Zill Paterns

3's

Right Handed:

R  L  R    R  L  R    R  L  R   

1   2  3    1   2  3    1  2   3 

Left Handed:

L   R  L     L  R  L    L R  L

1   2  3     1   2  3    1  2  3

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

3-7-3's

Right Handed:

R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R

1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5   6  7     1   2  3     1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5   6  7     1   2  3

Left Handed:

L  R  L     L  R  L R  L  R  L     L  R  L     L  R  L    L  R  L  R  L  R  L     L R  L

1  2   3    1   2  3  4  5  6  7      1  2  3     1   2  3     1  2   3  4  5  6   7     1  2  3

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

3-3-7's

Right Handed:

R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R  L  R

1   2  3     1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5   6  7     1   2  3     1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5   6 7

Left Handed:

L  R  L     L  R  L     L  R  L  R  L  R  L     L R  L     L  R L     L  R L  R  L  R  L

1  2   3     1  2  3     1  2   3  4  5  6   7     1  2  3     1  2   3     1  2  3  4   5  6  7

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

3-5-5's

Right Handed:

R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R

1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5      1  2  3   4  5     1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5      1  2  3   4  5

Left Handed:

L  R  L     L  R  L  R  L     L  R  L  R  L     L  R L     L  R  L  R  L   L  R  L  R  L

1  2   3     1  2  3  4   5     1  2  3  4   5     1  2  3     1  2   3  4  5    1  2   3  4  5

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

3-5-1-3's

Right Handed:

R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R     R     R  L  R     R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R     R     R  L  R

1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5      1     1   2  3     1   2  3     1   2  3  4  5      1     1   2 3

Left Handed:

L  R  L     L  R  L  R  L     L     L  R L     L  R  L     L  R L  R  L     L     L  R  L

1  2   3     1  2  3  4   5     1     1  2  3     1  2   3     1  2   3  4  5     1     1  2   3

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

3-1-3-1-3's

Right Handed:

R  L  R     R     R  L  R     R     R  L  R     R  L  R     R     R  L  R     R     R  L  R

1   2  3     1      1  2  3      1     1   2  3     1   2  3     1      1  2  3      1     1   2  3

Left Handed:

L  R  L     L     L  R  L     L     L  R  L     L  R  L     L    L  R  L     L     L  R  L

1  2   3     1     1  2  3     1     1  2   3      1  2  3     1     1  2   3     1      1  2  3

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4's(Singles)

Right Handed:

R  L  R  L  R  L  R L  R L  R  L  

1  2  3  4  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  4  

Left Handed:

L  R  L  R  L  R L  R  L R  L  R

1  2  3  4  1  2  3  4  1  2  3  4

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4-7-4's

Right Handed:

R L R L     R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R L R L     R L R L    R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R L R L

1  2 3 4     1   2  3  4  5   6  7     1  2 3 4     1  2 3 4     1   2  3  4  5   6  7     1  2 3 4

Left Handed:

L R L R     L  R  L  R  L  R  L     L R L R     L R L R     L  R  L  R  L  R  L     L R L R

1 2  3 4     1   2  3  4   5  6  7     1 2  3 4     1 2  3 4     1  2   3  4  5  6   7     1 2  3 4

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4-4-7's

Right Handed:

R L R L     R L R L     R  L  R  L  R  L  R     R L R L     R L R L     R  L  R  L  R  L  R

1  2 3 4     1  2 3 4      1  2  3  4  5   6  7      1 2 3 4      1  2 3 4     1   2  3  4  5   6  7

Left Handed:

L R L R     L R L R     L  R  L  R  L  R  L     L R L R     L R L R     L  R  L  R  L  R  L

1  2 3 4     1 2  3 4     1  2   3  4  5  6   7     1 2  3 4     1 2  3 4      1  2  3  4   5  6  7

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4-5-5's

Right Handed:

R L R L     R  L  R  L  R     R L  R  L  R     R L R L     R  L  R  L  R     R  L  R  L  R

1  2 3 4    1   2  3  4  5      1  2  3   4  5     1  2 3 4     1   2  3  4  5      1  2  3   4  5

Left Handed:

L R L R     L  R  L  R  L     L  R  L  R  L     L R L R     L  R  L  R  L    L  R  L  R  L

1 2  3 4     1  2  3  4   5     1  2  3  4   5     1 2  3 4     1  2   3  4  5     1  2   3  4  5

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4-5-1-4's

Right Handed:

R L R L     R  L  R  L  R     R     R L R L     R L R L     R  L  R  L  R     R     R L R L

1  2 3 4     1   2  3  4  5      1     1  2 3 4     1  2 3 4      1   2  3  4  5      1     1  2 3 4

Left Handed:

L R L R     L  R  L  R  L     L     L R L R     L R L R     L  R  L  R  L     L     L R L R

1  2 3 4     1  2  3  4   5     1     1 2  3 4     1 2  3 4     1  2   3  4  5      1     1 2  3 4

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

4-1-4-1-4's

Right Handed:

R L R L     R     R L R L     R     R L R L     R L R L     R     R L R L     R     R L R L

1  2 3 4     1      1  2 3 4     1     1  2 3 4     1  2 3 4      1     1  2  3 4     1     1  2 3 4

Left Handed:

L R L R     L     L R L R     L     L R L R     L R L R     L     L R L R     L     L R L R

1 2  3 4     1     1  2 3 4     1     1  2 3 4     1  2 3 4     1     1  2 3 4      1     1 2  3 4

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

5-5-5's (Syncopated)

Right Handed:

R L R L R     R L R L R     R L R L R

1  2 3 4 5      1 2 3  4 5     1  2 3 4 5

Left Handed:

L R L R L     L R L R L     L R L R L

1 2  3 4 5     1 2  3 4 5      1 2  3 4 5

To hear this pattern push play on the sound file below.

The Guide to Playing Zills

Sounds

There are four basic sounds that can be made with zills.  You may not be able to recognize some of the subtle differences at first but trust me they are there.  Altough most people prefer to play only one tone a professional zill player may well use all four to create more interest and to better match the rythym of the drum.

The basic sounds are:

Ringing: A high pitched resonating sound, made by snapping the zills together and qiuckly pulling them back as if you were playing hot potato with your Middle Finger and thumb.  To hear this sound push play on the first sound file at the top of this page.

Dull Ringing: This is a duller tone with a slight ring caused by snapping the zills together but not immediatly pulling them back.  To hear this push play on the second sound file at the top of the page.

Clanking: This is a dull flat tone which is done by supporting the zill on the middle finger with the ring finger and the index finger.  The zills are then snapped  together but not immediatly pulled back.  Most begginers play this way simply because they do not yet have enough control to pull them back immediatly.  To hear this, push play on the thrid sound file at the top of this page.

Tapping: This is another dull, flat tone.  This sound is made by truning the zills on your thumbs to the side so when you snap them together you will hit the side or rim of the zills on your thumbs to the inside of the zills on your middle finger.  To hear this, push play on the fourth sound file at the op of the page.

Measuring Time

On this site I choose not to write out the patterns in musical notation because many people are not familiar with it.  So, all patterns are counted out for you and the down beat is noted.

The down beat should fall on the part of the pattern that is bold.  When you see

L as opposed to L

3                       3

          or

R as opposed to R

3                       3

that means the the down beat will fall on that part of the pattern.  In almost all middle eastern music the downbeat will be emphasised in a drum pattern by a low resonating sound commonly reffered to as Doum and very rarely falls on te higher tones of the drum known commonly as tek, ka, and teka.

I would like to appologize for the poor sound files.  They are only tempoary and were done hastily.  When I ave more time I will redo thm and make them sound better.  Until then at least you can get a small idea of te sound each pattern will make.  Also, sometime in the near future I will put which patterns are best played with which rythyms and I will add new patterns as I come across them.  Enjoy!

If you have any questions e-mail me

This page may take a a couple minutes to compleatly load on a slow connection.  Please be paient as the sound files completely load.  They are not neccessary but they can be a great help in understanding what is written.  You may want to read The Guide to Playing Zills wile this page loads so you can better understand how to use the patterns on the page.  I appologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.