Any tips on remembering new drum patterns?

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

A good Friday afternoon to all.

Let me start by saying that I am not trying to learn trad African drum patterns, (although I guess whatever I do is influenced by all the examples I've heard on this site). I bought my djembe to use as a jamming tool to get a complimentary rhythm to accompany African style guitar playing.

I sit there for ages sometimes working on new patterns which I find really enjoyable and relaxing, a great way to wind down after work. I was ok with up to about 6 patterns but now I'm struggling to remember them all. I try to name each one with a descriptive name. This helps to remind me of the general feel of the pattern but not with all the details. I guess that's why someone way back invented written music.

For example, I called one pattern 'Brubeck' because I was influenced by the 'Take Five' Dave Brubeck tune. Ok, well that helps a little, it gets me in the right area but does anyone else find it hard to duplicate a real good beat that you had going and then a few days later, it's kind of hard to find it again.
I'm sure it must happen quite often. In one way I suppose if it's slightly different each time that's a good thing but I just wondered if anyone had any tricks to help get that same groove back that might have been there a few days back.

Recording is one way I suppose, like a musical notebook. Might try that approach.. just thinking live on line here.

Thanks for any ideas, Gordon.

[michi]

It takes a while to develop your pattern memory. When I first started out, I had problems remembering the patterns in large part because, to me, many rhythms sounded the same or similar. I wasn't aware of the larger melody of things and how my accompaniment fitted in with that, which made it harder to remember things too. (In contrast, these days, when I hear a dundun line, I generally recognize the rhythm and then also know how the hand parts fits into the dundun line to make the complete melody.)

So, the longer you play, the more nuances your brain will recognize, which in turn helps with memory.

One way of remembering things is to repeat them... One way of remembering things is to repeat them... One way of remembering things is to repeat them... One way of remembering things is to repeat them...

I guess you get the message The more often you play a particular part, the more deeply you commit it to long-term memory. So, play the same thing more often, and it will be easier to remember.

Another thing I do when I learn a new rhythm is to silenty sing the different parts to myself. I do this a lot, whenever I have a few spare moments. I mentally drum when I'm stopped at a traffic light, when I'm having a shower, before I go to sleep, when I sit down outside for a quiet time, when I'm waiting for the bus, while walking to the shops, etc... This practice probably does more to firmly anchor a rhythm in my memory than anything else.

And the mental exercise helps with dexterity too. If I find the handing for a part counter-intuitive and struggle with it a little, and then sing the rhythm for myself on and off for a day or too, when I go back to playing it again, I have much less trouble. The act of imagining playing of a rhythm uses the same parts of the brain that are used when actually playing the rhythm. (This is a quite well documented effect that has been used for ages in sports and other fields--for example, repeatedly visualising a complex move improves the performance of gymnasts when learning the move. Functional MRI studies have confirmed that the visualisation triggers the same areas of the brain into activity as performing the actual task.)

So, what it boils down to is that, the more time and attention you devote to your drumming, the easier it gets to remember things (which really shouldn't come as a surprise).

Another technique that some players use is to make up a mnemonic for a part. Vocalize the part and listen to what it sounds like. It may bring to mind a line from a poem or a childrens rhyme. If so, you can mentally link the rhyme with the rhythm, which also helps to remember it.

For myself, tactile memory is a big part of remembering. The pattern of movement and what each rhythm feels like in my hands is very important for me. Other people are more visual and write things down, which can help a lot if you are visually inclined.

Yet another aid for memory is to get a cheap voice recorder (if you don't have one in your mobile phone already) and to vocalize a part that you want to remember. All it takes is ten seconds of vocalization to act as a memory aid, so you can retrieve that pattern again whenever you want.

My suggestion is for you to work out which kind of memory works for you (visual, auditory, tactile) and then work to your strength by using a memory aid that matches. And then go and do it a lot!

Cheers,

Michi.

[the kid]

Yo nodrog, if you can say it you can play it.

So everyday, try to sing the rhythms you already know. After a while it'll be second nature to sing the rhythm and maybe then you'll find you can remember new rhythyms easier as the melody and sound will be more natural to your mind.

When something is alien to you, you'll find it hard to understand and remember, but as you know more and become more familiar, your memory will improve.

[rachelnguyen]

Nodrog,

I am learning African rhythms, which are complex and really subtle. I have been studying for 2 1/2 years now and can often remember the hand patterns after one or two times playing them, but the swing of a piece still takes longer for me. I absolutely work with a recorder.

Right now we are working on a rhythm with some very complicated timing on the solo phrases and I listen to it in the car, over and over again and practice on the drum a LOT.

In an African song, I am usually working on several solo phrases at once, plus the accompaniment... so I might be trying to work on 5 or 6 different rhythms at a single time. The recording helps me get it all straight and helps me learn to hear the nuances. (My teacher makes the recordings for me.)

So, here's my usual process:

We learn 3 or 4 phrases on the first day. I record them, listen to them, sing them, over and over.

At some point I can sit down and play them without having to listen to the recording first. This might take a week or two of steady practice and repetition.

Once they are committed to memory, I can throw them into the rotation with the other phrases I know and at least once a week practice the whole repertoire... which at this point is easily 30 or 40 different patterns.

It DOES come more easily the longer you do it. Where in the beginning it might take me over a month to really learn a pattern, now it is a few days or a week.

Love,
Rachel

[Carl]

Here's a thought that could use some development (maybe an group article for the page?)

In my education background I was deeply affected by the book Frames of Mind: the Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner. In it he broke learning skills into the following groups...

Bodily-kinesthetic : Interpersonal : verbal-linguistic : Logical-mathematical : Naturalistic : Intrapersonal : Visual-spacial : Musical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences

It would be interesting to apply these to djembe/dunun learning and memorization.

as a rough sketch applied to memorization only...

Bodily-kinesthetic:> rote repetition. basically play it for a long time, as often as posible to build motor memory.

Interpersonal:> Play with a friend (again, repetition, but in a social context)

Verbal-linguistic:> Singing the part, or mnemonic like Michi mentioned

Logical-Mathmatical:> I use this a lot. What I do is transcribe into notation, often times this is all I need to do to memorize a part. Usually transcription requires a lot of repeated listening, so that is where the repetition comes in...

Visual-spacial:> Ok, getting tricky here... visualizing notation? watching a video of someone (yourself) playing? There are some theories that say that Music Theory functions in the spacial-relations areas of the brain...

Musical:> Playing the part in an ensemble to hear all of the relationships (in opposed to playing with a friend for the social experience) Listening to the part in context (from CDs or class recordings or what-not)

Obviously this can be expanded and personalized to individual learning preferences.

I'll have to start some threads in the teachers corner to see who is interested (yes Michi and Dennis, I'm looking at you!)

More later when I have time.

C

[Nodrog]

A good Friday morning to all.

Thanks for all the tips. I have started using my recorder more, not for finished pieces but just like writing or drawing sketches on a pad. Thing is, I've been banging out beats one way or another since I was at high school, banging on desks, pots and pans in the kitchen sink, even teeth.

For several years I went through a songwriting stage and quite often the beat would be the starting point for a song and the rest would grow out from the drums and bass. ( As you might guess, I'm into reggae mainly).

As I mentioned earlier, I spend ages sat with my djembe and sometimes I stumble upon a really interesting beat. Course, I try to remember this so that when our next jam session comes around we can use it as a starting point and see how it develops. My main instruments are bass and guitar so I've found that as soon as I hit on a good djembe beat I reach for the guitar and work out a basic guitar riff to compliment the new found drum beat. I can then work in reverse, for me it's easier to remember a guitar part than a drum part. The guitar part then leads me back to the drum part.

Also, I think when it gets to the nitty gritty, a lot of the fine detailed stuff we play depends on what mood we are feeling at the time. I know for sure I can play a certain beat and get really into it and start improvising around it and come up with some nice subtle parts. Next day I try and recreate the same feel and it's just not there. That's not the drum, that's just me and I'm sure that happens to all of us.

Still love it though, I guess I'm a little different to most folks on this forum. I know to lots of djembefolas on this forum the djembe is it! Their passion is the djembe along with the history and culture that goes along with it. I do find the culture side very interesting but to me, my djembe is a tool which is versatile enough to produce a good back beat to jam to.

Once I get my home computer fixed I will try to post some of these 'sketchbook patterns' that I have been coming up with. That's far better than hoping to describe it in words.

All the best, Gordon.