First off, here is the link to "Welcome My Sisters, Welcome My Brothers" at Sheet Music Plus. I have made it available as a full score, with permission to reproduce the words and melody songsheet as bulletin inserts or as a projected songsheet.
Next, I do want to thank everyone for the experience of drumming prayers that we shared on Wednesday. Also, thanks to those who let me know about how they experienced the prayers. As the leader of that experience, I felt a little torn between fully immersing myself in the prayers, and making sure that all of the other things (like time, inclusion of all prayers, and making sure everyone was comfortable and involved) were taken care of. From that perspective, I'd like to remind others that if you decide to use this type of prayer, take turns in taking the leadership role, so that everyone can experience 'losing themselves' in the prayers.
I will be posting additional music here as I get the chance. Check back from time to time, and if I don't get something posted that you would like to see, drop me an email. Email addresses are on the Synod School roster.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Lamba
1. A good way to start it is:
Dun-dun establish a beat.
Add bells for a couple of measures
Add top djembe part
Add bottom djembe part
Add improvised solos
2. Another good way to perform it is:
Start with the signal,
Everyone begin together at a brisk tempo (This is played at 160 beats per minute.)
At some point, the bells begin to get faster, up to 220 bpm
Before you get too fast, finish off with another playing of the signal.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
WMSWMB parts isolated - drums
Today's parts are the parts that are played on the drums. I have parts for djembes, dun-dun, talking drums and kpanlogo. If you have a different selection of drums, many parts are interchangable. Parts can be simplified to be played by less experienced players, as well. This song, as well as the percussion patterns are of my own devising, so there is no fear of playing something 'wrong'.
The Djembe and Dun-Dun parts are played together. I think of the DunDun as playing "One, rest, Two, rest, Three, rest, tri-pe-let, One, rest, Two, rest, Three, rest, Trip-e-let . . .
The Djembe part can be played by a couple of players. The 'One' beat of each measure is played as a bass sound, the other sounds are tones. If you get good, you can add a 'slap' after the second bass for some variety.
The Kpanlogo is played with sticks on this piece. It is the part that plays right at the end of each phrase, and gives energy to start the pattern off again. If you don't have a kpanlogo, a small djembe with a high pitched tone would also work by using the hands right at the edge of the drum.
The talking drum plays during the intro, then sits out for the first verse. It comes back in for a nice solo bit during the interlude, and then continues playing for the rest of the song.
If you enjoy playing this pattern, It can also be played as a background for instrumental solos, and as an accompaniment for other uptempo songs in 2/4 time. Have fun with it! Leave a comment if you'd like to share your own ideas for this pattern, or just to share your own successes and challenges with it!
The Djembe and Dun-Dun parts are played together. I think of the DunDun as playing "One, rest, Two, rest, Three, rest, tri-pe-let, One, rest, Two, rest, Three, rest, Trip-e-let . . .
The Djembe part can be played by a couple of players. The 'One' beat of each measure is played as a bass sound, the other sounds are tones. If you get good, you can add a 'slap' after the second bass for some variety.
The Kpanlogo is played with sticks on this piece. It is the part that plays right at the end of each phrase, and gives energy to start the pattern off again. If you don't have a kpanlogo, a small djembe with a high pitched tone would also work by using the hands right at the edge of the drum.
The talking drum plays during the intro, then sits out for the first verse. It comes back in for a nice solo bit during the interlude, and then continues playing for the rest of the song.
If you enjoy playing this pattern, It can also be played as a background for instrumental solos, and as an accompaniment for other uptempo songs in 2/4 time. Have fun with it! Leave a comment if you'd like to share your own ideas for this pattern, or just to share your own successes and challenges with it!
WMSWMB parts isolated
Getting right down to brass tacks, I've posted the first three percussion parts on today's blog (actually, I guess it's now Wednesday, so it's yesterday's blog.) The Cowbell, Shekere and Gankogui are the 'non-skin' instruments, so they'll be here together. Any time you want to practice one of those parts, just click on the play button on the little movie, and play along. There is a picture of the written out notation in the movie. I'm not sure how legible it is, but it is there.
Cowbell part plays a very traditional pattern; 3 + 2. It's a staple of Latin American music as well as African music. This is the lead part. Play it strong.
Shekere plays a nice part that has two sections per phrase pattern. It also gets a nice energetic part in the coda.
Finally, the gankogui part. It's not complex, but it is very important that it keeps a steady rhythm.
So many students that I teach want a drum part, and don't realize the key role that the bells and shakers play in an African ensemble. The players on these three parts should really work to 'groove' the parts together, so there is a good foundation for the drum parts.
Good luck practicing. I'll post the drum parts later on Wednesday.
Cowbell part plays a very traditional pattern; 3 + 2. It's a staple of Latin American music as well as African music. This is the lead part. Play it strong.
Finally, the gankogui part. It's not complex, but it is very important that it keeps a steady rhythm.
So many students that I teach want a drum part, and don't realize the key role that the bells and shakers play in an African ensemble. The players on these three parts should really work to 'groove' the parts together, so there is a good foundation for the drum parts.
Good luck practicing. I'll post the drum parts later on Wednesday.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
WMSWMB - The Percussion Parts, Notated
This is the second part of the "Welcome, My Sisters! Welcome, My Brothers!" series. If you listened to the song & followed along with the lyrics and melody of the song, you are ready to read along with the notated percussion parts, as presented here.
The parts are written out in traditional percussion notation. There are a lot of ways that people write out percussion parts, and many times, it is as difficult to decipher the alternative notation as it would be to simply learn to read traditional music. Truly, this notation is only intended to remind you of how something sounds, rather than as a means to learn something you've never heard. (That's why the audio file came first in the series.)
The individual parts have some additional instructions, such as high and low notes above and below the single line. (Most melodic music is written on a five line staff. This percussion music is written on a one line staff.) Those individual parts will be explored in the next posting of WMSWMB.
As with the lead sheet (lyrics and melody from my previous post,) I have not yet gotten to the point of posting a PDF of the music, but I have posted the two page JPG picture file. You should be able to print this off and use it as regular sheet music. It is two pages long, and if you print it, you should be able to follow along while you are listening to the sound file. The first line is the introduction. The second line is the section that repeats during the body of the song, and the third line (second page) is the ending of the song. The talking drum part rests during the first time through the singing of the song, and then joins in during the interlude, continuing through the end of the song. This provides some contrast for the performance.
The parts are written out in traditional percussion notation. There are a lot of ways that people write out percussion parts, and many times, it is as difficult to decipher the alternative notation as it would be to simply learn to read traditional music. Truly, this notation is only intended to remind you of how something sounds, rather than as a means to learn something you've never heard. (That's why the audio file came first in the series.)
The individual parts have some additional instructions, such as high and low notes above and below the single line. (Most melodic music is written on a five line staff. This percussion music is written on a one line staff.) Those individual parts will be explored in the next posting of WMSWMB.
As with the lead sheet (lyrics and melody from my previous post,) I have not yet gotten to the point of posting a PDF of the music, but I have posted the two page JPG picture file. You should be able to print this off and use it as regular sheet music. It is two pages long, and if you print it, you should be able to follow along while you are listening to the sound file. The first line is the introduction. The second line is the section that repeats during the body of the song, and the third line (second page) is the ending of the song. The talking drum part rests during the first time through the singing of the song, and then joins in during the interlude, continuing through the end of the song. This provides some contrast for the performance.
Welcome, My Sisters! Welcome, My Brothers!
Here is a complete audio performance of a new song I wrote for Synod School 2011. It's called "Welcome, My Sisters! Welcome, My Brothers!" I am blogging my complete learning sequence on this song during this week. Then, it will be available for class participants during the week of Synod School. I am hoping that the format I'm following will make it simple to both learn the song in the first place, and then to teach the song to your friends and congregations when you get home later. I've always found that there is just SO MUCH to learn, that our brains get over full, and then we can't remember important elements of the complete performance of a song, so we either forget about performing it, or perform it poorly. This week, I'll be posting this song in these parts:
1 - complete audio version and JPG of the song words and melody.
2 - JPG of the percussion parts written out in traditional notation.
3 - Audio of each part played individually.
I hope that those of you who can use this method of learning parts will be able to help me learn what I can do to improve the experience for you, and that you can then use this song in your own worship experience.
Audio of song (includes singing, clapping and drumming.)
1 - complete audio version and JPG of the song words and melody.
2 - JPG of the percussion parts written out in traditional notation.
3 - Audio of each part played individually.
I hope that those of you who can use this method of learning parts will be able to help me learn what I can do to improve the experience for you, and that you can then use this song in your own worship experience.
Audio of song (includes singing, clapping and drumming.)
Here is the melody line and the words in a JPG picture format. I'll see what I can do about including a downloadable PDF of this piece. In the meantime, though, I believe you can just click on the picture, and print it from there, if you want.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Doin' the Fanga
The Fanga (or Funga) is a welcome song from Western Africa. It is very well-known, and one of the rhythms that has many variations. When I check out YouTube, or sites of collected rhythms, or published drumming materials, I find that no two of the written transcriptions or performed rhythms 'match up' with each other. Sometimes, it is simply variations in suggested instrumentation. Sometimes there is agreement on the drum part, but bell & shaker parts are different from each other. I always get a bit of a laugh from the responses & comments to performed or written postings; "THAT'S not the Fanga - the bell part is much more complex and the fifth beat is a bass, not a tone...."
Well, to avoid that, I'll start by declaring that this is "a simplified, Americanized version of the Fanga, written out to be easily played by amateurs." It is a happy, all inclusive piece that's really designed to allow anyone to join in, pick up a shaker, listen to a few bars, and then become part of the group. It is totally participatory. There is, I know, a dance that goes with it, (I'm not sure if that dance is 'authentic' to the fanga, or if it was made up by someone on the spot.) and the rhythm itself just makes you want to move with it.
Here is MY version of the Fanga. This version is especially good for large groups. Be sure to have a person who has been trained on the rhythm on each instrument. A person or two as beat keepers on cowbell and a strong djembe player are important. Everyone else can fill in as necessary, and if they get off beat for a measure or two, they can pick up again by listening to the bell and djembe. Lots of small rattles are nice to have, since they add to the sound, but can be easily learned.
Well, to avoid that, I'll start by declaring that this is "a simplified, Americanized version of the Fanga, written out to be easily played by amateurs." It is a happy, all inclusive piece that's really designed to allow anyone to join in, pick up a shaker, listen to a few bars, and then become part of the group. It is totally participatory. There is, I know, a dance that goes with it, (I'm not sure if that dance is 'authentic' to the fanga, or if it was made up by someone on the spot.) and the rhythm itself just makes you want to move with it.
Here is MY version of the Fanga. This version is especially good for large groups. Be sure to have a person who has been trained on the rhythm on each instrument. A person or two as beat keepers on cowbell and a strong djembe player are important. Everyone else can fill in as necessary, and if they get off beat for a measure or two, they can pick up again by listening to the bell and djembe. Lots of small rattles are nice to have, since they add to the sound, but can be easily learned.
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