What is the def of "Fola"?

[fooddude]

I read fola this & fola that...tried to search for it. What does it exactly mean? lol

[Nodrog]

Hi there,

I'm not a djembe expert but as far as I know it literally means 'player', as in Djembefola or balafola or I guess saxfola...hee,hee...

Gordon.

[Michel]

Fola means the person who lets the instrument speak. So not only the 'player'of an instrument, but a lot more. A djembéfola is somebody who talks through his djembé. Beautifull, isn't it?

Michiel

[michi]

Keep in mind though that "fola" doesn't mean "accomplished". Even a beginning djembe player is a djembefola, according to several teachers of mine.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Michel]

And that is another beautifull side of the worldwide djembé community. I was surprised to be called djembéfola for the first time. I thought I wasn't ready for the title, but as my teacher during that workshop told me (it was Sega Sidibé): even a baby speaks! Luckily directly after that he said we were more like infants....
For what I understood means 'Fo' 'to speak' in the Mande-related languages. Musicians encourage each other to play/speak by saying 'Afo!'

Michiel

[bubudi]

but as my teacher during that workshop told me (it was Sega Sidibé): even a baby speaks! Luckily directly after that he said we were more like infants....

haha that sounds like sega's humour alright!

i still feel like an infant in this music in some ways.

[Djembe-nerd]

What is then the meaning of these

- Foli
- Kan

[bubudi]

look out for the upcoming glossary update in our resources page.
meanwhile, check out this thread with all the terms you need (and more).

[bops]

What is then the meaning of these

- Foli
- Kan

- Foli: rhythm
- Kan: sound or language (for example, Fula kan refers to the Fula language. Jembe kan refers to a solo jembe demonstration, literally "sound of the jembe")

[bubudi]

strictly speaking foli means 'music' (literally: 'play', in the sense of playing music), although it applies to a rhythm as well, since certain types of music are only played on percussion, often without any melodic instrument.

kan also means voice and can also refer to the neck (throat).

[djembeweaver]

In Maninka Ka Fo means to play or to speak.

So 'N ye Maninka kan fola' means I speak Maninka.

And 'N ye djembe kan fola' means I play (or speak) djembe.

So a djembe fola is someone who can make the djembe speak by getting the right sounds.

[bops]

I speak Maninka would be 'Ne be Maninka kan fo'
I play jembe would be 'Ne be jembe fo'

'Ne ye' is first person, past tense. 'Ne ye Bamana kan fo' means I spoke Bamana.

[djembeweaver]

I speak Maninka would be 'Ne be Maninka kan fo'
I play jembe would be 'Ne be jembe fo'

'Ne ye' is first person, past tense. 'Ne ye Bamana kan fo' means I spoke Bamana.

Are you sure? As far as I understood it N' ye is 1st person present, N' ka is 1st person past and N' be (or N' di) is 1st person future tense. I know there are big regional variations though (i.e. the use of 'di' in Faranah but 'be' in Kankan).

I checked out the sentences I posted with Iya Sako last time I was over and he said they were good Maninka (though admitedly that doesn't necessarily mean they mean what I think they mean. If you know what I mean...)