is there a secret to acquiring african rhythm and dance?

[maestro]

I wasnt raised dancing to african music. I do attend african dance and zumba, when I can, but Im not that good.

I dont have an african spirit. I dont know what an african spirit would be. my guess is very confident.

well im 27 and no good at djembe or congas, and all the epople i practice with are younger than me and forming their own groups to perform.

i dont know what my future is with this instrument.

i dont feel confident

i want to acquire an african rhythm and spirit so i can get as good as possible at these instruemnts and dances with limited practice time.

i have to focus more on school and a future career in something like anthropology or archaeology

but it infuriates/saddens/vexes/perplexes me to no end that i cant do this music.

i am a huge african music fan andf now i almost hate myself for discovering it

i know calypso and rumba and mande music and salsa, bata, kaseko, really i know all of it. african and haitian hjazz, rara and racine, vodun music.

i want to play and dance so badly

but i cant

im older than them.

i feel stupid and talentless

there has to be a secret that will unlock this instrument and let me play with some degree of talent

some energy, some mental block that i have

i just have to loosen up, or feel better while playing, or be possessed by shango or african spirits. i really dont know

something that will let me play creatively, that will make playing a joy, so i can channel the same force that good players channel when they play.

here are vids of the people i play witrh. they are all younger than me and i am not in this special group they have formed.

i dont even think i would ever have the time given the studying i have to do to get into gradschool or get a phd in anthropology

but these guys are really good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtbyjUlQ ... e=youtu.be

you can see all their videos here

[EvanP]

Maestro,
I can relate (I'm about twice your age and have been studying 9 months). The only advice I have for you is to find a good teacher--it makes all the difference in the world.

As for being "good", it is relative. I was in a workshop with Bolokada Conde last night, and I guarantee you that every person there, regardless of the level, struggled with something (and there were a few professional drummers/teachers in the group). If you enjoy the music, just do it--don't worry about being proficient, just enjoy. We all have enough other things in our lives that we have to stress about. African percussion, while challenging, shouldn't (in my opinion) be one of them (not that I don't do it to myself on occasion).

As Bolo said last night, "life is dirty--working too hard, stressing about things. The djembe cleans my life. It is used for happiness. It makes me cleaner. The djembe is a cleaner. That is why I'm so happy all the time."

Evan

[EvanP]

P.S. Welcome to the forum.

[davidognomo]

I'm 32 I have classes from a 22 year old. Who is awesome, by the way. I hear him play and I get sometimes a kind of envy (I don't think it's envy, but it's something like: "why didn't I start earlier"). But then I think about the choices I made that led me to where I am and get in peace with it. It really is a chance to be having classes and to evolve. Sometimes I think I could evolve quicker, but I would have to make choices that would allow that, and concessions would have to exist in other aspects of my life. One thing I know, I'm not going to be a djembefola, but that doesn't keep me from wanting to play as much as I can and to love mande percussion more and more.

[bubudi]

well, you can learn to feel this music through immersion, take a trip to west africa as part of your anthropological studies, either on an ecucational exhange program or later on as research for your thesis. other than that, keep listening to the music!

but this stood out for me:

i know calypso and rumba and mande music and salsa, bata, kaseko, really i know all of it. african and haitian hjazz, rara and racine, vodun music.

i have trouble believing anyone can really know all this music. to be familiar enough to distinguish these styles, perhaps. but to really know mande music, (or any one style, like haitian, or afrocuban) can take a lifetime.

when you listen to this music, you may only be absorbing a small percentage of it. when a teacher opens the gate for you, you can start to listen to the music in a whole different way.

never underestimate the value of a teacher, even if you're not able to take lessons regularly. much better if you can, though.

lastly, make sure to always enjoy what you play, no matter what your level, understanding or ability is. you rightly talk about having a 'spirit' to this music, and that's where it all starts! you may never have an african spirit, but you have a spirit that can have a deep connection to this music, if you enjoy it enough!

[bops]

maestro... that's an ambitious title for someone who claims not to have the confidence for jembe.

I wasnt raised dancing to african music. I do attend african dance and zumba, when I can, but Im not that good.

I dont have an african spirit. I dont know what an african spirit would be. my guess is very confident.

....

there has to be a secret that will unlock this instrument and let me play with some degree of talent

I'll let you in on a secret: there are no secrets. None. It's all right there in front of you. The jembe will tell you everything you need to know.

There is much more to the "African spirit" than confidence. Also, I'd say it's important to make the distinction between spirit and culture; spirit is the same in people all over the world, culture is different. Try to get a sense of the jembe's culture if you want to sound or feel African when you play. Very briefly, it could be summed up by the philosophy of "anke je anke be" or "jebe bara"... they both mean the same thing: unity or community. The Shona have a similar concept, which they call Ubuntu. Desmond Tutu described it this way:

A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity.
...
We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole World. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

What you see in the "good" jembe players is not only confidence (although there's definitely some of that), it's also generosity. They are sharing their spirit with the others around them. And they also have opened their hearts to receive the spirit of others in return.

What I would recommend is that you stop worrying about yourself, and think about the group instead. Make your priority the sound of the group and not your own sound. When you play with the other drummers, open your heart to feel the music. Don't try to listen with your mind. Turn off your mind. You need some marathon sessions where you play so long and hard that you tire, then magically rejuvenate. When you come back, you stop thinking about what your hands are doing... sometimes you don't even feel your hands anymore. Not because they're numb, but because you've reached the next plateau. Rather than thinking about slaps and tones, you start thinking about dynamic and tone color, posture and breathing, things like that. Get out of your head and into your body. Focus on the rhythm as if it were a tangible object in the middle of the room. You have to help hold it up. Don't make others carry the weight, but also don't push so hard that you tip the balance. Sometimes that means playing harder and faster, other times it means playing softer or more slowly.

Physically speaking, playing jembe and dunun is a lot like distance running (but the jembe high is even better than the runner's high ). Pace yourself, be patient. It requires perseverance and discipline. To improve, you have to really want it.

Best of luck with your studies. Maybe you can find a way to incorporate drumming.
PS. The videos are nice. You're lucky to play with skilled drummers.

[bops]

[michi]

Thank you for sharing this video!

Michi.

[e2c]

what bops said - he hit all of the important points.

and... your friends are very accomplished - you're very lucky to be able to learn with them! (It really is learning with, too.)

[maestro]

thanks everyone

well what has helped me the most.... is to have an attitude of gratitude. then i feel better and more creative when I play....

An Ifa priest and priestess did a reading for me and it said to cultivate thoughts of gratitude above all else. I wasnt really heeding the advice until now, and it has helped