How do you learn most of your new material?

[James]

Hi guys. I am in no doubt that the best way to learn is from a qualified teacher. But some people, like me, don't have access to such teachers, so I'm wondering how your guys learn.

[DrumKarma]

I wish I could answer your question, but the answer would have to be "All of the above". I too live a bit too far to have a regular teacher, so my teachers are those who teach at retreats. Since my memory is terrible, I need written rhythms so I depend on books and the internet. Hearing them is also important, so I rely on dvds, cds, and the internet. I also travel to friend's houses to learn from and to teach them.

I'll be interested to see what others say.
Hope

[James]

I'd change the poll if I could

I predominantly learn new stuff from friends because we reherse 6 hours a week.

I kinda use other methods when I can, but at the moment, I just don't have the time.

[Naturali Catchi Rhythms]

Most new material I learn from various teachers, books & occasionally cd's I transcribe onto my Percussion Studio program so that I have it in written & audio form. It's an awesome tool to have as you can load songs with all their rhythms & play along with selected tracks at different speeds & try out solo's and much more. I find that by transcribing rhythms in this way I don't forget them as easily & I have about 100 songs on file already. The program also comes with a huge selection of songs to try out. Definitely worth checking out if you don't already have it!
http://henrykellner.com/PercussionStudio/

Happy drumming!

[James]

I did install a copy of this a good while ago after Jake demo'd it to me. I almost certainly haven't given it the time it deserves yet though...

Do you make all your hard work available to others? I hear that people share a lot of their percussion studio files and have seen one or 2 that people transcribed myself.

[Tou'Bab]

Hey James,

I believe it all comes down to what you want to learn.

I found that from experience,

- I learn new rhythms from people and notations (books, internet...). since you can always ghost the rhythm (hand movement for every pulse) and hear it even very slowly.

- traditional solos, breaks and arrangements only from people, workshops, camps... very difficult to assimilate tricky timing and hands placement from written material, plus never too sure about what was meant when it's been written since there's no universal notation available.
also you will find sometimes (like with Zaouli Breaks) that the timing goes from 4/4 to 6/8 within the same arrangement (you need to get the feel and it probably is 99% easier from listening to it than reading it).

Hope that helps.

[Carl]

Thread resurrection!

Ok, I finally started getting into the archive here, and I found this poll.

I'd have to say that "new" material pretty much only comes from seminar classes at this point.

The only time I was able to "study" regularly was when I was traveling 90 min each way to work with Moussa Traore in Boston. I did that for about a year or so, almost every week.

Besides that I traveled around the eastern half of the US to catch Mamady when available. I've been less aggressive seeking out Famoudou, but he comes close enough to see him once a year if I have the money.

Between these classes, and Mamady's book I'd say that I "have access" to somewhere between 70 and 80 rhythms. Of which I "know" about 30 at any given time. So sometimes "new" material comes from reviewing recordings of previous classes.

The difficulty I have right now is that I'm supposed to be focusing on "the test" which is basically memorizing Mamady's book. The band and teaching makes it fairly easy to have 30 or so songs "on hand" however remembering the exact details of the people/history/context is a bit hazy at times. Now I'm working on AVOIDING new music so that I can stay focused on the 60 songs that I have to know COLD! I hope that after this I will be able to maintain more songs in my head, and be able to add my other "old" songs to the list. Then maybe I can justify going after more new music!



[on the other hand, when Mahiri was up he gave us Kono II! smoking new rhythm that I am teaching to my class... can't seem to get that one out of my head!]

C

[bubudi]

so basically you're learning all your stuff face to face, which is really the best way.
how are you going with your prep for the ttm cert test? from what i have heard, you need to memorize the ethnic group, geographical origin and cultural significance of each rhythm you're asked to play, in addition to all the parts. he's also very particular about the handing for the 12 original solos he tests you on.

[the kid]

I,ve learnt all my stuff direct from West african teachers. In the past i didn,t really have any urge to get tuition from cds- net etc. Something sacred with jembe which i felt could only recieve from the source. I,m gonna get some tuitorial cds- dvds now do to catch up with the kids. I only know maybe 25 rhythyms. I think thats only about 2 gigabits of info inside my brain

By the way i§ve learnt loads here about drumming culture etc, thanx all

[bubudi]

25 rhythms is enough for a lifetime. you can keep refining those until you own them. only the ballet guys need to know 60+ rhythms. i remember reading in famoudou's book that he knew about 90 rhythms at the time, but he had only mastered some of them.

[Carl]

25 rhythms is enough for a lifetime. you can keep refining those until you own them. only the ballet guys need to know 60+ rhythms. i remember reading in famoudou's book that he knew about 90 rhythms at the time, but he had only mastered some of them.

That's the reason I said that I "have access" to those rhythms. The ones that I "know" I really only know at a intermediate level (all parts and cultural info). As far as "mastering" any song, I have nothing (yet). My biggest challenge is that until I committed to working with Mahiri, I had no one available for regular classes. The exception being the year I spend working with Moussa (even then I'd have to take the occasional month off).

So, in a way, I am significantly "self taught". As I'm sure many of you know, just because you were at a seminar class, doesn't mean that you know what you were taught 3 days afterwards (hence all of the recording) From there you need to "re-learn" or "re-remember" everything off of recordings. On the plus side, when you go to Mamady or Famoudou workshops, you can go home with EASILY 1 years worth of work.

Right now I do not know where I want to specialize. After I get my certificate, I will probably go towards either dununba music from Hammana or the wassolon style (soko/wassolonka/djagbewara). But who knows what I'm about to learn over the next two years!

The best thing about working with Mahiri has been the one on ones where we get into what he has learned in the village. I have a new appreciation for Soboninkun (djembe and dunun parts) after an impromptu session between Mahiri myself and Kevin Campbell (a great player from Maine).

C

[bubudi]

Right now I do not know where I want to specialize. After I get my certificate, I will probably go towards either dununba music from Hammana or the wassolon style (soko/wassolonka/djagbewara). But who knows what I'm about to learn over the next two years!

soko is from faranah, not wassolon. i know what you're saying about finding it hard to specialise.there are just so many beautiful styles...

[Carl]

Right now I do not know where I want to specialize. After I get my certificate, I will probably go towards either dununba music from Hammana or the wassolon style (soko/wassolonka/djagbewara). But who knows what I'm about to learn over the next two years!

soko is from faranah, not wassolon. i know what you're saying about finding it hard to specialise.there are just so many beautiful styles...

D'ho! true about Soko, however I'm getting deeper into the music that blends 4/4 and 6/8 so I'm starting to think about the songs based on that more than where they come from. This is one of the problems I'm having with memorization. In my head some songs are grouped together by stylistic relationships and I have to re-group them by regional relationships. For example, I group Kotedjuga/soboninkun/djabara/wassolonka together based on One specific solo technique (which appears with different feels/microtiming/usage in each one.) Then there is Mendiani/Soko/Solidesmanian for the same reason.

At least all of the dununba's are from the same place.

C

[rachelnguyen]

So far, everything I know I have learned from face to face instruction. But reading this thread makes me think that Mamady's book might be helpful for more detail about the history and cultural origins of the songs that are common to Mali and Guinea. I really don't know much about any of that.

BTW, 12 solos for a single song? Wow. That is a lot. I know only about 4 or 5 phrases for each song I can play. And I am nowhere near 25 songs, LOL. Over the last 2 years I have learned 8 or 9. I have a long way to go!

Carl,

Moussa was down in RI last weekend playing at a party my teacher, Sidy Maiga, threw. It was a blast. I danced until I was ready to drop. And I was the only toubab wearing a bou bou, too. Ha!

[Carl]

So far, everything I know I have learned from face to face instruction. But reading this thread makes me think that Mamady's book might be helpful for more detail about the history and cultural origins of the songs that are common to Mali and Guinea. I really don't know much about any of that.

BTW, 12 solos for a single song? Wow. That is a lot. I know only about 4 or 5 phrases for each song I can play. And I am nowhere near 25 songs, LOL. Over the last 2 years I have learned 8 or 9. I have a long way to go!

Carl,

Moussa was down in RI last weekend playing at a party my teacher, Sidy Maiga, threw. It was a blast. I danced until I was ready to drop. And I was the only toubab wearing a bou bou, too. Ha!

1) Mamady's book is GREAT, but it does not substitute the face to face element. I have detailed notes for about half of the songs from the book that add to the info. Sometimes minor details, sometimes significant debth is added! As you said though, it is a great place to start.

2) on the solos... I guess I wasn't clear... there are 12 songs with solos, the shortest solo contains 4 techniques, the longest solos have over 10 techniques. At one time I was musing on how much information was contained in the test, it was quite intimidating (60 songs X 2 djembe parts and 3 dunun parts X cultural info etc....) I had to stop.

3) Don't worry, with serious study like you seem to be doing, it gets easier as you go along.

Finally, yeah, Moussa is a cool dude, great to watch and awesome to play/hang with!

C