Didadi is a rhythm that can be used by young people to compete at festivals and celebrations. Didadi can be played for the expected arrival of an important person or at end-of-the-year holidays.
Some say it originates from the Bougouni circle , of Mali’s Sikasso region. The didadi is also organized during the end of the year holidays. What many of us know as a dunun (double sided drum) is here called didadidunun and is the instrument played for the didadi . The hand plays the drum on the skin opposite the one hit by the wooden drumstick complementing the stick’s playing. Djembes are also used as accompaniment and one for solo or “lead”.
An amazing 6 year old child djembe drummer solos at Guinee, West African “Spectac” (big show in Conakry, Guinea).
Music similar to this and other similar high quality digitaly recorded audio recordings I did in Mali are now available for sale:
Djembe Fola (master drummer) Bolokada Conde shows us his amazingly smooth technique soloing on his arrangement of Konkoba dununba in Oakdland California circa 2004
There are many different ways to learn drums. Some people prefer an intellectual approach, to understand the breakdown or math of the part or pattern on the drum. The beats and dividing the beats. This is a western approach that really works for some people.
how we learn to play
These type of learners can not learn unless they first understand how the pattern is set up with numbers. This is not my personal preference or way I think, but over the years I have grown to accept the fact that this is the only way certain people can learn. We have different ways, so we need to respect each others process as no two people are the same.
I have respect for the great thinkers in the drum movements and I also believe it is important to have some system of notation as a full time student or professional. That said, I do not believe in learning a rythym or pattern (piece) for the first time from a book or internet. The numbers can not give you a feel, no matter how far you divde or break it down.
Hawaii's own drum carver Boaz Martin plays Bata
The number system and traditional or non traditional music notation for me is good for seeing how something that appeared complicates is actual made up of smple parts and also notation and to refresh my memory. I do like to know where the “one” or first beat of the pattern starts and where the pulse in the pattern is.
Drums were traditional taught by a vocal system (singing or speaking) and by demonstration in West Africa. Each tone you can make on any type of hand drum be it congas, djembe, dumbec or whatever can be thought of and used as a spoken or sung sylable.
drummers and dancer
Try repeating back a a new rhythm someone shows you by first saying or singing it. If you stumble verbaly, wait until you can repeat it back as a song or spoken word set perfectly before you try playing it. For many of us this by steps the part of the thinking process and replaces it more with the feeling process, thus making it easier for us “feelers” (those who learn by feeling and hearing and then playing back) to learn.
African dance class
by Michael Pluznick. Djembe music with Dancers Ami Doumbia left and Malodone right) from the award winning Santogoola community center and local group in the Sabaliboogou district of Bamako chant traditional songs and perform traditional based djembe muisc and dance choreography to the Sunu djembe rhythym in Bamako Mali while accompanied by djembe grandmaster Aruna, djembe master Brulye, djembe fola Siaka and dunun fola Kaliefa, 4 different generations of Mali djembe drummers.
www.earthcds.com, www.barbajaba.com. www.michaelpluznick.com
Music for this djembe music video and other similar high quality audio and djembe recordings I did in Mali are now available for sale:
How to play djembe. Begginers Djembe calss. Begginers dunun class. This is the rythym arangement “Djagbe” (in Guinee) or Madan (in Mali) djembe and dunun class excerpts @ Rumpuree dance school in Thailand. taught by Michael Pluznick.
