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 Four: Improvisations and Variations
Improv
Variations
Solo practice gives much opportunity for
experimentation, taking off from traditional patterns into new variations.
One of the simplest points of departure is the basic samba accompaniment:
_______ _______
| | | | | | | |
P P d G G D
usually described as a 2/4 .
This rhythm can be extended to a 5, 6, 7
or 8-beat pattern, as follows:
_______ _______ ___
| | | | | | | | | | 5/8
P P d G G d g d
_____ _____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | | | | | | 6/8
P P d G G d g d P d
P p d G P d P d G T
_____________ _____________
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7/8
P P d G G T g d P d g d
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4/4
P P d G G T g d P d g T g d
P P d G G T g D P d G T g D Roll with Me
P P d G P d g T P T P d G T Edging Max
As you can see, adding your own titles is
the next logical step in creating your own rhythms.
Improv
Variations, Revisited
One useful strategy for getting a handle
on new improvisations, or to compose interesting new rhythms, is
to break a pattern down to see what each hand is doing. I developed
and refined the following pattern using this method. The root of
it is that familiar samba
accompaniment, again (first two
bars):
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
P - P d G - G D g - P d G D g d
At first glance this
looks like a jumble; but the hands were flowing. This is how I learned
it quickly:
_______ _______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
P P G G g P G g right hand
- d - D - d D d left hand
By focussing on one hand at a time, the hands
will learn quicker and you can also appreciate the distinct pattern
of each. Like playing polyrthythms in a group: each hand plays its
own part and together, they make a dynamic sound.
Ashiko
Samba
The previous pattern leads quite naturally
into the Ashiko Samba. This rhythm is based on one taught by Babatunde
Olatunji, a longer sequence he demonstrates as a precursor to the
Latin sambas. Compare, play along with, or back and forth between
the two:
_______ _______ _______
_______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
P - P d G - G D g - P d G D g d Latin samba accomp.
g - P T G - G T - d P T G - G T Ashiko Samba
Notice the difference between
the straight-ahead roll of the first, and the distinctive samba
"hitch" in the middle of the second.
Counting
Up
This sequence began one afternoon out of
the blue, practicing a standard 6/8 accompaniment pattern until
a double bass invited itself in the back door...
_____ _____ _____
_____ _____
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - G -
The result is a count of five (five threes),
or 15 beats in all.
Notice how different the same rhythm feels
with just one less beat:
_____ _____ _____
_____ ___
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - G 9+5=14
Having done this much with it, the next logical
step is to try the familiar 16:
_____ _____ _____
_____ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - G - g
This sixteen comes from a feel of 9+7, instead
of the conventional 8+8. Play it alongside 8's and the result will
be interesting!
At this point my solo improvisation became
more analytical, as I wanted to explore all the possibilities in
the series. Why not? On to the 9+9, or 18:
_____ _____ _____ _____
_____ _____
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - G d g d g
This one, like the others, has a mixed feel.
But notice how regular the count is: six threes. Play this with
a conventional 6/8 of twelve beats and watch them cycle together
(two of these 18's matching three of the 12's).
At this point it gets pretty esoteric in
terms of the total count. Still it's an interesting opportunity
to blend familiar elements together in a new arrangement. In the
first of these, a 19-count (9+2+8) notice the steady 8-count [G
- G - d g d g] at the end:
_____
_____ _____ ___ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - G - d g d g
In the final example, a seventeen (9+2+6),
we drop a couple of notes to bring back the possibility of a three
feel to the ending:
_____ _____ _____ ___
_____ _____
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - d P - g T - d P - G - d g d g
Choice
of Feel
In drumming as in love, feel is everything.
It's not what you play, it's how you play it. With this in mind,
let's try some variations on the all-purpose 6/8 rhythm called "Sandia."
_____
_____
| | | | | |
d - G d - -
D - g D - -
P - d P - -
Each version carries a different feel.
Within each of these choices is further choice,
a refinement of the desired feel. We fine-tune by varying the hand-pattern.
Take the last option above:
_____ _____
| | | | | |
P - d P - -
The dominant, slap note is played with the
same (right) hand. This kind of repetitive motion gives it what
I call a "vertical" feel. Compare what happens when the
slap hand is alternated:
_____ _____
| | | | | |
T - d P - -
Technically the same rhythm: but it feels
different, right? This conveys more of a "rolling" motion.
Teachers give different emphasis to this
idea of the importance of handing, depending on the learner's level,
the traditional requirements for the feel of a particular rhythm,
and perhaps the inclinations of the individual teacher. Tempo and
hand fatigue plays a role, too, especially if you're playing extra
notes for the rests. In that case a strict alternation of hands
on every beat is usually the most practical approach.
Summer
Green Special
Yet another blend of three and four feels
presents itself...beginning with a nine-beat phrase in three, then
a repeat that changes from the roundish three to the more squarish
feel of three paired notes...
_____ _____ _____
| | | | | | | | |
D - G T - P d -(g)
_____ ___ ___ ___
| | | | | | | | |
D - G T P d g T P
Summer's short;
watch out for fall.
Gumboot
Dance
Did somebody say "morphological resonance"?
Once started, it seems this three-four thing keeps coming up. The
latest iteration comes by the name of "Gumboot Dance,"
from South Africa. Apologies for lack of video: you'll just have
to put on the shit-kickers and do it!
_______ _______
_______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
D G d g D g d G d G d g D g d G
September
Turnaround
Here's a pattern which can be modified to
play as a variable beat sequence. The key feature is an offbeat
slap-and-double-bass combination in the middle that rolls the rhythm
over from a three-feel to a four-feel.
Here's the core of it notated in 4/4.
_______ _______ _______
_______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - - - - - P - G - G - d g d g
Then add on to stretch the 16 beats to 18,
20, 22 or 24:
_______ _______ _______
_______ ___
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - - - - - P - G - G - d g d g D g
_______ _______ _______
_______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - - - - - P - G - G - d g d g D g d -
_______
_______ _______ _______ _______ ___
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - - - - - P - G - G - d g d g D g d - D -
_______ _______ _______
_______ _______ _______
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
T - - - - - P - G - G - d g d g D g d - D - D -
Here's a variation to play with, using the
last pattern, a 24-beat sequence:
Split it in half, and play together as 2
parts; or, play with two drums as a round, with drum 1 starting
on the T and drum 2 starting on the first d.
Let me know which one of all these patterns
you like the best!
Return to Top
Return to Rhythms
of the Week, Page One
Return to Rhythms
of the Week, Lesson Two
Return to Rhythms
of the Week, Lesson Three
Return to Rhythms
of the Week, Lesson Five
Return 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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