Bolokada reveals secret of the djembe

It is rare that I am able to share the deepest secrets of the Djembe!  I have shared many songs, rhythms, and stories of my Malinke people, many techniques. Now, I’m excited to share the secrets of playing the djembe and the music with you. This is something I believe will inspire every djembe player. This is what I hope the Djembe X conference will help people see.

When I say the secret of the djembe, I’m not talking about a magic trick, or a special way of holding your hands. Playing the djembe is not about how hard you hit the drum, it’s how you approach the drum. Perhaps the most important secret of the djembe is practice. Do you want to master the djembe? Do you think hard about the rhythm? Then you must practice, everyday.

I began drumming on my mother’s back, as she carried me around as a baby. Then I moved to pots and pans. Finally, my mother introduced me to the djembe. And I played every day. The village people then asked me to be their djembefola. That’s how my life opened up to the djembe. Practice is very important. When you approach the drum, it must be for the love of the people. You are playing to make people happy. Keep that in mind.

You are going to get a lot of practice at the Djembe X conference. We put together an incredible program for you, for beginner and advanced, for man and for woman. For musicians and dancers. You will practice with top Guinea, Mali, & Ivory Coast Grandmasters. Me, Moussa Traore, Mangue Sylla, & Caph Guei. You will practice with American djembe and dun masters. Michael Taylor, Tosha Alston, Khadyjah Harper. You will learn and practice djembe and dunun, and get the best of Mandeng music, history, and culture. You can also take a workshop in Bata drum with Michelito!

The secrets will come out as you practice.

For beginners, we will show you how to hit the drum, the technique to make CLEAN tone, slap, and bass. Let your brain tell your hand slap, tone, bass! For intermediate and advanced, we show you how to rapidly mix these sounds to make nice solo phrases you are going to love. You will practice how to play your solo with the music – on the beat. Very important, we will give you a lot of information to take home and work on.

It brings me joy to share with you. That’s why Djembe X has many prizes, just for you.  Thanks to our sponsors, we will raffle free pass to the WULA retreat, and also a pro WULA drum. We’ll have contests & games to add more excitement, to connect our community. We also giving all Djembe X drummers free master dance classes at BlackDance USA with the great Moustapha Bangoura and concert with the great MUNTU

Please follow the link to join us for this INCREDIBLE DJEMBE X, May 21-24, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri!!http://www.africaunitedint.com/#!xplosion-2015/c24bq