This was always a really fun rhythm game….
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SING THIS! It makes playing easy. |
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This is the Home pattern: |
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Bass Slap [ ] Tone Tone [ ] [ ] [ ] |
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Now we add ONE note: |
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Bass Slap [ ] Tone Tone [ ] Bass [ ] |
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And another. Just one note: |
Bass Slap [ ] Tone Tone Bass Bass [ ] |
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Add one bass up front: |
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Bass Slap Bass Tone Tone Bass Bass [ ] |
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And one slap at the end: |
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Bass Slap Bass Tone Tone Bass Bass Slap |
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So sing and play. Singing each line gets it in ya. So to sing is to practice. Once the song is in ya, it can come out of your hands! The base pattern gets stuck in you with all that repetition, and can become a good 4/4 pattern to call up in a song. And you already know how to improvise it into a solo.
You are spectacular, creative musicians…..
Play the base rhythm for a while; slowly and perfectly. Just like that. Don’t worry. Just get the groove. Then after a while when you feel at ease with the pattern, move through the rhythm, adding one new note at a time, then try backing up, subtracting one note at a time. Play each line 4 times before moving on. Maybe throw a little variation in on the last one…..
Handling this pattern: I don’t give much attention to handing most of the time. Guinea teachers will tell you one way, Yoruba teachers will tell you anther. LISTEN TO WHAT YOUR TEACHER TELLS YOU! This is goofing-off style drumming – not traditional! I have found playing hand-over-hand, Guinea style, works best for me with this pattern, but Guinea style is what I am used to. Play the way that is best for you. “If it sounds good, it IS good.” Duke Ellington
The pattern would be played like this if you’re right handed:
Bass Slap [ ] Tone Tone [ ] [ ] [ ]
Bass Slap Bass Tone Tone Bass Bass Slap
Giving the spaces the same hand you’ll play by the last line. It makes it easy to be FAST!
This exercise is from the book, “Have Fun Playing Hand Drums” by Ben James
I have heard that 80%of disagreements are based on semantics. At least!
So as my pals and I are learning to communicate in the language of music, there are ideas we need to understand, and the words that refer to that idea. The word is the finger; the idea, the moon.
This is where we are now:
There is a name we all need to agree on to describe that chunk of patterns that we repeat before we go to the next pattern. We decided the other night to call it a PART [we are an eloquent group, we are]. It is PART ‘A’ or PART ‘B’ in the AABA pattern. Because I am nearing 52 and really new at learning this language, I referred to the “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory” by Michael Miller for this description, and as it turns out, we are not only eloquent, we are brilliant. And correct.
“Most popular and jazz music is based on eight-measure phrases. Your verse might be one eight-measure phrase; your chorus another. We keep track of the different parts of a song by assigning them letters [...which have nothing to do with pitch or notes].
“The very first eight-measure phrase in your song – which is typically the first verse – is labeled ‘A’. If the verse is repeated anywhere in the song, it retains its ‘A’ labeling.
“The second eight-measure phrase – typically the chorus – is labeled ‘B’.”
and on like that….
Many of the rhythms we play are based around groups of four; each group of four beats is called a measure:
|1 2 3 4 | => |b . t t| = one measure
So ‘Part A’ of a drum song we’re making could use this eight- measure phrase:
|b . t t |b . s . | b . t t |b . s . |b . t t |b . s . |b . . . |b . . . | = Part A
If we repeat Part A 4 times and tweek it a little at the end of the 4th line,we have a 32-bar SECTION, that we cleverly call SECTION 1.
|b . t t |b . s . | b . t t |b . s . |b . t t |b . s . |b . . . |b . . . | = Part A
|b . t t |b . s . | b . t t |b . s . |b . t t |b . s . |b . . . |b . . . | = Part A
|b . t t |b . s . | b . t t |b . s . |b . t t |b . s . |b . . . |b . . . | = Part A
|b . t t |b . s . | b . t t |b . s . |b . t t |b . s . |b . . . |. . . . | = Part Av [v=variation]
NOW that we have the nomenclature down, it will be easier to play the solo construction game.
SOLO CONSTRUCTION GAME 1
- Everyone plays SECTION 1 together at room volume
- Everyone continues to play SECTION 1 quietly, while one drummer plays freely, louder than everyone else.
- Repeat step 1, loud and in unison
- Repeat step 2 with a new player
Repetition of the Section embeds it into your verbal and muscle memory. It is now yours forever. Having played the circle of four, your body becomes accustomed to that length of time. It is not too much time, nor too little. New soloists don’t seem to be intimidated when the length of time they are playing is familiar. [And I don't say 'solo'. I ask people to please play louder than everyone else for a bit....]
The dance of structure and improvisation is care and protection. Playing music with others is a love affair.
Talk to me…
[Having said all that, I ask any MUSIC KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE. PLEASE FEEL FREE AND ENCOURAGED TO FIX ANY OF THIS THAT IS WRONG! This is very much like an English speaking person reading a French Language book, then trying to teach French. If I have not understood, it would be good the hear that Help is on the way!]
The music of the entire world is accessible. The music I would have missed, being born too late. The music I grew up hearing is still alive. And how cool is it that I can hear traditional and modern music from every corner of the globe?
Rhythm is at the heart of if. But there is more~ Drummers create, manipulate and move time and space, and if we are generous with the space, we invite melodic weavings and swoops and curls to dance in between the one and the two. I feel fortunate to have access to so much of this beauty magic.
Right now, it is the West African Harp called the Kora that is sending me swooning. This will be my sacred/holiday/ atmosphere music this year. I have some new beautiful CD compilations to share. MADOU SIDIKI DIABATE , playing Traditional Kora Music From Mali, and a young man named KELONTAN CISSOHKO following his father’s lead. There are a couple of Mbira albums I can’t wait to hear. I’ll be posting some samples when the order arrives, so I can introduce you to [or remind you of] these treasures, and the musicians who poured them into the world.
As this seems to be turning into a plug for the business end of my job, I shall tell you that we also have books and DVD’s for the new [or used] drum explorer in your life. I have and use many of these if you want my experience and opinion about them. There are some that are great for classes, wonderful for teachers, excellent for personal study and stair steps to cultural traditions. Come play. There is a song, somewhere in the history of world, calling to you.
http://failladrums.com/products/
I asked each one our group to write a line for a group composition, and this is what they created:
The Divas – November 2011 —> Divas 112811 [either link should work]
Here are the individual patterns that made up the song. Each student had 16 spaces to enter either a bass, tone, slap or rest. Some of us were transcribing the rhythms we could hear in our heads. Others were letting the patterns emerge on the whiteboard. The resulting rhythm was beautiful by blending both. There were patterns that were simple, beautiful and foundational. Those were the stepping stones in the brook. I used the first pattern as the ride. It runs throughout the song in the background with a shaker on the pulse and son clave, to meet the “more cowbell” requirement.
Other patterns were elaborate and elegant. They had starts and runs and pauses where I wouldn’t expect them. I like my expectations rattled! Those patterns dove and flowed around the solid stepping stones. They broke over the banks, fell back into ride rhythm, then surrendered the song to shaker and bell….
That what Divas do, and this is how they did it:
| t t b . | t t b . | t t b | b . b . |
| b t s . | s t b . | b s t . | tt s b |
| b t t t | b . b . | b t t t | b . . . |
| b t t . | b s s . | b . t t | b b b . |
| t b t b | s s . . | t b t b | s s . . |
| t t . s | . b s . | . b t . | t t t s |
| b t . t | b . b . | t . b b | s s . b |
| b . t t | t . b b | . s s . | s s . . |
| . . b . | t t . s | t t . . | . b t s |
| b t t b | b t t | s s . . | b t t b |
| . b . t | t s . b | b t t . | b s s . |
You are amazing people. Thank you for playing music with me!
…it’s about connecting.
seems like most folks understand how primal a drum is. it is so much so, that most i’ve met – and i mean most - have some sense of their own rhythm and can naturally express something in rhythm with others, even if it is something as simple as the pulse.
that is where i started. the pulse. that was my level of understanding when i went to my first big drum gathering. it was an open circle where apparently everyone interested was welcome. i was at first amazed at what i witnessed. i guess there were 100 people or more, many with drums, some with sticks and bells, some clapping or vocalizing and some dancing. i found myself looking for a leader, something to explain how all these people sounded so good together. i walked the entire perimeter, listening while the rhythm seemed to morph as new drums came into my hearing range and other left it. i thought, “wow! this is really something i’ve never seen before, like some kinda democracy better than any we could contrive.” these folks all sounded great together and everyone was speaking at the same time. so, i kneeled down over the small drum i had borrowed and started pulsing. it was literally what i knew, but as i did that i could feel the connection. as i listened i could hear how my pulse fit within the context of the larger sound. i was participating at my level with something much larger than me – and it was good! i felt connected in a way that i had never before felt. as i sunk into that feeling of connectedness, i realized all these people must be experiencing something very similar; that they too must feel connected in a special way. everyone appeared happy, joyful and open. wow.
throughout that weekend, i experienced lots more drumming and decided that this was something i wanted more in my life. i came home and came up with a drum and started inviting friends to play. one thing led to another and soon enough the full moon drum circle at farmer brown’s was born. in the early days of those gatherings i think most everyone coming understood about connecting. see, in the early days there was the full moon, there was food; vegetarian was encouraged, as many of the folks open to such connecting also enjoyed the idea of sharing healthy food – and there was rhythm. i don’t think most of us knew much about rhythm (except that natural part we all share), we all had to listen and keep trying until we came together, but we always seemed to come together. to connect. drumming together connects us in a deeper way.
then i met a teacher who knew amazing things about a drum and i learned one or two. i found it fun to actually understand more than just pulse and improvise. to be able to fill in between the spaces and know where i was related to that pulse increased my confidence. i found it easier when i went to a gathering to play more expressively, to join in with more of my voice. well, that turned out to be the beginning of a process of learning many more things, one small step at a time gaining a rhythmic vocabulary. during that same period of time, hundreds of people around boise were having their first experience at the full moon gatherings. the drum swept in like a wave and seemed to have a life all its own. it was right about then i first noticed a small rip in the fabric, because it was right about then that others like me, who had been learning things started to clash a little with those who were new to this drumming thing.
see, when you learn a thing a natural progression is that you want to show others you have learned a thing. in hindsight, this is where it got real tricky. showing and sharing works really well in the right situations, as it can inspire and encourage others to learn more. but, i soon learned that showing the things you know in the wrong situations can cause others to respond in a negative fashion. knowing things changes things. i think it affects most the way you listen. knowing things and being with group of others who know the same kind of things shows you how to better listen for ‘depth’… to increase your skills, your precision, your performance. knowing things and being with group of others who don’t know the same things requires listening for ‘breadth’. i believe for most of us who think we know things, learning to listen this way is at first difficult, as our focus is most often on depth. conversely, it is easy to listen for breadth as a beginner. if you want to join in it may all you have to work with! as a beginner you are still relatively unaware of the depth…. and someone who knows a thing can appear showy, selfish and uncooperative to a group of people who just want to play together. it is communicated, often times at subtle levels that few notice, but it is communicated. when you know a thing and don’t understand this or, worse yet don’t care to refine your listening skills to include breadth, you are just asking for a negative response to your showing of that thing. in those cases one would do better becoming a teacher or performer, where the situation is more clearly defined – and where depth is more the focus and intention.
after (quite some time now of) seeing that drum wave recede in the same mysterious manner that it grew i understand better what happened and why. i see that as much as i grew rhythmically and musically and as much as i really appreciate depth in a thing… i also desire breadth in things. i want to further refine my listening skills and find ways to include, not exclude. the drum has universal primality. it has the ability to connect like nothing i’ve ever experienced. it can also divide. the difference is in the listening.
see, for me it’s about connecting, not about drumming.
[this is an article written by Rick Thom son]
I am sorry I have been out of touch, friends. It has been joyfully busy! I think this drum thing is catching on [after thousands of years!]
We’ve been busy with kids programs and adult classes; drum sessions for adults with traumatic brain injuries, kids & adults who come as they are. a great session going on at the boise Language Academy with the Refugee kids, great performances with The Fleet Street Klezmer Band, and for as long as we can, drumming on the sidewalk Saturdays at 10am on 6th & Main.
In a little bit, I will be back to the regular updates, class notes and pictures galore! Thanks for checking in. Let me know you’re still there and what I can offer you in your sacred, community, healthy, playful, exploratory journey into rhythm.
~failla-marie
Schlepping enough drums, shakers, bells, sticks, chairs and verve is not as easy as it looks. Especially on a bike! I am so grateful for the people who offer hands and arms and cars and trucks… We get everything we need in place, and the place fills with every expression from anticipated elation to tentative doubt. Then the magic happens. So far in this life of mine, I have found nothing more rewarding.
I have shared stories of people who believe they have no rhythm playing SOLO’s during our Saturday Sidewalk jams; non-verbal kids in my adapted classes slinging on the hip scarf and leading their peers in an orchestration of rhythm, Idaho City kids creating a masterpiece of unity, and adults finding a welcoming avenue for letting go of the day. Getting back into our groove. Finding a sweet spot in the rhythm of life…..
On August 31st, we’ll be celebrating the End of the Month and the Start of our new Tuesday gathering in my friend Shannon’s studio on Warm Springs Blvd. What a beautiful place! Not only is the location awesome, Shannon and her fellows fill the place with healing. Councilors, psychologists, healers, wellness practitioners all of them! I am so grateful to be invited to be a part of that… I hear everyday from people who just need something that soothes the day. Drumming – rhythmic music making – has brought humans together and soothed our wild souls since the beginning of ourselves as us.
“Recreational Music Making encompasses enjoyable, accessible and fulfilling group music-based activities that unite people of all ages regardless of their challenges, backgrounds, ethnicity, ability or prior experience. RMM ultimately affords unparalleled creative expression that unites our bodies, minds and spirits. ” Karl Bruhn, Father of the Music Making and Wellness movement.”
Drumming in support of wellness has found a place….
The next mission is to locate an affordable studio in which to hold classes for school-aged kids and teen-agers. Let me know if we can come play. I can schlepp this stuff almost anywhere!
Filed under Music with Kids, Playing Together · Tagged with At Risk Kids, Building Community through Music, Drumming with kids, New Drummers, Playing!!, REMO Healthrhythms, School programs, students, Teens, The Importance of Play
I think music – playing music together – can change the world. If we will just listen to each other, we can create a song out of thin air.
It all starts with a pulse. Then, one at a time, we – as instruments – take our place and speak our truth. As we listen and play, [play... play... play...] the song will emerge. If we listen, we can hear what someone else wants to express. If we play, we can express things that cannot be said with words.
It’s all jazz. Playing music together – living and working and finding harmony together… it’s improvisation on a theme, and the theme is the moment and people right here, right now. [you must be present to win...]
It’s about being prepared to be spontaneous, alive and open to what’s happening right now.
playing…..
You already have everything you need to make beautiful music.
…Come as you are…
Lefties click here
When practicing or playing on your djembe drum, don’t forget to use breaks. This is sound advice whether you’re practicing alone or with others. And if you’re performing it’s even more important. It tells everyone when your rhythm starts and when it ends. There’s nothing like starting and stopping on time. That is part of the magic of good percussion. It helps tremendously with timing!
If you’re not using breaks now then give it a try. Once again, you can google for information on breaks or you can use the ones we’ve supplied on this page. Just click on one of the images and when the larger image is displayed right-click and do a Save As… If you’re left-handed click on the link above the images to see the left-handed version of this post.
We use breaks all the time at Failla Drums. We use them during classes before playing rhythms together; we even use them before our warm up exercise (Baba’s Warm Up). And when we perform in public events we use them to let everyone else drumming know when to start and when to end. And often when Failla Drums is performing so is the audience who may be playing along with drums, sticks, bells or just clapping their hands. It’s sounds more professional. Without breaks there tends to be clatter at the end of songs. With breaks it’s crisp and clean endings. So play them loud so everyone can hear.
By the way, these breaks work great for rhythms in 4/4 time signatures. For 6/8 rhythms we use different ones, but we’ll cover that in another post. If you can’t wait try googling for more info. If you like our graphic format for djembe rhythms don’t forget to check out our Hand Charts, Graphic Rhythm Sheets, and Animated Rhythms DVD. They’re reasonably priced and free samples are available.
Go Go Do Do Do Go Pa Pa
Failla Drums
Drum Practice Tip #1
Drum Practice Tip #2
Drum Practice Tip #3
Use both hands
Once you get comfortable playing a specific rhythm try starting with your other hand. Download a rhythm from the net and change it so it begins with your other hand. For instance, if a rhythm goes like this: Gun Go Do Pa change it to Dun Do Go Ta. Or better yet, try one of the free sample Hand Charts available on our website. There’s a left-hand and right-hand version for most of the rhythms. If you like these hand charts try using our Hand Charts book which includes many popular West African rhythms. Just place your hands where the pictures display the hands. Remember, if the hand icon is black it means Bass note (Gun or Dun), if a white hand it means Tone (Go or Do) and if the hand icon is red then it’s a slap (Pa or Ta). Practice the pattern (starting with your other hand) over and over again until you can do it without the hand chart. Then you’ll be able to play it with either hand and it will make practicing on your djembe more interesting. Your playing will improve as well; your other slaps, tones, and bass will be consistent with your main ones. If you want to push yourself even furthur try playing the complete rhythm only with your strong hand first and then try it with your other hand because when it really comes down to it, it doesn’t really matter how you play it.
Just play it,
Failla Drums
Drum Practice Tip #1
Drum Practice Tip #2
Drum Practice Tip #4
