by Mike » Thu Sep 20, 2001 3:42 pm
I have come across phonetic transcriptions for various rhythms in almost every educational book on percussion, but to my knowledge there does not exist a fixed, registered pattern. Authors freely choose syllables for rhythical structures (gung--ba-da-ba etc.),
and you may therefore find your own...
Besides, finding rhythm syllables or even whole words (e.g. 3-2 Clave: "Pa-na-ma Pa-na-ma Cuba") is really one of the best ways to memorise rhythms. Working with cildren at school myself, especially the young ones are rapidly capable of singing and then playing even complicated syncopes, triads, etc. - even before they know how it looks like in written form (scores).
As far as I know, in India, the drummers of the master drummer schools teach the same way their incredibly complex rhythms. And every jazz musician will hum the tunes to you in scat-like syllables...
A-loop-ba-be-loo-bap.. hang on, have fun!