How do you learn most of your new material?

[michi]

I was sort of toying with the idea of getting certified.

Well, I had a long talk with Mamady today because I decided to give this a shot. I scraped up my courage and asked for some time with him and explained that I'd like to try and get the certificate. Mamady asked quite a few probing questions as to why I want to do this. After I explained, I got a very serious and long-lasting talk (well over ten minutes) about the responsibility and trust that go with certification. One important point was that the certificate isn't just about rhythms and music, but carries with it the responsibility (and obligation) to act as an ambassador for Mandingue culture. Mamady also was adamant that the certificate requires a deep commitment in terms of time, determination, and travel.

Anyway, he agreed to accept me as a student. So, I do hope that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew now...

He also promptly proceeded to correct my technique, telling me that I'm playing too far out and that my hands should be further toward the centre of the drum. That was after a two-minute period where Mamady examined my hands and carefully compared them with his own, measuring finger length. Mamady and I have similar hands--Mamady's hands are more slender than mine, but finger length is identical. His recommendation was that I should play 5-7mm further toward the center of the drum (as he does) because of my short fingers; I'll have more power that way.

So, I spent the afternoon playing that way. Takes a bit of getting used to, after having played with the bearing edge exactly underneath the fleshy part of the joints at the base of my fingers for all these years. Now I feel the bearing edge further towards my palm, which feels weird. But I have to admit that I can extract more volume with less effort that way. I expect I'll get used to that hand position over the next week or two. At any rate, it seems that the teaching has started already...

BTW, Mamady said that attending at least one (preferably two) of his camps in Guinea is a requirement (not optional) for certification. He said that this is necessary for the cultural background. You can't understand the music and culture fully unless you have been there (and I find myself agreeing with him).

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

cool man.

good luck with it!!

[Carl]

Welcome to the club!!!!!!

I guess this pretty much guarantees our meeting within a few years!

I have a bunch of questions for you, but they'll have to wait for me to have some time to put them together.

Watch for a PM later.

C

[bubudi]

better yet put them in a new forum post so we can all benefit.

[michi]

Welcome to the club!!!!!!

Thanks! Well, so far, all I've done is decided to give this a go, and Mamady has accepted me. Now I have to go and actually do it, and keep the momentum going, which will be the hard part. There is another person in Australia who's just decided to go for certification too. Unfortunately, we are about 1400 miles apart. But we'll be able to get together occasionally at least to rehearse and practice together, which should help both of us for motivation.

I guess this pretty much guarantees our meeting within a few years!

I guess it does I truly look forward to it!

I have a bunch of questions for you, but they'll have to wait for me to have some time to put them together.

Watch for a PM later.

Sounds good. I don't mind discussion things out here in the open either, as long as we keep, say, gossip out of it and respect other people's privacy.

Cheers,

Michi.

[michi]

i forgot what the number of rhythms you have to know...60 or 70. knowing the book will help, but you can get by without knowing all those but that means you'd have to know other traditional rhythms he teaches that are not in the book (ie. lamban/djelidon, fe, bolowe etc.) also, some of my friends who've taken the test have provided Mamady a list of all the rhythms they know. When it comes to quiz time for your 5 rhythms, he can pick 5 off the list.

The rules have changed since. It is now the rhythms in the book (with the exception of Kanin and Könö, which are Mamady's compositions, so they are not traditional). No substitutions permitted, period. (The official notes on the TTM website do not reflect this change yet.)

If you count Yankadi/Makru and Zaouli a and Zaouli b as separate rhythms, that makes for a total of 62 rhythms that you are expected to know.

"Knowing" a rhythm means to be able to play every part, know the correct call, know where the rhythm is from, which ethnic group plays it, and any other relevant background info, such as for what occasion and reason the rhythm is played and how it otherwise might be significant. (Basically, all the content of the rhythm notes in the book, plus the other background information that is presented throughout the book, such as for the Soli and Dundunba group of rhythms.)

For Kuku, you are not expected to play djembe 3 and 4, because they are Mamady's creations.

For the dunduns, you need to sing the call in, but you are not expected to sing the call out while playing the dunduns (which is mind-bendingly difficult for some rhythms). For the djembe, you are expected to play the call in, to play the call in the correct place when changing from one part to another (important for rhythms such as Abondan, Bao, Konkoba), as well as play the call out in the correct place (important for rhythms with 8-pulse or longer dundun cycles).

You need to play the twelve solos as they are played on the CDs, with the exception of Kuku. For Kuku, you are expected to play each phrase four times (instead of two times, as it is on the CD). This means that the final phrase just before the échauffement extends over 16 beats.

Handing for the accompaniments and solos is expected to be as Mamady plays it, with a concession for right-rollers (Mamady rolls left), so you can roll right if you prefer. Handing is important and wrong handing will result in not passing. This is particularly important for some of the solo originals, where the handing is not necessarily obvious just from listening. For example, Soboninkun, Soko, and Kuku (among others) have handing that you will not know about unless you have learned the solos from Mamady or a TTM teacher.

Watching the videos helps. However, currently, there is no teaching video that shows the solo originals for Yankadi and Kuku. You need a teacher to get the correct handing for these. You can find all the other solo originals on Mamady's teaching DVDs and pick up the handing from there.

There are a number of mistakes in the book, such as missing or incorrect entry arrows, as well as a few incorrect parts. I'll try and publish a list of these once I've spoken to Mamady and Monette about it.

Cheers,

Michi.