DrumHippy’s Blog

We saw earlier some basics of where to place the hands on the djembe and what tones we can get from the drum. In many drum circles, you will hear very similar, generic beats. There are some drum circles, however, where they only prefer to play African beats, Afro-Cuban or Samba-reggae.

I am not an expert in any particular style of drumming. What I teach is very basic and can often be a mixture, or “fusion” of these beats. What we are learning today are much more simplified beats so that you can play along with a typical drum circle, or just play for fun.

As you get more comfortable with playing and find an interest in a more traditional, cultural beat, I would recommend finding a teacher within your community that teaches specific drum styles, or check out the resources that are available like http://www.rhythmweb.com/

The following beats will be incorporating counts. Each of the hand strikes will be followed by a (1*) or other number or half count (and*) to indicate what each hand will be doing. It will also contain the names of each downstroke with the hand (gun, dun - center; go, do - edges; ta, pa - rim).

Here we go!

Start with a simple, 4-4 beat (1…2…3…4). Strike the center of your drum, first with the right hand (1*)(gun), then the left hand (2*)(dun). Now strike the edge of the drum (see figure) with the right hand (3*)(go), then the left hand (4*)(do). From here  you will be repeating this pattern in an even tone. 1…2…3…4;  gun…dun…go…do…gun…dun…go…do;   right, left, right, left;  Keep this going until you are comfortable with the beat. It should be consistant, clean and not speed up or slow down.

Now that you are more familiar with a consistant beat, let’s add a little something extra to this beat. Start the beat the same way, but you are going to add an extra beat in between. The count will sound something like this:

1…2…3.and.4

Your hands will strike as follows: Right (1*)(gun), left (2*)(dun), right (3*)(go), left (and*)(do), right (4*)(go);  gun…dun…go.do.go; right…left…right, left, right.

Did you get that? Great! Now you have a upbeat and fun rhythm to practice with! The idea here is to practice these beats as much as possible to familiarized yourself with hand positioning, tones and where to strike the drumhead. Once you have done these over and over (yes, until your tired of it!) then it becomes second nature, and you won’t have to think so hard about where your hands are going and how to strike the drumhead.

Let’s try another one. This one will incorporate all the hand positions we have done so far. The count will sound something like this:

1.and.2…3.and.4

Your right hand will strike the center of the drum first (1*)(gun), then the left hand on the edge (and*)(do), right center(2*)(gun) (there is a one beat pause here) now the right hand strikes the rim (3*)(ta), left hand rim (and*)(pa), right hand (4*)(ta). So it will play like this:  1.and.2…3.and.4; gun.do.gun…ta.pa.ta…; right, left, right…right, left, right.

Got that one? Great!! This one takes a bit more coordination because you are alternating between the center of the drum, to the edge and back, down to the rim. Start out slow, and get the movements down. Don’t worry about speeding up right now. The most common learning curve to overcome is the natural tendency (even for seasoned drummers) to want to speed up, or “keep up” with other drummers. Take your  time, this isn’t a race! Once you have the movements down, you can go as fast as you want without losing the integrity and rhythm of the beat!

I hope this helps you out with your drumming! Please leave a comment to let me know how well this articles works for you, and if you wish to see more beats.