Rhythm of the Week...
Drumming Music Notation: Hand Drum Lessons with Easy Rhythm Instruction
for African Drumming Music, Latin Drumming and other Hand Drum Rhythms.
free music education resources and drumming tips for beginning or
advanced drummers...or anyone just wanting to groove with world
beat and alternative music
This Week's Lesson:
Lesson Two: More
variations
Lesson Two
More variations:
Another common, basic variation is to emphasize a bit of "three"
feel in the first bar, like so:
D - - g - g d g D - D - d g d g
The two rest beats after the "D"
give the effect of a triplet, the basic unit of 6/8 time. Using
that effect in a four-four beat gives it an extra dynamic, the second
basic key to world-beat music
(see above for discussion of the first).
Really, the possibilities are endless. Let's take the feel back
to a "two" or low-high feel:
D - D - T - T - D - d g - g d g
Notice the similarity to the rhythm at the
end of lesson one. The two bars have been switched in order, and
the emphasis increased on the left-hand beats, "d" becoming
"T", a clean sharp stroke without the "g." With
the extra rests in the first bar, there is time enough to switch
hands now for balance, if desired:
D - G - T - P - D - d g - g d g
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Samba, Part
One:
Now, for fun, let's slide the line
left by half a bar, so that it looks like this:
T - T - D - d g - g d g D - D -
We're still in "two" feel, but
now it's high-low (from T to D). This is the basis of Samba-along
with the "world-beat" hitch as discussed above. There are many, many ways to
carry this samba feel; the example here is just one possibility.
Focus on the high-low intro, and the "g - g" gap in the
middle, and it's hard to go wrong. Reduced to the basics, it could
be played simply as:
T - T - D - - g - g - g D - - -
Play around with that one for awhile and
a dozen samba beats will arrive smiling, hips rolling.
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Samba, Part
Two:
Here are some parts to accompany
the above samba rhythm:
First, a basic eight-beat pattern to keep it steady:
P - P d G - G D
Next, some percussion elements:
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
shaker x x x x x x x x x x x x
guiro (scraper) d u d u d u d u d u d u d u d u
clave (sticks) x x x x x x x
bell (hi-lo): L H H L L H H H L
underline=stressed
d=down stroke, u=up stroke
Put it all together and have some fun!
These are only a few of the infinite variations of samba. One of
the more basic variations is to reverse the high-low swing of the
drum parts, to a low-high feel:
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
D g d G G g d(g d g)
or... D D T d G G g d g d g
By comparing these two you can see the common
elements that gives the samba its distinctive flavor: the low-high
swing, and the hitch in the middle [G - G]. (For a look at another
samba dynamic at work in a 6/8 rhythm, see the exercise about Tiriba).
The first of these two patterns is essentially the same as a common
Nigerian rhythm taught by Olatunji (see below).
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Triple Overtime
This is an original composition
that combines the "hitch" feel of a Samba, the complexity
of a round, and the steadying influence of an eight-beat repeated
phrase.
Note that in the main samba-like part, the low-high movement is
doubled in the second two bars.
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
djembe 1 D G d T P G G T P D G T P
djembe 2 G T P D G T P D G d T P G
djembe 3 d g T d g D G d g T d g D G
shaker x x X x x x X x x x X x x x X x
jun-jun X * * * X
(* = X + k; bass beat plus bell)
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Olatunji
(Nigerian) rhythm for Aiye Mi Re, Akiwowo, and Kiya Kiya:
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
D g d G G g d
Note the similarity to the low-high
samba.
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Uruguayan
Trance Rhythm
This is a beat used in the
latest Trance
Dance with great success. It's
adapted from Candombe, a traditional trance rhythm of Uruguay taught by Joseph (Pepe)
Danza. The effect was very powerful, with an almost instant trance
effect. The bass beats come in unusual places, and the three primary
drum parts blend in a hypnotic way. Parts 2 and 3 are tricky to
learn because the d G opening beats are the reverse of the usual
opening. The key is to focus on that opening (d) as the one-beat.
Note that it's the unplayed beat in Part 1.
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Drum 1: - g d g - g d g - g d g - g d g
Drum 2: d G d g d G d g d G d g D - - -
Drum 3: d G - - G - d g D - D - D - - -
Jun-Jun: X - - X X - - X X - - X X - - X
sticks: x - - - x - - - x - - - x - - -
Notes:
Part 1: To keep good time, play
the silent one as a "ghost" note on the side of the drum
with the left hand.
Part 3: The second G departs from strict alternation of hands
by beat; but it helps give an overall balance with the final three
D's, and gives a certain desired tone quality. The middle D might
be varied as a G if desired; but again the repeated bass with the
same hand gives a certain repetitive effect hard to achieve by using
both hands.
Sticks: The stick part wasn't taught as part of the traditional
rhythm. But we've found with the trance dance step we use (from
West Africa) that it's helpful to use the regular stick beat as
a constant timekeeper. It also induces its own trance effect; as
the Australian aborigines do so well with sticks.
Origins: I
remembered the origins of this rhythm incorrectly to be associated
with a dance/martial art called Capoeira. Actually the above "trance-formation"
is closer, but still different from the Uruguayan trance rhythm
called Candombe. Here is Pepe's version:
"Candombe is a transformation of
rhythms that came probably from Nigeria and/or Congo. I would say
it is mostly an urban phenomenon, being a dance rhythm used in celebrations
and carnival in Uruguay. It is definetly a trance rhythm and we
play for hours with many variations. The drums that play it are
called TAMBORILES. As in so many afro traditions, it is the interplay
of three drums that create the feel. These are called CHICO, PIANO
and REPIQUE. There's more parts to candombe. It's incredibly rich
and complex!. The original Tamboriles are played with stick and
hand, and these are my own adaptations for djembe.
"The basic drum parts are as follows:"
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Chico - p t p - p t p - p t p - p t p
Repique g p - g p - g p - g p t g - p -
variation - p - g p t g p - p - g p - - -
Piano (jun jun) M - - X - - - - - - - X X - - - M=muted
The sticks or clave should be playing 3-2 clave or
x - - x - - x - - - x - x - - -
My thanks to Pepe for graciously supplying
these corrections!
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Go to Rhythms
of the Week, Lesson Three
Go
to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Four
Go
to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Five
Go
to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Six
Order ROOTS JAM
The
rhythm notation . . .
The following notation can be easier for
drummers and percussionists to use, compared to the usual notes
and lines of conventional sheet music. Because drum notes aren't
sustained but struck once, it makes sense to show the timing for
these beats as single and equal. Rests are measured by the same,
single-beat units.
All the rhythms at this site, and in the
book Roots Jam, use the following
notation for drum beats--primarily those played on the west African
djembe.
D:
Dun ("Doon") = bass
beat with left hand
G: Gun ("Goon") = bass
beat with right hand
d: do ("doe") = rim
beat with left hand (tip half of fingers)
g: go = rim
beat with right hand
T: Ta = slap
beat with left hand: sharp glancing
stroke
P: Pa = slap
beat with right hand
- = space
About left and right hand
notes:
Though the majority of the rhythms displayed
here will show leading with the left hand, the handing can be reversed.
In fact it makes sense to play both ways equally well, or to alternate
for balance.
If you're just starting out and want to
follow my notation with a dominant right hand, you can treat D's,
d's and T's as right-hand beats, and G's, g's and P's as left-hand
beats.
Additional Notes:
X = low note on bass
drum or two-tone bell or percussion
x = any note on monotone percussion,
or high note on two-tone percussion.
[Another way to show hi/lo notes
is hi on first line, lo on second;
or by H and L]
k = bell note when played with bass
drum (jun-jun)
x = underlined (or bold) note means
stressed or accented.
(d) = parenthesis means optional note(s)
or way to play a given note(s)
d__g__d: = triplet, with three notes
played within 2, 4 or 8 beat measure.
d_g: = two notes played as if two ends
of a triplet (d_-_g)
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