Cougar WebWorks 
Lesson Two: More variations
Lesson Three: Workshops
Lesson Four: Improvisations
- Improv Variations
- Improv Variations, Revisited
- Ashiko Samba
- Counting Up
- Choice of Feel
- Summer Green Special
- Gumboot Dance
- September Turnaround
Lesson Five: Advanced Notation
Lesson Six: Drum Circles: Beyond the Basics
- A guest article by Shawn Garbett, with rhythm notation
Lesson Seven: 3/4 or 6/8?
Lesson Eight: Tonasket Road (original composition)
Lesson Nine: Short Bell, Long Bell, Universal Break (and Rumba Clave)
Go to my latest African Drumming Blog
The rhythm notation . . .
The following notation can be easier for drummers
and percussionists to use, compared to the usual notes and lines. Because
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.
The Glossary describes the notes, primarily those played on the west African
djembe.
Glossary:
D: Dun ("Doon")=bass beat with left hand
G: Gun ("Goon")=bass beat with right hand
d: do ("doe")=rim beat with left hand
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
Though the majority of the rhythms displayed in these lessons 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 are left-handed a good choice for notation would be Vol. 1 of Roots Jam: Collected Rhythms for Hand Drum and Percussion. Roots Jam 2 and 3 use predominantly rhythm patterns leading with the right hand. View more information about these rhythm collection books (along with more lessons, tips, and notation) at my djembe rhythms website, djemberhythms.com.
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.
k = bell note when played with bass drum (jun-jun)
x = underlined note means stressed or accented.
(d) = parenthesis means optional note or way to play a given note
G - G - g d g d
Gun (rest) Gun (rest)
go do go do
Click
for sound:
RealAudio - Track1-1
Each word in the above phrase has equal time. To get the feel of this or
any rhythm, say the notes together, leaving pauses for the rests (each rest
can be almost spoken, as if with a silent grunt). Try speaking it and playing
it at the same time, and try it at different speeds to feel the effects
of different tempos. This particular rhythm is a common phrase in a number
of sixteen-beat rhythms; for example...
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
G - g d - d g d G - G - g d g d
Click
for sound:
RealAudio - Track1-2
The notation form above, with the bars to aid in counting, is used in these rhythm lessons and in the book Roots Jam (vol. 1). It's easy to use either by handwriting or typing.
A variation, the so-called "box notation" method, is easier to follow visually, and is used in my second rhythm collection, Roots Jam 2:
1 |
. |
* |
. |
2 |
. |
* |
. |
3 |
. |
* |
. |
4 |
. |
* |
. |
G |
- |
g |
d |
- |
d |
g |
- |
G |
- |
G |
- |
g |
d |
g |
d |
The anchoring beats of most rhythms tend to come on the first beat of each measure. So in an eight-beat phrase like the example above, the anchoring beat is the G at the beginning. But there are also two four-beat measures in the eight, so a second main anchor comes on the g of beat number five. With the anchored beats underlined and perhaps played with a slight emphasis, the phrase looks like this:
G - G - g d g d
Click
for sound:
RealAudio - Track1-3
In conventional music terminology, the anchors mark the beginning of each quarter note, with each quarter note comprising four sixteenth notes.
Each four-beat phrase could also be divided in half, so that an anchor can be found on every other beat (all the left-hand beats in this case: 1, 3, 5, 7). These anchors become especially important when playing with a Latin or "swing" feel, which adds a subtle, virtual rest after each anchor beat (playing [g d] as if were a triplet, [g-d], in the same time-space). The consistent right-left alternation of hands is important to help regulate the timing especially when playing fast.
However, as mentioned above, it's helpful not to overuse the lead hand, especially in a straight-ahead rhythm like the example. So to balance the body's energy (and the feel of the phrase in a subtle way, since we're talking about human music here, not digital)--and since with the rests there's time for it--you can substitute the other hand for that second bass beat:
G - D - g d g d
Note that the anchor accents are gone now: not necessarily so, but only to illustrate another subtlety of phrasing. With the hands more balanced it makes sense to de-emphasize the anchors, spread the weight around.
Four-Four and other useful constructions
Returning to the sixteen-beat phrase given above...
G - g d - d g d G - G - g d g d
Click
for sound:
RealAudio - Track1-2
...and remembering the concept of quarter notes, we can recognize it now as that old stand-by, the four-four. With one crucial difference, which sets world-beat music apart from standard rock. Where the four-four would give us four anchors, one every four beats, the phrase above has a rest in the place of the second would-be anchor (between the first "d - d"s). This is the hitch that turns our hips, and turns us into real dancers, instead of static shakers. It's the key to the samba (where it occurs at hitching post number three instead of two as in this example) and to the Yelle (where it occurs at the fourth anchor spot instead).
Here, without changing the regular order of playing hands, the emphasis shifts from the lead hand to the off-beat or upbeat hand (beat number four, underlined):
G - g d - d g d G - G - g d g d
End of Lesson One.
Return to Top
Go to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Two
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
Go to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Seven
Go to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Eight
Go to Rhythms of the Week, Lesson Nine
Go to my latest African Drumming Blog
See lots more rhythm notation and drum lessons in my Roots Jam rhythm books, with optional audio files (CD or mp3). And read my latest tips and insights about drumming: African Drumming Blog. Learn from my early learning experiences as a hand drummer, with the free ebook, Friday Night Jam.
