How to learn djembe

Perhaps someone bought you a djembe and or you heard one somewhere and just had to have one.

So what now?

Hand drumming has a fairly low learning curve and it doesn't take long to enjoy playing one.

A drum circle is a good place to start off as they can be very enjoyable and it will give a good start at playing with other people without feeling exposed in anyway.

At the same time it is a good idea to work on your own playing at home. Working on your sounds is extremely important and quality of different sounds, among other things, really seperates mediocre and better playings.

The best way to improve your sounds is by repeating simple exercises very slowly. You should do this regularly, even when you are beginning to get clear sounds.

Some beginner djembe exercises to get you started can be found on djembefola.com.

Good quality sounds are a lifes work.

The rest of this article is based on the djembe technique article on djembefola.com, the version there has a full array of images to help you along the way.

The three basic sounds on a djembe are a bass, a tone and a slap.

The bass

The bass is played in the centre of the djembe. Some people prefer each hand keep slightly more toward it's own side of the centre line down the middle of the drum. The bass is often play more torwards the rim of the djembe. The sound is not as deep, but the hand has less distance to travel and therefore is less taxing at speed.

Tone

The tone is played with the underside of your fingers. The joint where your fingers join your hand should be around the rim of the drum. All of the fingers should hit the skin flat at the same time.

It may be useful to think of your hand being a straight extension of arm like you were about to do a judo chop. Try to hold this straightness when learning to play a tone.
An image showing a side view of a tone's form

The sound you are looking for is powerful and solid, a "thud".

Famoudou advocates keeping the fingers together (especially the first 3 fingers) to get the fullest tone.

Experienced players do not need to close their fingers. On Mamady Keita's Mogobalu DVD, he clearly demonstrates a tone with his fingers open.

I suspect that less strength is necessary to keep the fingers solid and straight when they are kept together.

As you get stronger, it is possible to a clear tone with them seperated.

Slap

The slap is generally the most difficult note for beginners to successfully achieve.

The hand and arm are relaxed and hit the drum in a slap like emotion. The hand is in pretty much the same position as a tone. The very edge of the padded part of your hand just below (toward your wrist) where your fingers join your hand should hit the rim of the drum.

If you put your hand on the edge of the drum in a rigid tone like motion and then relax your hand, you will notice that the fingers tend to turn in slightly towards the other hand.

As a result the slap can give the appearance being in a different position to a tone. The tone and slap are played in the exact same position!
An image showing what part of your hand should hit a djembe to play a slap.

When you hit the rim with the padded part of your hand (below where the fingers join the hand indicated in blue).

The fingers naturally spread out slight when they hit the edge of the drum. In the photo they are slight exaggerated.
A side view image showing what part of your hand should hit a djembe to play a slap.

The fingers should curl naturally and only the tips of the fingers should hit the drum.

The image on the left is an exagaration on a table to give you an idea. The curl is natural and are result of the whipping slap like motion. Take care not to try and form this shape rigidly or you will probably hurt yourself.

In the above image with my hand on the table I have come in a bit too far with the padded part of my hand. This image only demonstrates how to hit the skin with your only finger tips.

Your fingers should naturally bounce of the skin and we help them along by slightly lifting our hand from the drum immediately after they hit the skin.

There are many different techniques for slaps taught. This is the one that I was taught to be correct, but it is at least the 3rd different technique that I have learnt.

All of the different techniques produce a slightly different sounds, I'm not too unhappy about this. I believe that this may stem from different techniques for other drums (such as bougarabou and conga) or perhaps teachers looking for fast results.

It's important to try and keep the position of the tone and slap as close together as possible. This allows you to move easily and between the 2 at speed.

A clear distinction between tones and slaps is unbelievably important. It is extremely worthwhile spending time working on your basic sound techniques.

Mamady Keita, one of most greatest djembe players has said never stop trying to develop your sounds.

You will develop your technique faster by starting slower and aiming for sound quality.

The faster you are playing the more there is a tendency for the distinctiveness of the notes to reduce, so do speed up but only if you can keep top quality notes.

It is also extremely important that you pay particular attention to your posture. Your body should be upright like you spin is balancing broom stick.

Your arms should hand naturally down at your sides all movement should be from your elbows.

For images to help you with this tutorial and many other lessons and articles check out which can help you to learn to play djembe and educate yourself about the history and traditions surrounding this great music.