Djembe

[Troy]

I don't know that this is considered "doubling," but I just got a djembe and am enjoying learning how to play it. I've found some great resources at www.dancinghands.com that have helped with the drumming AND also a lot with my sense of rhythm for singing, piano and sax. Good stuff!

[TheChristianSax]

Thanks for the info Troy. I have wanted more information on the djembe. I occasionally "double" on one at church. Look like some good stuff on their site.

[dolphyo]

you could also find quite a few forums on yahoo for hand drumming. there are videos,teachers,etc.. but i would recommend a private lesson or two with a qualified teacher in the west african styles. djembes or any african drum are to be played first in the tradition that goes back eons and its an ensemble way and not a soloist arena unless your a respected and spiritulized accepted being to play a drum which is more serious than not. for your own enjoyment its best to play the rythms with others so you learn the hundreds of patterns necessary for cohesivness and to visiually play breaks with dancers.

[Troy]

Well, if one was wanting to play in the traditional styles, I would agree with you dolphyo, but what I'm wanting to do is exactly what a couple of the resources at dancinghands.com specialize in. That is, play a hand drum with "modern" music.

They have a great book entitled "Hip Grooves for Hand Drums – How to Play Funk, Rock, & World-Beat Patterns on Any Drum" that teaches how to approximate drum kit patterns that are used these styles. It's great!

This one I don't have, but I love the title "Slap Happy – How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy."

For the more advanced, there are "A Rhythmic Vocabulary – A Musician's Guide to Understanding and Improvising with Rhythm", "Secrets of the Hand – Soloing Strategies for Hand Drummers" and "Learn to Solo on Djembe or Conga"

I agree that, as with sax, a teacher will take you farther faster, BUT many of us don't have that luxury (either for financial or geographic reasons). So, this is a great resource for those folks. I also like that they have companion videos and CDs for almost every book.

No, I'm not making any money from this. I just like how they do things...and want them to have lots of customers so they keep making cool stuff.

[dolphyo]

thats cool Troy since you can approach it any way you like. i was leaning on the traditional ways of playing handdrums. if drumset patterns turn you on then check conga player maestro Giovanni Hidalgo for the best and one who carries the future. check out his instuctional videos that were on warner bros or LP- latin percussion. you can apply all trad drum rudiments to hand drums and it would work just learn to get a certain touch/feel when playing the skins.......

[Troy]

I have checked out Hidalgo. He is AMAZING! A friend loaned me a DVD and it was mostly well over my head. However, I did pick up one thing from him that has really helped me. It was sorta the drum equivalent of long tones.

He said (when getting started) to practice each type of stroke for 10 minutes a day with each hand. So, the slap with the left hand for 10 minutes. Then with the right for 10 minutes. It's amazing how well this simple practice habit has helped me get the feel for each type of stroke.

Also, he had a great quote, which I probably remember approximately. It went something like "If we go slowly we can complete a long journey." That's a great philosophy for any musician.

I'll have to get a list o' the rudiments and try them out. Thanks for the tip!