Djembe and dundun rhythms for West African drumming and dance
Roots Jam
3 volumes to choose from ...
Each book has material for beginners, intermediate and advanced drummers.
Included: Easy notation for a wide variety of popular drum rhythms - hand drum lessons - rhythm concepts - tips and tricks - resources - practice patterns - basic universal patterns - audio files - and more!
RJ 1: Collected Rhythms for Hand Drum and Percussion
RJ 2: West African and Afro-Latin Drum Rhythms
RJ 3: Arrangements for West African Drum & Dance
Are you...
--a beginning hand drummer having trouble remembering the drum beats you learn? Maybe you've never taken a djembe lesson or learned music notation, and need a book with some basic instruction and djembe rhythms in easy rhythm notation to get you started. Or you've taken a few hand drum lessons or workshops and now need more patterns and exercises to keep you practicing.--an intermediate djembe player looking to go beyond the basics and "put it all together"? Are you ready now to learn more about junjun (also called dundun or dunun) and bell parts? Or maybe you just need a solid collection of traditional West African drum rhythms in drum tablature notation, to hone your skills between workshops or performances.
--a kit drummer who's looking to expand your chops into the expanding genres of world beat, fusion, reggae, or latin groove music--or to explore the roots of funk, jazz, and blues? Maybe what you need is a handy reference for playing African drums or African-based drum beats which you can adapt and apply creatively to the kit drum components of your choice.
--a performing or advanced drummer looking for a quick reference of ensemble arrangements for African and Latin dance rhythm arrangements, dundun patterns, or lead djembe solo parts? Maybe you want to share your drum knowledge with others, and can use additional rhythm parts and techniques to make your lessons or group repertoire more effective. You'll also find here unique transcriptions, distillations and compilations of traditional patterns, to help you compose or arrange original percussion pieces and adaptations.
Think about it: the price of this book is what you would pay for one short workshop--yet it offers enough high-quality material to fill a year or more of workshops!
Roots Jam 3: Arrangements for West African Drum & Dance (2007)
This all-new collection of rhythms helps you take the next step in playing West African drums for dancers, in a group, or just for fun. Whether you are a beginner or lead soloist, you will find here a valuable reference for basic djembe accompaniment parts, bass drum (dunun) and bell patterns and variations, and lead djembe solos.
Where Roots Jam 2 is more comprehensive, this latest compilation is more selective, drawing on the author's past five years of intensive study and practice to select complete and cohesive ensemble arrangements for 16 of the most popular traditional West African dance rhythms. You will also find new material to assist you in mastering traditional and improvised djembe solos; understanding basic downbeat, upbeat and offbeat timing structure; and choosing from among the most interesting bell and clave patterns for your own jams or arrangements.
Roots Jam 3 features notation for 27 original compositions for djembe, dununs and percussion. Audio tracks for these are available in mp3 or audio CD format, along with recordings of all 16 traditional West African rhythms. The traditional pieces are layered instrument by instrument to facilitate your learning of each part; then the ensemble is featured along with lead solos for listening or playing along. All tracks are recorded digitally using Percussion Studio software; the effect is close to live in quality, yet more precise to ensure the clarity of your listening and learning experience.
16 traditional West African dance rhythms in Roots Jam 3:
Djole Kassa Mendiani Soli Doundounba Kuku Sinte Sorsornet Fula Fare Lafe Sofa Tiriba Guinea Fare Makuru Soko Yankadi Nowick Gray's most recent professional work as a drummer has included study in West Africa and elsewhere with master teachers who are at the top of the field, including Famoudou Konate and Mamady Keita. He has been arranging the music and playing dununs and lead djembe for West African dance classes several times a week, and performing both with dance troupes and an Afro-fusion percussion band. He has also taught regular drum classes in Victoria, BC and Maui, Hawaii as well as workshops in such diverse locations as Tasmania and Thailand.
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Roots Jam (1): Collected Rhythms for Hand Drum and Percussion (1996) is available in both print and electronic versions. This earlier version of Roots Jam contains hundreds of rhythms from the African, Latin, and rock traditions, and from original improvisations. Notation features emphasis on different key beats in a pattern, duets, breaks, exercises, popular styles. Tips on drum groups, jams, all-night drumming, and trance dance.
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Roots Jam 2: West African and Afro-Latin Drum Rhythms is the second volume (2002), an updated and expanded companion to the first volume. It offers you, in one economical package:
- convenience of a comprehensive rhythm source - Now you can find over 125 African, Afro-Latin, and Middle Eastern rhythms in a single source. Arrangements of traditional rhythms have been widely researched and compiled, offering you both reliability and flexibility.
- flexibility of traditional/creative arrangements - You can choose among primary parts and variations for djembe, junjun (or conga/surdo) and percussion.
- audio/visual practice guides -
- Simple box notation based on Olatunji "gun-go-pa" method indicates different drum notes, rests, and handing, and makes it easy for you to read and line up multiple parts.
- Full-length practice CD allows you to match sound with notation and play along with (or solo over) popular traditional rhythms and arrangements.
- tools for self-learning -
- Explanatory material helps you understand underlying pulses and dynamics of polyrhythmic percussion.
- This book will enable you to record what you hear and play by using simple written notation, which you can then easily share with others.
- Exercises and generic patterns (for all skill levels) include djembe, junjun, bell and clave parts.
- Guidance on tradition and improvisation, time signatures and handing, intentions and excellence, new directions for our rhythm culture.
- Linked resource lists: music, books, websites, online rhythms.
- ease of use and reference - Ring-bound, 8 1/2 X 11 pages open flat for play-along reference. Rhythm index organized alphabetically, by region/culture, and time signature. Audio CD has 28 demo and play-along practice tracks keyed to rhythms and page numbers.
All 3 volumes of Roots Jam are also available in ebook format, for quick reference on your computer. These are simply Microsoft Word documents (also available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format for all platforms), which allow quick search or custom printouts. The Roots Jam 2 ebook also contains live links to resources and a set of mp3 files; these demonstration audio tracks are also available, with some extended loops, on an optional audio CD. The Roots Jam 3 ebook likewise may be ordered with optional audio CDs or mp3 files on CD-ROM.
Roots Jam will make the perfect gift for any drummer you know -- including yourself!
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Q. What are the best three ways to improve as a drummer?
A. Practice, practice, and practice.Q. What are the best three ways to improve my drumming practice?
A. Roots Jam 1, 2 & 3.Q. What's the best single way to start improving my drumming practice?
A. Order Roots Jam now!
5-Star Review - "A Unique Book"
About Roots Jam...
Roots Jam is a compilation of hand drum rhythms that is well presented, with an easy-to-understand-and-use notation that appears to be gaining some acceptance as a standard for hand-drum rhythm notation. This foundation has allowed me, a beginner, to use Roots Jam as one of my primary instructional books. I highly recommend this book to any one who hand drums.
--A.E. Rice, Albuquerque, New MexicoAbout Roots Jam 2...
What a monumental effort! Combining theory, rhythms, scholarship, personal research, exercises and philosophy as well as technically combining text and audio examples. This is a comprehensive, readable and affordable reference for over 80 African rhythms and 40 others. The book also contains a new and important contribution; the identification and classification of generic rhythm patterns.
--Jean Vaucher, Montreal
Roots Jam
