[bobastudent]

I am glad to find this site. My goal is to one day sound as if I had grown up in a drumming traditions. Aim high, right? (The idea is if you aim high and miss, at east you end up with something "higher" then if you hadn't made the attempt to begin with).

For now, I do not have a teacher from one of the djembe traditions. Someday, I will find one. In the meantime, this site will help. Not a substitute, I know.

Is it just me, or do any of the other non-Africans on this site also feel like they were born on the wrong continent? I realize that if I left home I would see more clearly what is of value on my own continent. Still, I keep finding things I appreciate about Africa from the contact I have with people from Africa, study of drumming, and study of texts such as the work of David Locke, and books such as "African Music African Sensibilities" and "Mande Music."

[djembefeeling]

Yo, that's an intro! aim high and be prepared to struggle for the next 20 years or so

If you do not have the chance to go regularly, say once a year for 3 months, to Africa and learn this "language" in it's natural environment, you should really draw on all possible sources. you are raised in another culture and this will influence your perception of this in some ways fundamentally different culture. It doesn't necessarily mean that this will be to your disadvantage. You just have to accept that your way as a non native will be different. I recommend that you try to learn as much about the "grammar" of this drumming language as possible, use the analytical tools our culture provides for drumming, and figure out how Mande music is structured in that respect. It is a good intellectual challenge, I promise. On other occasions, then, forget about all that and strive for a naive and direct approach, just let your feeling figure out how this music works. let us know regularly about your progress!

[bobastudent]

That is very sound advice. Thank you, djembefeeling. I also wanted to correct my post. Ooops, I meant to write "African Rhythm and African Sensibilities."