Category: Articles
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What Style Do You Play?
Some people say that a true Djembe Master is required to play all styles and rhythms. Don’t be fooled by this statement. There may be some truth to it, but it’s misleading. If you misunderstand it, you’ll tend to want to skip directly from point A to point Z. People who have bought into this idea like to study a vast […]
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Is It My Turn to Solo Yet?
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 good accompaniment solo is not possible. All good soloists have exceptionally good sounding accompaniments. Theoretically one should be able to recognize a Master djembe […]
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Problems With The Phrases-Based Approach to Djembe
I recommend you adopt a themes-based approach to djembe rather than a phrases-based approach. If your teacher or someone else seems infinitely better than you at djembe, a theme-based approach may be one of the reasons why. A Modern Analogy. Imagine This: Problems With a Phrases-Based Approach A phrase-based approach is a differences-focused view. It can be […]
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Root Solo Phrases
Root Phrases present a theme for variation, and set the foundation for the rest of your theme-based solo. That’s why in the soloist’s progression, playing a Root Phrase is the first step. Solo Rides (accompaniment style phrases played by the soloist) make good root phrases, but you can use any other basic solo phrase, too. Practicing Root Phrases When it comes to […]
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Don’t Force Your Entire Repertoire
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 large repertoire of phrases when they solo. In just a few minutes, they play everything they’ve learned for the rhythm, and […]
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A Theme-Based Approach to Soloing
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 hard they’ve been studying, or how hard they’ve been practicing. If we want to advance leaps and bounds in our djembe playing, […]
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What Is Clave?
Clave is a term used by Afro-Cuban musicians. It refers to a type of underlying timeline pattern in the music. Most rhythms from Cuba have one of these clave patterns. In Afro-Cuban music, the Clave can be very obvious because the entire pattern is often played on a pair of wooden sticks called “Clave”. Clave In Djembe Music […]
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How To Play More Fluidly
Here’s an idea: To play more fluidly, try thinking of your role in the music as that of a conduit – not a container. Then work on yourself to become the most conductive conduit you can be. In other words, instead of spending effort trying to regurgitate all the phrases we’ve learned, we should train ourselves to […]
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4 Tips To Round Out Your Djembe Solos
4 Tips For Better Djembe Solos
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5 Ways HOH Technique Can Help You
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. Benefits of Using HOH 1. Improve Your Timing HOH can improve your timing because the consistency […]
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Intro to Hand-Over-Hand
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 the notes you don’t play (ghost notes). Think of it as moving your hands as if you’re playing the goloba (echauffment) – even when […]
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The 4 Handing Systems
Four notable handing techniques to consider when playing djembe are: Hand-Over-Hand (as your default handing) Leading with your Dominant Hand (as your secondary handing) Random Handing (to be used when needed in certain situations) Alternating Hands (as a practice exercise) These four types of handing dictate which hand hits the drum for any given note of a djembe accompaniment […]
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Quickly Improve Your Solo
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 accompaniment in another post. Right now, let’s talk about solo. There is a simple mental adjustment you can make to immediately improve your […]
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Tips For Playing Active Accompaniment
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 Caution:
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Intro To Active Accompaniment
“Active Accompaniment” describes a style of advanced dynamic accompaniment playing we hear in Roots Djembe music. It has to do with the presence and priorities of the accompanist. A player who plays Active Accompaniment aims to actively contribute to creating both better feeling and better sound in the music. This is in contrast to the […]
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The 3 Ways To Play Djembe Accompaniment
There are three ways to play djembe accompaniment: 1. Half-Assed-Waiting-To-Solo Half-Assed accompaniment playing has become popular in big cities. It’s a favored style among hotshot “soloists” the world over. After all, you’ll never get the girl by playing good accompaniment, so why waste your effort, right? Playing accompaniment this way is disrespectful to dancers and […]
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Beneath The Surface: Timeline Patterns
In the Underlying Patterns series we dig in to the many kinds of patterns that we find at play under the surface in djembe and dundun music. In ethnomusicology, these patters are called by many names, such as “key pattern,” “guide pattern,” “phrasing referent,” “timeline” or “asymmetrical timeline.” I like calling these underlying patterns Timelines. They […]
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Signature Phrases
A Signature Phrases is a phrase that’s associated with very few rhythms (or only one rhythm), so when you hear it played, it’s as if the rhythm is “saying it’s own name.” Many Dundun parts are signature phrases. As we all know, listening to the dundun, you can often identify a rhythm even if there […]
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Learning Mode vs. Playing Mode
At times, we’re too heady while playing, affecting timing, flow, spontaneity, and the general feeling of the music. What Happens? Deep thought and analysis help us gain a better understanding of djembe music. (When we’re not playing it.) Thinking takes time, so it can become a problem when playing music. Thinking while I play doesn’t help me play any better […]
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Quickly Improve Your Accompaniment
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 other post. Right now, let’s talk about accompaniment. There is a simple mental adjustment you can make to immediately improve your accompaniment, […]
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Two Extremes To Think About
Here’s a djembe-related false dichotomy: I make the music happen vs. IT just streams through me. The “I make the music happen” Extreme Now all too common, unfortunately. A modern and juvenile approach to playing djembe music. Many students and even many native djembe musicians are imposing as much of themselves into the music as utterly possible! Leaning this […]
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4 Hand Clapping Patterns In Djembe Music
Hand clapping really adds a lot to djembe music. Unlike percussion music from some other parts of the world, I’ve noticed the hand clapping in djembe music is on the beat for the most part. It’s not too complex, but there are actually a few distinct ways to clap. Here’s what I’ve noticed. Common Clapping Patterns
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How To Anchor Yourself To The Beat
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 yourself to the beat? Doing this will make it possible to play with swing later. […]
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The Soloist’s Progression: Theme-Based Soloing
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 soloists progression should be understood, and then used as a guide. Don’t underestimate it’s power. Using the soloists progression will, in […]