[michi]

Taylor's video is the best one out there for beginners. You could do worse than to use it. Make sure that your technique looks like Taylor's. No walking across the drum or reaching in and out for tones and slaps.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Carl]

Fankani is great, nice little song that goes with it to.

It was one of the first tunes I learned as well. As far as travel, I had the strong urge to get into the "well when I was your age, I drove 12 hours up hill, BOTH WAYS just for 15 min. of class ...."

Ugh, turning 40 in 18 days....

I don't think I've ever driven less than 1 hour for a class. Current driving record is 12 hours each way (Dover, NH to Richmond, VA) I flew to Chicago, which is probably the furthest distance I've traveled.

Hopefully that honor will go to my trip to Guinea in the not to distant future!

Peace,
Carl

[vink]

Fankani is great, nice little song that goes with it to.

It was one of the first tunes I learned as well. As far as travel, I had the strong urge to get into the "well when I was your age, I drove 12 hours up hill, BOTH WAYS just for 15 min. of class ...."

Ugh, turning 40 in 18 days....

Carl

Sorry, got you beat by a few years on the age department, so you've got nothing to worry about on turning 40

Yeah, and I know 45 minutes or 1 hour is not so bad, it's just bad in my current situation due to some family constraints -- should improve in a couple of months. Thanks for the reply!

(BTW, any Youtube videos or something where I can find the tune that goes with Fankani? )

[vink]

Taylor's video is the best one out there for beginners. You could do worse than to use it. Make sure that your technique looks like Taylor's.
Michi.

Michi, Thanks for the advice, will watch out for the pitfalls. I recorded myself for a few minutes today just trying to do tone, tone, slap, slap with both hands -- realized that while my right hand does sound different for tone and slap, the left hand sounds pretty much the same. Long way to go.

[Carl]

For the song, there is Mamady Keita's CD Balandugu Kan (disk 1, track 10?)

Fankafo, fankani fo e
ne ta de bene cinu-o
(don't trust me on the word breaks, I'm a non-malinke speaker)

If I remember correctly, the translation goes something like:
Play the strength (play strongly) [fank - afo: fank = strong; afo = play]

Then there's something about "if things don't go well today, they will go better tomorrow" having to do with flirting

Then there is something about "hate divorcing her husband"?? anyone help me out here?

Ok, gotta get back to work.

C

@vink, (about being 40) thanks, I'm told that after the first few day's it's not so bad...

(about commuting) I commuted 1 hour each way for about a year to work with Moussa Traore, well worth the commute, but it does reach a point sometimes. At the time I think I stopped when gas prices reached $4 a gallon, then never got back into it...

[michi]

@vink, (about being 40) thanks, I'm told that after the first few day's it's not so bad...

Stop whinging, it's 50 for me next month. Oh to be that young again...

Cheers,

Michi.

[the kid]

i though it was 60

[michi]

i though it was 60

Man, what a low blow...

Make sure to privately let me know your age. I'll promise to hang around and not die until you turn 50, so I can take revenge.

Cheers,

Michi.

[the kid]

Sorry couldn't resist,
Good thing about gettin older is you get wiser eh
I'm 3 fifths your age, prob and a lot less wise

[michi]

S

orry couldn't resist,
Good thing about gettin older is you get wiser eh
I'm 3 fifths your age, prob and a lot less wise

My ego can take it, no problem

I've added an entry to my calendar for 2030 to drop you a note about turning 50...

Cheers,

Michi.

Edited to add:

As an after-thought...

The cool thing about ageing is that the rate at which I age goes down over time. When I turned 40, I aged by 1/39th, or 2.56%. This year, I'm ageing by only 2.04%

[Carl]

The cool thing about ageing is that the rate at which I age goes down over time. When I turned 40, I aged by 1/39th, or 2.56%. This year, I'm ageing by only 2.04%

I love the way you think. Math geeks unite!

C

[bubudi]

carl, fankani is pretty much one of mamady's first beginner rhythms. straight on the ttm path from word go!

for most people i'd say the first rhythms would be kuku, yankadi, soli, djole. far more common rhythms than fankani.

[michi]

for most people i'd say the first rhythms would be kuku, yankadi, soli, djole. far more common rhythms than fankani.

Yes, if it comes to having a repertoire that other people you meet at drumming circles and such already know, these are better choices. (Fankani isn't all that well known.)

BTW, I was surprised to see Mendiani as one of the rhythms on the Debutante VHS/DVD. Personally, I wouldn't consider Mendiani a rhythm for beginners. Far too much off-beat stuff going on, and the feel is definitely not easy.

Cheers,

Michi.

[bubudi]

yes, i think mendiani is probably better placed as an intermediate rhythm, as far as the basics go. there are advanced things that you could come back to later, but that also applies to many other rhythms.

[bubudi]

for most people i'd say the first rhythms would be kuku, yankadi, soli, djole. far more common rhythms than fankani.

Yes, if it comes to having a repertoire that other people you meet at drumming circles and such already know, these are better choices. (Fankani isn't all that well known.)

fankani is also not too widely played in guinea. perhaps only in wassolon and conakry. neither epizo or bangourake ever taught this rhythm and i've never seen them perform it either. i wonder just how many of the conakry folas know that rhythm.