(the beat i mean) so that might be a little easier to learn but still difficult. 

Unknown

Everyone is closing all the doors. It is not that difficult you start with the triangle though that's right because than you start to get a feel for the beat, but really just find a good deacon to teach you stay committed and just pray and you'll get it gradually. Don't expect to be an expert in a couple of hours but you'll get better. One question if you are a girl why do you want to learn to play the def, you don't even have one at home?

Unknown

l0l well i gess u may be rite.  i juss reli want i tghink it is sooo cool.  it is soo amzing.  i want to be able to sing nd play it too.  but yea


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mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in christ

ophadece

Dear all,
I would like to reply to my question if you have an idea. I know we refer to the hymns said in Vespers and Matins as "verses of cymbals", as the Arabic translation of "nakos" in this context means the "daf"; but I think on either youthbishopric.com, or copticheritage.org, I noticed that they translated it to "verses of the bell"; the word "nakos" in Arabic can also mean "bell". That started me thinking, does that mean that they refer to it this way, as this hymn is usually sung in Matins, and maybe during ringing the bells to wake the faithful up and encourage them to attend the Mass?
That is very interesting, and I hope someone do have the answer.
God bless you all and pray for us a lot

Unknown

[quote author=aem581 link=topic=5704.msg78540#msg78540 date=1192838028]
mahraeel,
I play the def at my Church all the time. It takes weeks to learn it.
This is just advice from me, so I am not sure if everyone agrees or not.


aem581,
I'm also a girl, and my cousin (who is a pk, she's also a girl) she taught me, and I learned in 5 minutes tops, but it might be difficult for other people, I'm not saying that I'm perfect at it, I really aren't!

mahraeel,
why don't you ask abouna to have lessons after the vespers prayers on saturday for everyone, our abouna does a lot of services like that, or else as someone else has recommended before you should ask a deacon if they have time, it might be best!

Forever,
Coptic Servent

p

Coptic Servent,
You must be someone who learns really fast or something. I was trying to teach someone how to play just yesterday and he couldn't catch on at all. lol. So, yeah, if mahraeel is fast at learning, then, she will learn how to play the cymbals pretty fast. But also, you might have really been sincerely dedicated to learning how to play, which is the reason why you learned fast. If mahraeel can do that, she will learn how to play the cymbals rather fast.

mahraeel,
Personally, I would ask the archdeacon of the Church how to play and hopefully he will teach you well. (If the archdeacon of the Church does not know how to play the cymbals, then ask the deacon who plays the cymbals during the Major Feasts). Hopefully you learn how to play and God be with you!!!

Unknown

aem581,
Don't think that I'm a fast learner, that's the only thing I'm good at, trust me, well I try to be anyway. I'm actually someone who doesn't learn as quick, actually I feel intimidated by a lot of people at my church mahraeel because they are much more talented than me, but over the years I've gotten over it, so mahraeel you probably aren't intimidated by anyone, but if you are, don't be and ask anybody for help, you might learn a few things on the deaf as well as other people, maybe a friend of yours knows how to play the deaf..maybe they might be willing to teach you, there might be other possibilities too!

Forever,
Coptic Servent

p

Coptic Servent,
You should not be intimidated by what people think of you to begin with. Whatever everyone else thinks, let them be. Their opinions shouldn't affect you at all. But I completely agree with you about everything else.

mahraeel,
I have 4 recordings of an instructor teaching how to play the cymbals on my computer somewhere, so I will need to email it to you. So if you can PM me your email or something, that would be great!!!

Unknown

Nobody should be intimidated with their effort. Try this. Say I'm not good at playing the daff, I wouldn't tell anybody that I can play or play in church at all. At the same time, I would practice on my personal daff at home until after somtime, I'm absolutly perfect. At that point I can start -if someone asks- telling people that I can play. This way I wont be intimidated at all.
The thing is, I think that not playing the daff at all is better than playing it and making a fool out of your self. Trust me, I've tried it!

Unknown

wooow thankss at all

y r u intimated lol nd 5 minutess wooow coptic servant God bleess uu


heyy i wil pm u thxxx soo much


/
mahraeel
plzz p4m sister in Christ

Unknown

[quote author=Coptic Servent link=topic=5704.msg81281#msg81281 date=1200950706]
actually I feel intimidated by a lot of people at my church mahraeel because they are much more talented than me, but over the years I've gotten over it.
Forever,
Coptic Servent


As you all may probably thought that you understood what I was trying to implicate, I actually said, I feel intimidated by a lot of people at my church, yes, but over the years I've gotten over it, well slightly, it's an on and off process. Thank you for all the wonderful advice, I will take those into consideration!! Kirmich, you know I do practice at home, I don't anymore though, just the great feeling that I finally got to perform infront of HH Pope Shenouda III was a truely remarkable blessing, I wish I can do that someday, although my performance was probably somewhere between disastrous and total failure!! aem581 and kirmich actually the thing is with me being intimidated by them is the thought of competition, I'm just happy that people were thinking I should start a "learn how to play the deaf" program for the younger ones, from boys to girls, various through all ages and I tried that, with all my might, the only person I can remember that actually pulled through the 30 minute teaching was a friend of mine, dear to my heart, and she is a really good deaf player, not because of me, she learned some lessons from me and then put her own finishing touches with the help of her brother, I'm also not trying to implicate the thought of bragging and self-conceiting person that you may think I am, I really am not trying to brag, I just like to be happy and for everyone else to be happy, the thing is with the whole intimidation concept, I just couldn't take it anymore (talking about a long time ago) about everyone having their talent, and pursuiting it, well after some flashbacks and what not, I've concluded that I think I don't have a talent really!

Forever,
Coptic Servent

p

Coptic Servent,
Woah, woah, woah, I have to disagree with you about not having a talent, because it takes talent to learn the cymbals, does it not? Especially to learn it in 5 minutes, which is insanely fast. You learning the cymbals in 5 minutes truly should be considered an accomplishment of a feat, because I do not know anyone that can learn the cymbals that fast. I have tried teaching soooooooo many people, and some of them just never learn, but others take 20 minutes to learn. But never have I heard of learning the cymbals in 5 minutes. That is definitely a talent, no doubt about it!!!
In Christ,
aem581