Djembe Drumming Class

Today, I went to the World Beat Center and took a djembe drumming class. It was loads of fun. I learned a lot about the instrument and had a chance to speak with the instructor, Abdoul. I will write more details about my interview with him the the next blog.

In the class, I learned that the djembe originates from West Africa but is now common throughout the entirety of Africa. Djembe knowledge was traditionally passed down through generations of families but it has become something that can be learned through classes. Abdoul, from Senegal, learned to play the djembe through classes starting at age 10. One of the things he stressed that is important about learning to play the djembe is to learn the language. There are spoken sounds that refer to the three types of drum hits. These hits are called bass, tonic, and clock (or this is what I thought he was saying). Bass is a hit to the center of the drum with your palm, tonic is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held together strongly, and clock is a hit to the side of the drum with your four fingers held apart loosely. This creates three different sounds- a deep one, high pitch, and higher pitch. Different words signify the three hits, and it is important to learn the words for the patterns in order to remember and play them. I remember talking about this in class in reference to other styles of drumming.

After we learned the basic hits, we learned two patterns for dhomba (spelling unknown). Dhomba is music that is played at an annual ceremony/festival in which everyone in the community participates. It was really fun learning this and also tough learning the language.

From the overall look of the World Beat Center, and from reading the website, it seems to be a location that prides itself in sharing African culture with the community. I may have to take a further look into what they offer.