AN INTRODUCTION TO PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE DRUM TALK

AN INTRODUCTION TO PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE DRUM TALK

Foreword The philosophy behind this book is to give access to beginners to sophisticated polyrhythms, without the need to encumber the student s mind with western music notation and concepts. It is based on an oral transmission of musical knowledge, which is the way these various styles have been passed along for many generations of performers. Current and ongoing research on the relation of music and the brain are confirming what African drummers (and other styles: Indian tablas and Swiss drumming, for example) seem to have intuitively known: not only is music closely related to the development of speech, but it seems to have preceded it in our evolutionary history. One of the strongest relations found between the two is the one that is made between lyrics and melody. Remembering the lyrics of a song will automatically bring back the melody associated to it. This is true even for people who have suffered brain lesions that keep them from remembering melodies. The melodies that contain lyrics are more easily remembered this way. In this book, we will use short monosyllabic words that represent the various sounds. The monosyllabic words will always be sung first before the rhythm is played. The use of these mnemonic devices allows us to recall a large amount of musical data; in particular for rhythms, master drummers in Ghana use it to transmit this knowledge. The principle is to make rhythms into songs that, thanks to our brain wiring, will help us to recall various patterns and rhythms. With repetition these rhythms will become reflexes, instead of relying on the intellectual process of counting beats. It helps the student to free their minds to work on the coordination of their hands and the relation to others in unison first, and then in polyrhythm. This book is mainly addressed to teachers; it gives a very gradual system to transmit music to beginner musicians. It is not limited to percussionists, but to all who would like to expand their sense of rhythm, and take part in a group. The book is divided into ten lessons of about an hour each. This does not mean that it has to be taken literally; as the students learn more, the nature of the tasks will require to review or repeat lessons. Or, depending on the students abilities, you might go over more than one lesson in a session. I leave that to the discretion of the instructor. Once you have achieved a good result at one tempo you can increase it gradually to make the lesson more challenging. Drumming in its polyrhythmic form can induce a trance-like state to the player, in which simple interlocking patterns take on a new level of understanding. These lessons will develop one s awareness of the group, train the ear to discriminate by understanding the intricate polyrhythmic interlocking patterns, and realize the value of listening, musical reflexes and hand coordination in an entertaining and fun way. At the outset they will be able to perform a small arrangement that will be led by the teacher. The teacher will have to familiarize him or herself to some basic techniques, and learn the various patterns and calls that he or she will transmit to the students. Although the process of teaching the material is spelled out in great detail, more input and improvisation will be required of the instructor as the class develops, particularly with the arrangement of the percussion pieces and the alternating of the calls and responses. i

Notation Key This chart represents the symbols and their pronunciation (at left) that will be used in this book. Note that some of the charts in particular at the beginning of the book use normal notation; as you get more exposed to the concepts, these symbols will be more and more in use. 3

LESSON 1 The Pulse, The Tone and Mute In this lesson, you will introduce the students to the notion of the pulse, imitated by the tone Deh and the Djee

CHAPTER 1 The Pulse, the Deh and the Djee Lesson 1 content: The Pulse and the Deh Deh Exercises The Djee or Mute Djee Exercises Calls and Answers Final Considerations 5

The Pulse and the Deh The first sound that we are using is the Deh which is what is called the Tone in hand drumming, and an Up stroke if using sticks. To start the lesson Students should be in a circle or semi-circle, each with a drum that can be stroked by hands* or sticks**. Take turns playing one stroke each going around the circle, first without a pulse and then with a pulse. We will call this the Go Around *If using hands, it is important to spend time teaching the right way to use them on the drum. The sound is produced by hitting the drum with a hand stretched out, fingers tight together with the thumb perpendicular to the other fingers (the thumb should not be used and out of the way). The bounce is achieved by hitting the rim of the drum with the inside of the knuckle at a slight incline from the drum. In other words, the contact of the hand is done at the rim of the drum, and the outstretched fingers act as a spring, shortly hitting the drum and bouncing back. This exercise can be done using a combination of several instruments, making it more musical, and any percussion instrument will do. ** With sticks, the stick should be held pinched between the thumb and a curved index finger, with the other fingers gripping very loosely, just to guide the stick from waving out of alignment; the stick should bounce freely and not rest on the drum, which will stop the head from vibrating, and therefore lose its resonance or ring Please note that using hard sticks on a natural animal skin is not advised; it will damage the drum head. if you use sticks on these kinds of drums, use a mallet with a felt or rubber tip. 6

Deh Exercises Exercise 1 To start the round say the phrase: Here we go now which gives the tempo with four syllables. Exercise 2 In this first example it helps to say the phrase Here you go on bar two at first and then keep it as a rest so it also introduces the concept of rests, which helps the students feel the pulse without playing. It will take some practicing to get the sound right; this exercise comes in handy as a group practice, making it fun and challenging to the students. The teacher will always sing or intone a pattern, which is repeated by the students, and then the same process is done using the drums. The reason for the singing before the playing is to create a memory between the word and the movement. More exercises 7

After the exercises are led by the teacher, the group is split into two smaller groups, where each sub-group plays the patterns in turn. Each line is labeled by teacher and student, or group 1 and group 2 : It is recommended that you always try both techniques: either with the hand or the sticks, no matter which one you will use going forward. The Djee Or Mute Now you will introduce the students to the notion of the mute Djee. Djees are the equivalent of the Mute or Press sound, which can be achieved with either hands* or sticks**.this will allow to Introduce the notion of accents and their corresponding syllables: You will use the same rhythmic patterns as for the deh. The students should intone the syllable first, then intone along with making the sound, and finally just produce the sound with the drums. *With the hand, use the same part of the hand as you did with the Deh, but this time leave the fingers briefly on the head so as to mute the sound. As opposite to the De this an almost silent stroke ** With sticks, press with the tip of the stick on the head with your index finger on top of the stick, which is almost perpendicular to the drum, also creating a mute sound: Note that the index finger is stretched parallel to the stick. This technique should be used only for the Djee. 8

Djee Exercises: Below is just an example which mirrors the deh exercises of the previous pages; use these as a guide for the djee practice. As you can see, the note symbols are different for the djee, and these symbols will be used throughout the book. As you equate the words to the corresponding sounds, you will see a corresponding shape on the staff. Call And Answers This call is how to stop the group. Each stroke is played as a flam (one soft stroke closely preceding an accented one. This last pattern is the first of a series of calls and answer. These are based on the Samba tradition, and will allow the students to develop listening and reflexes as more and more calls are added and mixed. 9

Final Consideration When using bells frame drums, and snares the Djee will not be used, only the Deh technique with sticks. These instruments require the stick technique, which produces the natural resonance of the bounce. Remember that the stick needs to be free in the hand to create the bounce effect. The Shaker and Gourd family is held in the hand and obviously does not require a stick. You might come back to these exercise as many times as needed to make sure that the students are using their hands and sticks with the correct technique. This first lesson deals mostly with Conga Tubano or other drums; the other instruments will be introduced in the following chapters. 10