-
Where To Buy A Djembe Drum? The Best Djembes.
Where should you buy a djembe drum? And what is the best djembe drum? Should you go to a large distributor on line, a chain store, a small company or an individual artist? This is a question often asked to me. I went on line and did a google search and was shocked what came up… Read More »
-
The learning Process and Drumming
The learning process and drumming, transcending the illusion of ” I can’t”. I am constantly hearing people say, “I can’t do that, I can’t do this” when I am trying to teach them or share something new, “odd” or very different. I always get a lot of excuses. And they are often very convincing, because… Read More »
-
How To Learn Difficult Rhythm Compositions
People often ask me, “how do I learn a new djembe rhythm composition”? and say “I can never remember how the parts go in west african drumming”!. Memorization is indeed challenging for most of us. I would like to tell you how I do it and offer some suggestions that may be helpful and fun.… Read More »
-
Playing at speed, how to play faster or slower with out freaking out.
I have noticed that most of the time even those of us who practice djembe or dunu regularly are practicing at a normal comfortable speeds or moreover, the same speed with out knowing it. We may be learning new phrases or rhythms, but generally we default to our own comfortable natural speed. The problem is… Read More »
-
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 »
-
One Style Or Different Drumming Styles? It’s All Music.
There are several different ways for serious students to learn and to study traditional and folkloric drumming from other countries. Today I am going to talk about two different approaches, completely different and both are valid in my book. We can try to be universal, find commonality and study the underlying principles and basic structures… Read More »
-
What is the best conga drum skin to use?
In my experience over the years with conga drums and conga skins I have found that there is no best skin. It is what skin best suits your needs. Do you have an old conga drum, bongos or other hand drums lying around because they don’t sound good? Putting on a new head is relatively… Read More »
-
Need skin? Heads up to a good deal on the best skins!
Ryan ‘Manito’ Wendel has been in deep research mode and now has in stock some amazing skins including cow, steer mule and even camel for your congas and bongos in a variety of thickness and sizes that are just as nice. For a limited time he is offering them at a discount for all my readers… Read More »
-
Old School and New School Djembe Styles
There are many different ways to hit the djembe, to play it, to make it speak or have it speak through you. And, there are different styles with in the tradition and cultural context to play the djembe as well. When I was in Mali and Guinea on both of my trips I was amazed… Read More »
-
Breaking Physical Habits
Most of us are unaware of our physical habits from our daily life that carry over when play drums.We all have ways we physically respond to everything that happens in our daily life. It’s unconscious for the most part and habitual as well. When we sit down (or stand ) to play drums we are… Read More »
-
It’s easy to say “relax when you are drumming”, but how do you actually do it?
I know it’s easy to say “relax when you are drumming”, but how do you actually do it? I am always telling people to relax when they play and I also continually hear my teachers saying it to other as well. It is one of the most important things you need to do when playing… Read More »
-
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 »
