Michael Pluznick » djembe lesson

Who wants to play dununs and what is a djembe solo?

admin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:24:08 +0000

In all my years playing, studying and teaching West African rhythms and percussion I have always come across an interesting and challenging situation. It is really hard to find people, that is to say djembe players, other fellow percussionists or drum students who want to learn the dunun patterns, individual traditional dunun parts and or ballet arrangements on 2 or 3 dununs or more. dununs are also known as djun djuns, doun douns or [...]

Michael Pluznick teaches Zaouli break into Kuku djembe solo on Toca Stage Series Pro wood djembe

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 09:27:20 +0000

Toca artist and Toca endorsee Michael Pluznick shows the fun Zaouli break and Kuku solo technique for djembes and dunun on Toca Stage Series Pro wood djembe and Toca Freestyle Djundjuns. [...]

How to start (or to continue) to play drums when you are over 40 years old

admin — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 12:37:59 +0000

Does age matter when playing or performing drumming and percussion music? Yes and no.Many of us who have been playing for a while would obviously like to keep playing for a while. I myself am over 50 years old. I am constantly playing with players half my age and sometimes more. Of course there are always going to be some age or physical limitations, but there does not have to be any cramp in your style and with the proper maintanance and care of our bodies there should be no reason why we can not play well into our 90's! They do in Africa! [...]

My djembe and conga training program for developing your drumming skills quickly

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:27:13 +0000

People often ask me about a training program. What could they do to improve their drumming and or improve more rapidly? I put together the following suggestions based on my own training program that I have followed for many years. Those of you who know me personaly know I am a bit of a fanatic so of course you can tone down the program to suit your own personal needs. So just take a few ideas from here or all of them. "Arai gor dai" as they say in Thailand ("up to you")! So pick and choose and enjoy your practice and training ritual. remember it's "playing" and playing is FUN! [...]

How to practice quietly at home

admin — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 18:53:24 +0000

Many people have written to me saying, “OK, I agree I need to practice, but where can I practice”? Maybe it is too cold to go out to the park, or you just don’t feel like dragging your drum around? Or maybe someone has complained about “noise”?

I do not know how many times I have had noise complaints from my neighbors about “strange sounds both night and day”! The drums can definitely bring out [...]

Top 10 do’s and dont’s at a drum circle, drum jam or party

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:32:06 +0000

If you are walking into an unkonwn situation be it a drum circle, drum jam, party or a dance class here are some general guidelines of etiquette to follow. They may seem pretty simple and you may or may not agree with them. But if you follow them you will have a much more harmonius experience then if you don’t, and you will also make it a lot easier on other drummers or players [...]

How to solo on djembe part one: my philosophy

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:04:29 +0000

Soloing on any drum especially djembe can be daunting at first. Everyone wants to do it but how do we start? First of all, what is a solo or “lead” as we also say in the drumming world?

Traditionally speaking a solo in West African music, specifically music from Guinee and Mali is a phrase or group of phrases chained together that interact and accent the dance choreography or dancers movements. The solo inspires [...]

Makru Djembe Rhythm on Toca Stage Series Pro and Freestyle Djembes

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:47:13 +0000

Tina and Luna enjoy there first djembe drum class with Michael Pluznick on Koh Samui Island, Thailand. Luna is playing a new Toca Freestyle djembe. Tina and Michael are playing Toca Stage Series Pro wood djembes. The rhythm being taught is “Makru” from Guinee, West Africa.

“Mali Grand Master” djembe class with Brulye and Aruna: Mendiani

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:41:23 +0000

http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/m…

Aruna and Brulye teach Michael P Mendiani solo technique at a djembe class at Centre Togola in the Sabalibougou district of Bamako Mali. Music, song, djembe and dunun class and djembe lessons are held here every day of the week. If you want to study djembe in Mali, this is the place to go for a djembe lesson or african dance class. These guys and their students really play djembe well! Very [...]

Buying a djembe, Bali or African drum?

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:59:40 +0000

Bali Djembe drums vs West African djembe drums

The prices of professional djembe drums are going through the roof on line (you can pay well over $650!). That said, under certain circumstances, one of the best buys going right now is a Bali djembe drum. They are just about always light weight, have nice skins and a great drum can cost you about $100 US or even less!

Bali is still a wonderful place [...]

Mali grand masters!!! djembe class with Brulye and Aruna: Mendiani

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:31:01 +0000

Aruna and Brulye teach Michael P Mendiani solo technique at a djembe class at Centre Togola in the Sabalibougou district of Bamako Mali. Drum class and djembe class is held here every day of the week. If you want to study djembe in Mali, this is the place to go for a djembe lesson or african dance class. These guys and their students really play djembe well! Very inspiring drumming!

Mali: sweet Didadi music, drums and beautiful chants!

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 22:17:10 +0000

http://www.earthcds.com/africa/west/mali

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 [...]