Any advice on getting a good slap with your weaker hand

[wonderwebb]

Hi all just wonderd if anyone had any advice on getting a good slap with your weaker hand .
Naturally im right handed and have got quite a good slap on the right which i have no problem in using in rythms . When it comes to a left hand slap it pales in comparison. I can make it out when i listen for it but its nowhere as loud or precise as the my good hand. I sometimes find my self doubling the left to bring any slaps on to the right which i know is not the best thing.

From those of you that have been playing a while do you find that you have a better hand for slaps

I have thought of lowering the volume on the right slap to try and compensate for the left.

what are your experiences with this and is it just a matter of practise -practise

cheers
wonderwebb

[the kid]

Practice every day. You'll find some exercise techniques that'll help you. I found ttttssssbbbb(as in 123412341234) good . thats right left right left. 5 mins. then left right left rigth 5 mins. then tttsssbbb as in 123123123, for 5 mins. then ttssbb 121212 first rlrlrl then lrlrlr.. then tsbtsbtsb

Also some patterns that you know already leading with your left hand, start practicing them with your left hand leading. Also practice alternating handing.(lead left first then right etc) this is tough but will improve your general balance between hands.

[Jessie]

You can never practice technique enough. What helped me alot was playing accompanyment for dance classes and in groups for a number of years and paying attention to my sound while doing so. I've had many teachers in Guinea and Ivory Coast West Africa tell me that my playing with training will improve "petite a' petite" meaning little by little. When you make the sound that you are looking for, pay attention to what parts of your hand and fingers hit the drum as well as where on the drum they were. Try to keep hitting the same way each time. You shouldn't be moving your hand much either when changing between your tones and slaps. I tell my students that you have to hit the drum thousands and thousands of times before the technique might become clean.

Also I am right handed and after all these years I think that my left hand has ended up with better sound. So just keep practicing and everything will get better.

[michi]

YI tell my students that you have to hit the drum thousands and thousands of times before the technique might become clean.

Make that millions... If I'm playing a moderately fast accompaniment, I'm hitting the drum 3-4 times a second. For argument's sake, make that 200 hits per minute, or 12,000 hits per hour. Let's say I play intensively for five to six hours a day, that's around 60,000 hits in a day. Make that five days a week for a month, and that comes to 1.2 million hits.

I did this calculation during my last trip to West Africa, where I played six days a week, and often more than six hours. Not continuously for a whole six hours, and sometimes with slower rhythms and rest breaks, but you get the idea. I suspect that 2 million hits over the two months isn't too far off the mark. No wonder people get better with practice... (And it would be rather depressing if they didn't get better with that many repetitions )

The really amazing thing is that people's hands can actually do this without getting totally destroyed in the process.

Playing for dancers is one of the best things to do, no matter what the level of expertise of the player. I call it "racking up mileage". A bit like marathon runners who do a set number of kilometers per week...

Cheers,

Michi.

[Carl]

Some non linear ways of working on your weak hand...

Practice writing with your weak hand.
Brush your teeth and hair with your weak hand.
Eat "left handed"
Open doors with your weak hand.

These things and others like them (make up your own) help connect your brain to your weak hand. I give this advice to every beginner that comes to my class.

As far as practicing (you can never do enough!) one that I have been using lately is to play a part all on your weak hand. I like "dat du dat" and s..ss.tt(s).

Also, feel free to play SLOW! it gives your brain and hand time to figure out what is going on. I find that if people practice "too fast" then end up "practicing" bad technique!

More grist for the mill...

C

[Paul]

Here comes the controversy... I learnt hand to hand (ie no doubles) despite what all the teachers say about playing traditional, as a training technique its is great... Playing Passport hand to hand is like paradidles in kit drumming... I went back to playing traditional style after.. but i still practice hand to hand.. It means I can enter and leave the rhythm on what ever hand I like..

That and hit the drum 1224454546666774445.019 times

[the kid]

I trained with bubacar too. Learned each rhythym switching the handing every repition of the rhythm. It is a sure way to strenghten the left hand. Usually we'd play for an hour at a time for 4-5 hours a day. You get the crazy face any time your timing slipped. It was funny. And hard (he really spots your weakness in technique) . I think he developed this style himself. He had guinean teachers do. His instruction on rhythms is definatley not traditional. I think he ripped some of his material from mamady keita cds. This would be good if it was right but some of it isn't.

[Paul]

Agreed... Lekule is definatly wrong.. And mendiani isnt a fishermans dance of the serere people.

[wonderwebb]

Thanks to all that contributed to the answer posed . The left hand has now found a slap ! It was all down to thinking about it to much and over emphasising the right hand slap.

After my holiday in gambia many things became apparent one of the most helpful things for me that was the way i was taught ---12121212121212121212121212 two is just as important as 1 . I was to reliant on my right hand for everything. The speed at which they wanted me to practise at would not allow me to empathise the right hand lol just keeping up with them was hard enough for a newbie like me . So it kind of evolved that the speed bought a better technique as i did not have the time to think about the slap on either hand any more just had to make the sounds by gently changing how open or closed my fingers were. Before i used to hit the drum in a harder more different way to achieve a slap . When playing at the speed they wanted me to i didnt have the time to be able to do this . And as i have read on this site and other places that you should hit the drum in the same place and same force for both tone and slap. This now makes more sense . I suppose i haqve learnt more about balance aswell.

Its funny because the best bit of advice i got in africa came from a old woman who told me she couldnt hear my left hand and that i was leaning to the right.

After sitting up straight i then made a conscious effort to hit the drum with equal force on both sides . Straight away i could hear the difference it also helped my timing so much 12 12 12 before my right hand ruled and controlled way to much now the left is equal everything is getting easier.

[Djembe-nerd]

Its funny because the best bit of advice i got in africa came from a old woman who told me she couldnt hear my left hand and that i was leaning to the right.

funny and inspirational, specially that she couldn;t hear the left slap.

[e2c]

Its funny because the best bit of advice i got in africa came from a old woman who told me she couldnt hear my left hand and that i was leaning to the right.

funny and inspirational, specially that she couldn;t hear the left slap.

That's great!

Sometimes it's hard for us to spot obvious (and not-so-obvious) things in the way that other people can.

[Waraba]

Your comment about the elderly lady reminded me of a brief exchange I had with a similarly candid African at the other end of the spectrum in years. I remember when I was in Mali, carrying a djembe a little bit behind the rest of the group en route to a ceremony at which we were to play.

He seemed about 12, half my age at the time, this boy who stopped me in the street and asked if it would be alright if we spoke. After learning where I was from, he asked me to play something for him, for he was a great lover of the drum. I asked him about himself, and he answered my questions politely, but what he truly wanted, was to hear my hands on the drum.

I assured him I was just a beginner and not very good, and that there were a number of drummers around who were truly worth listening to--wait--let me get one for you--but he insisted--No, not those other drummers, only me--that's what he wanted to hear. And so I hoisted the djembe up between my legs, fastened it, and started to hit.

As I played, his attention never faltered. He indicated by his expression he wanted me to go on but, sweating from nerves, I exited the rhythm as quickly as I could.

We stood there, looking at one another. Me at his face deep in reflection, he at my drum that hung limp from my waist.

"You make a lot of mistakes," he observed at last, as if he had not said anything that could have possibly caused the slightest offense. He waited.

What could I say? There is always a way to exit a conversation in Mali, a key. For example, if one stops you on the street to talk, and exchange benedictions, it is not enough, after literally 20 minutes of thoroughly welcoming and heartfult conversation, to say "I have to be going now," "I'll see you later," "I look forward to seeing you again," "My friends are waiting," or “I have so much enjoyed our talk;” you will be urgently and even physically prevented from walking away, while your interlocutor insists passionately that you continue speaking with him as though doing so bestowed upon him the greatest of honors. Such exchanges regularly detained me on my way to the latrine. It did not occur to me until years later that my failure to produce the appropriate exit line might also have been an inconvenience to the person with whom I apparently refused to disengage, although he might sooner die than admit to it. But I also knew, by then, that there always was a graceful way to exit a conversation--I merely had to find it. Perhaps what would satisfy this 12-year-old boy, would allow me to walk on, humbled but safe with myself, would be if I simply owned up to what he had said.

"Yes," I said. "I do. I make lots of mistakes when I play… You are right."

That wasn't it. He looked at me, and waited. And I thought, Why do I make these mistakes? The whole experience with this boy had been somewhat embarrassing for me, forcing me to play on demand, when I hadn't rehearsed, hadn't known what to do, hadn’t known what he wanted to hear, not exactly, either from the drum or from me. The little scourge!

"I will try to make fewer mistakes!" I blurted.

A moment ago I had wished this boy gone. But now I wanted him to stay, walk on with me to the ceremony, to stay with me to the end of my trip, even, I imagined, come back to New York with me so that we could arrange for many exchanges between his family and mine for years to come…

But then he smiled, and we parted.

[Djembe-nerd]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting.

candid African

I have observed that some races (From my experience only, Indian, African, Middle Eastern, East European) are generally expressing their views without any political correctness, as they think, so they speak.

In USA and also in some parts of Europe they restrain their comments to not be too direct if the criticism is going to come out a little negative.

Just my experience from the people I know.

[michi]

But then he smiled, and we parted.

That's a great story, thanks for sharing this!

Cheers,

Michi.

[bops]

Waraba, great story, thanks for retelling it. Have you been to Mali several times?