Category: Blog
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Who Can Play The Drum? Everyone Is Welcome.
Who exactly can play drums? Is everyone welcome? I say if you come to the drum with respect, yes! Music is music. The drum is a musical instrument. Drumming is music and music see’s no colors, race or age. It is as simple as that. People may see that, (race, color, sex,age) and people may… Read More »
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How About Existential Drumming For Those Deep Into Their Drumming?
Creatively speaking, once you have learned how to play your drum (well) all drumming is an experiment, the more experiments you make the better. I had a great teacher who told me, “your next mistake is actually your next creative idea”. The same impulse that creates the alleged mistake is the same impulse that creates… 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 »
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How To Remember Rhythm Patterns
Remembering rhythm patterns, use any tool you can find. Once I do actually learn a rhythm, pattern or phrase it is usually because or helped by the fact that I hear it and sing it to myself as a simple melody. Melodies are interesting because they contain rhythm as well as musical notes. Interestingly enough… Read More »
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The Will To Learn or “Poop or Get Off the Can”
Get serious about your drumming! From around the world I get letters and also in my travels I see many people who are not improving in their drumming skills. They are staying at the same level of drumming they were a year or two ago and still can only play one or two rhythms. Why… Read More »
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Sol Percussion is back in action! With Akbar Moghaddam
Sol Percussion by Akbar Moghaddam is back! This is great news for the percussion world as Akbar is always very innovative and creative and the percussion and conga drum-cajon-bongo market needs his wonderful new products and insight to push the bar even higher then where it is currently at now. I have always loved his… Read More »
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Overwhelmed trying to learn percussion? Simplify things!
If you are like myself and get overwhelmed easily at a class or with a lot of information from various sources then you do need to simplify things. There is so much information out there between Youtube, the internet, informational books and CD’s that it is easily to overload your system and not learn anything!… Read More »
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Sol Percussion by Akbar Is Back And Better Than Ever!
Sol Percussion by legendary drum artisan Akbar is finally back. He is now up and running with new and improved products including hand made bongos and cajons from a variety of local and exotic hardwoods. Congas will be following shortly. Akbar Moghaddam not only manufactured Sol in the past he also owned Valje and redesigned the… Read More »
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Namory Keita Djembe Fola From The Hamanah Region Of Guinea West Africa
Namory Keita a Melenke Djembe Fola, (djembe master) from the Hamanah region of Guinea West Africa is living and teaching on the east coast of the USA in New England. I have been spending the last two months studying and performing with Namory and I would like to report that not only is he an… Read More »
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How To Make A Slap Sound On Your Djembe
In this free video I would like to show you how to make what I call a Guinea style slap on your Djembe. I say Guinea style as there are several different ways to make a slap. One famous teacher named Dr. Djobi from the Ivory Coast of West Africa has 8 different slaps. I… Read More »
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Solo Now, Learn Later. What Is A Djembe Solo?
Solo now, learn later! Beginning drummers often ask me or write in with the question, how do they express themselves and their inner rhythm on the djembe drum with in the traditional west african rhythm context? When playing traditional rhythms almost always, beginning drummers want to learn to solo at once. They want to move… Read More »