african drums
AFRICAN DRUMS
djembe drums from africa
Djembe
Drums		 drums from africa
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Tongue
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How to Play a Djembe Drum

There are 3 basic sounds made on the djembe; bass, tone, and slap. These 3 sounds are made by hitting the djembe different ways. Below are some pictures that might help you master the techniques. When playing you can position the drum many ways but always make sure to have the bottom of the djembe slightly tipped up so that sound can go through the bottom.

djembe bass
 BASS
Make sure your hand is almost flat with the palm slightly below the rest of the hand. Hit the drum directly in the center of the drum, it should produce a hollow bass sound
djembe tone TONE
This should produce a higher pitch, cup your hand slightly and hit the edge of the drum, the center joints of your fingers should be on the corner of the skin and the edge of the drum
djembe slap

SLAP
This is the most challenging sound to produce and will take a little practice. You want all your fingers from the edge of your middle finger to the pinky to hit the drum. You want to hit in between the direct center and the edge.

You want to pull your hand back and just swipe this area of the drum with your hand, this should produce a slap sound.

After these three sounds have been mastered it is important to practice. Spending about 30-45 minutes a day will help you to master the art of the Djembe in little over three weeks. After tones, it is good to take up drumming patterns which will give you a set of different sounds at different meters. After learning basic djembe patterns, a little more time listening and experimenting will allow you to accompany music as well as compose and come up with your own. Make sure, especially when starting, to take a break every 10 minutes or so and shake out the tension in your hands, arms, and shoulders

Most western djembe patterns have a lettering system so that you know which hits you would perform in a phrase. Capital letters stand for the right hand, lower case letters stand for the left hand.
B = bass
T = tone
S = slap
. = rests

So a pattern like this T.s.B would be translated into 1 right hand tone, rest, 1 left hand slap, rest, 1 right hand bass.

Remember to keep practicing and experimenting!

 


DJEMBES PAGE 1 | DJEMBES PAGE 2 | DJEMBES PAGE 3

(See also the very similar "jambe" drums of the Pacific Islands)
 

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