DJEMBE-L FAQ V4a Hand Positions [Last Revised 09/20/08]

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 "IF YOU CAN SAY IT, YOU CAN PLAY IT"
An article about "Handing"    

     by Doug Kane (aka Chief Jah-ly)

I have encountered several different approaches by African drum teachers to teaching handing (or sticking, as the trap drummers call it), which is when to use the strong or weak hand while playing a specific part. But though at first glance they seem contradictory, each concept can help the student of the drum achieve the ultimate goal of "feeling " the music.

One of the great elders of the African drum community in America, Babatunde Olatunji has developed a remarkable teaching style based on singing the drum parts using vocalizations that he says are consonants of the Yoruba language, from his native Nigeria. (Note: for a discussion of different written notation systems, including the use of Baba Olatunji's Gun-Go-Do-Pa-Ta method in that context, see the excellent introduction by Steve Tierra)

Some have suggested that Baba's Gun-Go-Do-Pa-Ta method be used as a guide for handing, as such:

However, my understanding is that this represents how other teachers (principally Arthur Hull) have adapted Baba's system.  In fact, at the workshops I have been at I have often seen Baba purposefully switch the handing (not just switching from right hand dominant to left hand dominant but actually switching the handing "pattern").  He does this to emphasize the ability to hear and feel the part.  Many times I have heard him say:  "If you can say it, you can play it."

At the workshops of Baba's that I have been to, he actually has
taught just five basic notes.  - Gun, Go, Do, Pa, and Ta.  No Dun. As far as I know that was an invention of Arthur's. There is a sixth sound that Baba uses and it is used to represent a bass note, but it does not indicate whether the note is to be played with either the strong or weak hand.  Rather, he uses this sound to represent the extra deep resonant bass played on his big Ashiko drum.  I have never seen it in written form; about as close as I can come is "gonk" - swallowing the "k" - but that doesn't really capture it.

Do and Ta were used as a convenience because it is easier at fast speeds to say GoDo and PaTa than to say GoGo and PaPa.  But Baba does not assign these notes to a particular hand.

In contrast, Mamady Keita, one of the foremost teachers of traditional Mande djembe/dundun rhythms, is a stickler for "sticking."  And with good reason.  As my friend Michael Wall wrote in a message to the djembe-l, "the traditional handing may have been worked out generations ago and have the proper feel imbedded inside it."  In my experience, Mamady always emphasizes using the traditional handing.  On the other hand, other teachers of Mande music that I have encountered often teach a modified handing for some parts to play at fast speeds. 

But, however you approach the handing, the value of Baba Olatunji's teaching method is apparent.  Regardless of how you do the handing, you must be able to "feel" the part in order to make it sing.  One of the things that makes African and African-derived percussion music so compelling is that this music swings!  Baba teaches that in order to understand the music, you need to learn to use your two most important instruments -- your left ear and your right.  Even if you have an understanding of where the notes are supposed to be played and the "proper" handing, you will never be able to make it sound sweet until you master this basic lesson (which is why written notation, by itself, can be such a limited tool).  If you can listen and then duplicate how it sounded by singing the part, you will be well on your way to being able to duplicate it on the drum.

I sometimes use the adapted Gun-Go-Do-Pa-Ta system described above for singing the parts and noting the proper handing.  But often I use the vocalizations without reference to which hand plays what, if it feels better to sing it that way.  And sometimes I use different vocalizations that I have heard Mamady and other teachers use (or even ones that I have made up myself).  Whatever seems to work best for expressing the particular feel of the part.  But always I take with me this thought:

"IF YOU CAN SAY IT, YOU CAN PLAY IT!"

HAND POSITIONS FOR FANGA

Fanga GIF courtesy of Eric Stuer
Anyone want to add sound to this GIF?

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