Djembe Lessons - Basics

Welcome to my free djembe lesson for beginners...

How come its free?

Lets Go...

Some History

The djembe (pronounced "Jem-Bay") is a skin covered hand drum. It originates in West Africa, and dates back to the first millennium. Its shape can be likened to an hourglass, or a goblet.

The djembe can be found throughout West Africa, possibly spread by Numu migrations dating from 1000AD.

The word 'djembe' is a french spelling. This is because the French African colonies were very open toward the native culture and traditions of Africa, and helped study and describe African drumming to the rest of the world.

The djembe broke into European culture in the 1940s in Paris, then more widely in the 1950s-60s. It is now immensely popular throughout the world.

The djembe is said to hold three spirits: the spirit of the tree (the drum body), the animal (the drumhead), and the instrument maker. The body of the drum is traditionally carved from a single tree, with an animal skin (usually goat) used for the head.

In rural areas of Africa today, the djembe is still used to send messages over long distances.

Want more? Then check out Wikipedia

1. Tone, Bass, and Slap

There are three main sounds to a djembe rhythm: the slap, tone, and bass. These sounds are referred to as below:

	Tone	Bass	Slap
Right	Go	Gun	Pa
Left	Do	Dun	Ta

Played on the edge of the drum, fingers fairly firm and when striking the skin.

Whole hand near the center. Try not to slap it, bounce it off to leave the skin vibrating.

Sharp sound. Bass of hand on the rim, with a slight hollow under the palm. Relaxed wrists.

The slap is the hardest, and requires practice. Click 'Read More' for more detail...

Bass: You don't have to hit the drum hard for it to work. Hit it correctly, and a low 'boom' sound will come out the bottom of the drum.

Tone: The easiest sound to produce. You can give more 'ring' to the sound by angling the fingers upwards slightly.

Slap: Should be a combination of a little bass, and a little tone. Volume is not the key! Keep experimenting until the sound becomes distinct.

The names Gun Dun, Go Do, Pa Ta, come from an African style of teaching, and are accepted across the world. As Westerners we are used to writing lessons down, but in Africa, the teaching and technique of djembe playing is passed on orally.

Although there are three main sounds, variations of all three can be made. Skilled drummers can reproduce these variations accurately, to create even more complex and exciting rhythms.

2. How To Count

Counting is useful when learning a rhythm, especially for reading it. In other area's of music, a 'time signature' is written at the start of the music sheet. Ours is a simplified version, and travels along the whole piece of music.

We're going to start with:

What that means is, if you hit the drum for every number and every '&', you will strike eight notes. By varying the sound made on each note (tone, bass, slap), you create an interesting rhythm.

Rhythms like this can repeat themselves, simply by keeping time, and going straight back to the start. The time signature would be 4/4.

For the time signature, the whole thing is viewed as a 'bar' or 'measure'. Time signatures are written like fractions, having a top and bottom number. For 'simple' time signatures the top number is the number of beats in a measure, the bottom is the type of note that covers one beat. Consider our first example above. As there are four beats in the measure, each beat would be a quarter, so the signature is 4/4.

This breaks each beat into 4 parts. Its a favorite of mine: it should be easy to 'say' the rhythms timing as you play, and this one's simple and great to say out loud. The time signature for this would still be 4/4.

Notice that each beat has three parts. Because of this, its time signature is also different - 'compound' rather than 'simple'. Briefly, in compound signatures the top number is shows how many breakdown notes per bar (12), the bottom is the type of note: an 8th in this case. So, the time signature would be 12/8. Say it out loud; it has a distinctly different rhythm from the others.

Learn more about time signatures Here.

3. How To Read

This is where different people go different ways - how to write djembe music down. An example of the simplest and best, I think, is is below:

gun

dun

gun

dun

There's a row for each djembe sound, and a top row for the counting. The key to reading these quickly is getting to know the names of each sound the djembe makes. Have you noticed the sounds actually sound like the words?... it all makes sense!

Give it a try; click the sound clip icon to hear it (although the 'pa ta' sounds less distinct than it should). The first exercise is a practice in getting those three sounds distinct.

When repeating the rhythm above, you will get a run of three 'go do's at once: the last two beats of '4', and all the beats of '1'.

To begin with, you will have a stronger and a weaker hand: one hand will be better than the other. Practice the first exercise, trying to make each hand sound the same: the 'gun' sound like the 'dun', the 'go' sound like the 'do' etc... if one hand sounds better than the other, bring that one up to the others standard.

Ghosting: Ghosting is a technique to help keep the correct time in a rhythm, when there are gaps. It means that your hands can move all the time, with each beat. When there is a gap in the rhythm, you can still move your hands, maybe touch the drum lightly, but don't actually play the stroke.

Lead Hand: The first beat of a rhythm is started with the lead hand. This is why its important to have both hands equally capable: swapping the lead hand on each exercise is a good way to do this.

4. Mix It Up

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

Above are three simple rhythms, using bass and tone. All can be repeated: go straight back to the start after finishing each rhythm. Build them up slowly; get it right first, then increase the tempo. If it starts to get messy, slow it down again!

Once you've mastered all three, play them one after the other, then go straight back to the beginning and start again.

Think you've got it? Now trying switching lead hands!

You will have noticed in the first rhythm there are gaps on the 'a' of '1' and '2'; it makes the rhythm more interesting. To play it well, its a good idea to ghost the silent strokes.

5. Mix It More

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

gun

dun

A few more rhythm's, this time using 'slap' as well. Focus on keeping the tones and the slaps distinct; changing from one to the other within a rhythm is challenging at first, and so the tempo should be slow.

Although its important to read the music, if your having trouble repeating a rhythm you may find it easier to listen to it, then copy it. Concentrate on the pattern that's being played, and simply imitate it.

As with 'Mix it Up', once you have mastered all three rhythms, start playing them one after the other. Juggle the order around, try something different on each cycle.

6. Fizzy Fingers

The program below will give you an introduction to rhythms with more than one part. This is where the real fun is... what playing the djembe is all about.

Of course, the program doesn't capture the spirit of group playing; all I can offer is a bit of fun between your computer chair, and the djembe group near you! Find one...

Its great to build up skill by yourself, but fundamentally, the djembe is a group instrument. Even with one additional player, a rhythm can really come alive. The best advice I can give is find a djembe group near you; there are plenty about. Check the internet, cafe and university notice boards etc.

Until then, my program can offer a taste; its simple to use, just pick which part you want to play, and click create session. If you want to take other parts out, or just hear a part or selection of parts, use the columns on the left and right, and the hear selected buttons.