Tag: class
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“The Spell of Rhythm”: Understanding the Phonetic Nature of West African Rhythms
“The Spell of Rhythm”: Understanding the Phonetic Nature of West African Rhythms The world of drumming, particularly when it comes to West African rhythms, opens up a fascinating discourse on the spelling and transcribing of these vibrant sounds. For many, the written word serves as the foundation of learning and understanding music. However, in the… Read More »
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The Philosophy Of Djembe Accompaniment
The Role of Djembe Players in West African Drumming At the heart of this exploration is the mastery of accompaniment parts. These form the backbone of traditional rhythms, consisting of short grooves and repetitive phrases tailored to position the drummer within the rhythmic arrangement. Playing these parts with intention, commitment, and a high level of… Read More »
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Tricks of the trade
Tricks of the trade Certain students and players have minds where they can remember what they have learned simply from going to a class. It’s not the everyday person but I know a few. But most of us forget most of whatever happened in the class. Something is happening that we do get just by… Read More »
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66 Djembe Hand Patterns-FREE- Reference video by Michael Pluznick
Featuring 66 different djembe hand patterns that I find very useful for a wide variety of situations. I have included mostly traditional, some modern or “ballet” and even a few practical drum circle and or fun jam patterns. These are not intended to be the final or definitive word on the rhythm arrangements they come… Read More »
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67 Ballet Style Dunun Patterns
67 Ballet Style 3 Dunun Rhythm Patterns Here is my latest gift to YOU! *(this is a 10 minute demo, longer lesson will be posted here the week of July 17 2017 in the lessons section))! 67 ballet style *(non-traditional but based off of) 3 drum dunun arrangements . Generally speaking, “Ballet style” is when… Read More »
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Now And Then, All Styles Relate To The One!
Then And Now~ Let’s Get It Together! When I first started drumming in the 70’s (for those of us not born into or of the drum culture), there was one general drummers informational grid or network, that is to say one large drumming platform or base of information that was available to the general public.… Read More »
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Playing Ballet Style Dunun (aka Djun Djun) vs Traditional Style Dunun
What is the difference between playing ballet style dunun drums and traditional style dunun playing? Traditional is sideways played by three or two players and Ballet stye the dunun are played standing up. But it goes beyond this. The dunun are a set of three double sided drums hit with sticks that make up the… Read More »
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Overwhelmed learning? Here is a plan for how to approach and learn west african drumming.
Overwhelmed trying to learn to play west african drums? We live in a day in age where we have so much information available to us via internet, youtube,facebook, books, cds, etc. that it is easy to get overwhelmed and not learn anything. For some people it is hard to focus on only one thing. They… Read More »
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How to play stronger and faster
Recently several people have asked me about lifting or using a weight training exercise regimen to improve their speed when playing djembe. Specifically, arm training exercises. I have never seen weight lifting specifically for the arms or shoulders help people to gain speed. It is possible it works, I am not a weightlifting expert but… Read More »
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Holistic Drumming, Simplifying The Learning Process
Learning west african djembe and dunun compositions. Instead of watching every different Youtube video, lessons, buying every DVD and gathering and storing mass amounts of information with the intention of learning evertyhing, try and focus on one rhythm at a time. Just one. Come up with a plan of attack. All the information in the… Read More »
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The Zen Of Drumming
1. Do one thing at a time. Learn one thing, one lick at a time. Play one instrument at a time. Work on one concept at a time. Learn one rhythm at a time. 2. Play it slowly and deliberately. With focus and intent. Start slow. Don’t speed up. 3. Play what every you have… Read More »
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Finding A Teacher
I have been playing since the early 70’s and a lot of that time has been spent studying. A lot of that time was also mucking around. It took me a while to begin to get it together and realize that I did not know anything and I needed to study. I am so glad… Read More »