Quickly Improve Your Accompaniment
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Broadly speaking, there are two areas of djembe playing that we can always improve on so that the music just keeps getting better and better all the time: Accompaniment Solo. We discuss solo in this...
The Endangered Three – Oldstyle Djembe
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Think of "Roots" djembe music like Roots Reggae, Classic Rock, or Oldies. It's old-style music from a few generations back. Djembe music is changing. Today, younger people usually play modernized djembe music ...
A Theme-Based Approach to Soloing
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The difference between a phrase-based and theme-based approach to djembe is profound. It may be one of the biggest reasons why many students will never sound like their African teachers - no matter how long or har...
Don’t Force Your Entire Repertoire
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One of the main things you can do to improve the quality of your solo is to decrease the quantity of different solo phrases. Forcing Your Repertoire Many people try to sound better by running through a larg...
Intro to Hand-Over-Hand
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Keep Your Hands Moving Hand-Over-Hand is a technique where you keep your hands moving while you play. Your hands move up and down constantly, alternating back and forth, sometimes even pitter-pattering on...
5 Ways HOH Technique Can Help You
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Adopting Hand Over Hand takes a bit of work, but for us it’s been WELL worth the effort. In the long run, it saves you time and energy, and helps you spot commonalities you might not have noticed before. ...
Solo Meditations
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A solo meditation is a practice exercise in which you focus on one single solo theme, represented by a root solo phrase. Meditations help to develop an intimate relationship with the rhythm. They are an ...
The Soloist’s Progression: Theme-Based Soloing
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The soloists progression is a basic formula for a good solo. It's not to be followed rigidly. In fact, the whole point is to increase fluidity and let your solo progress organically. The concept of the soloist...
How To Anchor Yourself To The Beat
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Once you understand where the beat is, then you can move on to apply proper swing to your playing. Did you know there are a couple of musical elements you can easily look to when you want to find and anchor you...
Tips For Playing Active Accompaniment
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We introduced the idea of Active Accompaniment a while back, in this post. Here are some simple tips to get you started playing Active Accompaniment quickly. Start Playing Active Accompaniment A Word Of Ca...
Is It My Turn to Solo Yet?
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Originally published August 2004 by Jeremy Chevrier on his Djembe Essays Blog. My teacher always emphasizes the value of good accompaniment. Accompaniment is number one. If a djembe player cannot play really go...