This very popular rhythm was originally a mask dance featuring a man dressed as a woman, played for large village festivities and celebrations.
>120bpm 4/4 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Djembe 1 B..OO...B...OOOO + ("African drums, playing in the
O..OO...B...O... sun, it's hot - so hot!")
r lr r rlrl
$
Djembe 2 B.OOB.SSB.OOB.SS ("Woodpecker, woodpecker...")
r rlr rlr rlr rl (like Shekere)
Shekere x.xxx.xxx.xxx.xx ("Woodpecker, woodpecker...")
r rlr rlr rlr rl (like Djembe 2, not r lrl rlr)
Bell 3 ..xx..xx..xx..xx (tricky)
Bell 3 Alt X...X...X...X... (easy)
+Kenkeni ..KK..KK..KK..KK ("Woodpecker, woodpecker...")
$
The Kenkeni part can be played on Krin, and fits with Djembe 2 and Shekere.
Bell 1 x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.
+Sangban g...G...g...G...
Bell 2 x.xx.xx.x.xx.xx.
Bell 2 Alt x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. (if it gets really fast)
+Dununba D.......D.D.....
If players are few, or Beginners, then Sangban and Dununba can be combined:
Bell 1+2 x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.
Easy Bell x...x...x.x.x... ("We love playing drums")
+Sangban ....G.......G...
+Dununba D.......D.D.....
Baba Kone's alternative/additional/low-pitched Sangban part:
Bell 4 x.xxx.xxx.xxx.xx (RSI-inducing!) or
Bell 4 Alt x.xx.xx.x.x.x.x. (if it gets faster) or
Bell 4 Alt x..x..x.x.x.x.x. (if it gets really fast)
+Sangban 2 g..g..G...G.G... (like a 3:2 clave rhythm)
Break 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Signal: o.OO.O.OO.SSS... +
Bells x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. (Bells continue right through Break)
Djembes s.s.........s.s. + (plus Kenkenis in unison)
................ +
s.s.........s.s. +
................
Kenkeni K.K.........K.K. +
................ +
K.K.........K.K. +
................
3 3
If the leader plays a little twiddle (OOOS.OOOS...) at the end of the Break,
then that means we return to the Main Rhythm. If there is no twiddle, then
we sing the song instead, with just (Shekere and) Dun Duns and Bells playing
more quietly to avoid drowning out the singing.
This is Justine's/my arrangement of the traditional song, with the verse
sung by the leader, and the group (+audience) coming in on certain words:
"IYA" features two handclaps (one on each syllable), and
"Wa wan go, Siko lie eeko" has everyone singing along in harmony, as a call
and response (I do it as the leader first, but Justine does group first).
Here's the song with the leader's part in lower case, and the group's
responses in CAPITALS: [Spellings are guessed phonetic approximations]
Tune:
lie lie eeko |..A-A-g-e--
korobay dc-E-|
korobay ...dc-E-
korobay ...dc-E-|
mami watalay |..Ged--ca-..
IYA! C-C.| or trad. rhythm: C--C.|
siko leh leh eeko |E-E-dE-da-..
IYA! C-C.| or trad. rhythm: C--C.|
siko lie eeko |E-E-G-e-d-------|
siko lie eeko |C-C-E-d-c---....|
wa wan go |a---a---D-------|
siko lie eeko |c-c-E-d-c---....|
WA WAN GO |a---a---D-------|
SIKO LIE EEKO |c-c-E-d-c---....|
wa wan go |a---a---D-------|
siko lie eeko |c-c-E-d-c---....|
WA WAN GO |a---a---D-------|
SIKO LIE EEKO |c-c-E-d-c---....|
The song generally speeds up on the second time around, with the group
adding clapping in time with Bell 2, persuading the audience to join in.
A Signal leads us back into the Break, before returning to the Main Rhythm.
An extra mini-break is played by everyone in unison any time the leader
calls this Signal:
Break 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&- | 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Signal: s..OO.s.....OOOO | OO.OO...s.s.s...
Djembe 1 B..OO...B...OOOO | O..OO...s.s.s...
Djembe 2 B.OOB.SSB.OOB.SS | B.OOB...s.s.s...
Bells x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x. | x.x.x...X.X.X...
Duns D...G...D.D.G... | D...G...D.D.D...
* > > >
So everyone stops their parts here * and plays together on "3 & 4"
before returning to their respective rhythms for the next bar.
The Signal can be remembered as:
"Lis-ten to me...! Now I'm gonna signal the break... BLAM BLAM BLAM"
The optional Introduction starts with a similar signal:
This makes a nice alternative Intro instead of beginning with the Break.
It's played twice before giong straight into the Main Rhythm.
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&- 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Signal: s..OO.s...B.B... | s..OO.s...B.B...
Djembes ..........B.B... | ..........B.B...
All Bells ..........X.X... | ..........X.X...
All Duns ..........D.D... | ..........D.D...
Signal: s..OO.s...B.BB.B | B.BB..OOO.SSS...
Djembes ..........B.BB.B | B.BB............
All Bells ..........X.XX.X | X.XX............
All Duns ..........D.DD.D | D.DD............
Solo phrases for Intermediate players:
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Signal: B...B...B...OOOO +
$
rlrlrl lr l r l rlrl ("Can you play the
Solo A: OOOOOO.OO.S.B.S.OOOO + rhythm tonight? It's funky!
OO.OO.S.B.S.OOOO + Can you play the...")
OO.OO.S.B.S.OOOO +
OO.OO.S.B.S.OOOO +
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
r lr lrlr l rlrl
Solo B: S.SS.SOOS.S.SSOO + ("Play the solo, you can hit that rhythm")
S.SS.SOOS.S.SSOO +
S.SS.SOOS.S.SSOO +
S.SS.SOOS.S.S. + (ends early ready for Solo C...)
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
rlrlrlr l r r rl ("Play the
Solo C: SSSSSSS.S.S...O.SS + rhythm with a 1, 2, 3. Let's get it...
r r rlr r rl
S...O.SSS...O.SS + ...right, let's get it right. Let's play the")
rlrlr l r rflF (see note below)
SSSSS.S.S...O3S3 +
r rflFr r rl
S...O3S3S...O.SS
SSSSS.S.S...O.SS + (last repeat of Solo C ends with flam)
S...O.SSS...O.SS +
SSSSS.S.S...O3S3 +
S...O3S3S...s... + (then go straight to Echauffement...)
The crazy rolls are my own addition - play like this:
___6__>
O3S3S = OOOSSSS where the tones morph gradually into slaps
rflFr rlrlrlr
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
rlrlrlrlrlrlrlrl
Echauff.: OOSSSSSSSSSSOOSS +
OOSSSSSSSSSSOOSS +
OOSSSSSSS3S3S... +
Signal: o.OO.O.OO.SSS... +
The piece ends with one last half of a Break, accenting the last two notes:
Ending 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Djembes s.s.........s.s.
Bells x.x.x.x.x.x.X.X.
Kenkeni K.K.........K.K.
> >
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Dun Duns D...G...D.D.G...
Djembe 1 B...O...B.B.O... ("We love playing drums")
r l r r l
Djembe 2 B..OO...B...X... ("African drums, yeah!")
r lr r clap
Djembe 3 B...O.O.B...S.S. ("Woodpecker, woodpecker...")
r r l r r l
Combining the Dununba and Sangban makes a much easier tune, and playing
"Woodpecker" at half speed is an ideal way to learn the correct handing.
Here's an easier version of the Introduction for children/Beginners:
1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&- 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&-
Signal: s..OO.s...B.B... | s..OO.s...B.B...
Djembes ..........B.B... | ..........B.B...
All Bells ..........X.X... | ..........X.X...
All Duns ..........D.D... | ..........D.D...
Signal: s..OO.s...B.B... | X...X...X...X... (claps)
Djembes ..........B.B... | X...X...X...X... (claps)
All Bells ..........X.X... | X...X...X...X... (claps)
All Duns ..........D.D... | X...X...X...X... (claps)
(c)
Traditional Guinean rhythm from
Mamady Keita, taught by
Justine at
Vitae Drum Circle and
Baba Kone
at Hebden Bridge.
(notated by
Malcolm Smith on
2005-08-31/2005-12-14. Song added 2006-08-05. Mini-break added 2009-07-17.
Intro+Solo added 2014-04-10