by onile » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:13 am
Alafia Abure Dantino!
I hope that you are well and in an abundance of blessings my friend!
You know, you seem to be doing well with what you've managed to do so far. You may want to try and work in "counting" with your strokes/exercises (I believe that brother Soungalo may have been trying to point this out).
I have a 6yr old daughter whom I am teaching percussion to, and when I give her a lesson (always at her leisure of course), I do so by counting it out to her. Example:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + (the count, one, and two, and three, and four and)
h t s t h t o o (the technique: h=heel, t=toe/fingertips, s= slap, o= open tone)
L L R L L L R R (the hand assigned to the technique; L=left hand, R= right hand)
Keep in mind that the nomenclature, or the symbol of the technique can vary, as brother Diceman pointed out, as long as it makes sense to you and whoever you are trying to work with. Brother JC, a well respected master on this forum has developed a great style which he teaches known as S.T.O.M.P. Search the forum for his information. He will be having a DVD coming out pretty soon that will show you this stuff also.
If you notice there are "eight" beats to the count, "eight" assigned hand techniques, and "eight" exercises involving the left and the right hands. They should each align right under the count. This is what is commonly referred to as a one bar phrase. After you reach the +(and) of 4 (four), you repeat it over again.
Playing notes randomly is fine if you're just getting used to hand techniques such as tones, slaps, muff tones, etc., or just developing muscle memory. You will need to begin at some point, counting in order to learn various rythms, and also learn to play with others (drummers, musicians)
Learning clave is also very critical, I believe that there are some posts in this forum which address the signatures of clave, 3-2, rumba clave, son clave, boss nova clave, etc.
Be patient, practice on your desk, on your lap, at a stop light. Listen to music every waking minute of the day. It will help to drive clave, and rythm concepts into you, especially if it's music that compliments what you like to play.
Hope that you find this helpful!
Many blessings, and welcome to the forum!
Suave!
Onile!
Edited By onile on 1131683299
Que Nsambi les acutare pa' siempre!