Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson entitled, Composing in a Kuku or Warabadon Style.

My name is Mr. Norris.

Today, we're gonna be getting creative doing some composition, trying to come up with our own interesting polyrhythmic compositions based in either the Kuku or Warabadon styles.

Our outcome is "I can create a drumming composition in the style of Kuku or Warabadon." Some key words.

Ostinato.

This is a repeated pattern.

Structure.

This is the different sections of a piece of music and how the piece is organized.

4/4.

This is a time signature with four beats in a bar.

And 12/8, which is a time signature with 12 quavers in a bar.

These are grouped in four groups of three.

The first part of today's lesson is looking at creating ostinato patterns and polyrhythms. So, we're gonna create a drumming composition in the style of either Kuku or Warabadon.

We need the musical idea to build from, so we start by composing an ostinato.

And whatever we start with, remember, we can also change it.

When you're composing, you can change your ideas as you go.

In the Kuku style, the ostinato pattern will be in 4/4.

That's because Kuku is in 4/4.

In the Warabadon style, the ostinato pattern will be in 12/8, because remember that's the time signature that Warabadon is in.

Now, when you're choosing the style and time signature you want to use, consider the different rhythmic feelings that they create.

12/8 has a swaying, a lilting feeling, that's Warabadon, whereas 4/4 has a more insistent sort of driving energy to it.

We can also use templates like these to help us plan our rhythms as we're creating our ostinato patterns.

Now, here are a few suggested rhythms you could use as a starting point.

There's some 4/4 ones and a 12/8 one there.

But I'd encourage you to try and compose something new.

Or you could take one of those and develop it and adapt it to change it a bit and make it your own.

We're gonna have a look at two examples of ostinato patterns now.

Let's see what they have in common.

Here's the first one, let's have a look at it.

(drum thumps rhythmically) Now let's have a look at the second example.

So what does this have in common with the first one? (drum thumps rhythmically) So, both of those patterns had really effective features of ostinatos and we're gonna look at some of those now.

Well, they're both quite simple.

They use between four and eight notes.

And keeping it simple like that is a really good rule.

They both lasted for four beats.

So when we're doing this, we're creating a pattern that lasts four beats.

They contrasted with each other and they used different parts of different beats as well.

So they didn't always play at the same time, but sometimes they did play at the same time.

So making sure the rhythms contrast with each other is really key when you're writing two ostinatos.

They use more than one sound for each pattern as well and that creates some variety, so there was a mixture of base, tone, and slap sounds.

And they both used the same time signature.

If you're writing two ostinato patterns, make sure they're in the same time signature so they fit with each other.

That's really key.

And when you are doing this, try playing them both together to create a polyrhythm and see how well that polyrhythm works.

Remember, when you're creating these ideas, once you've settled on an idea, you can always change it later.

So composing is an ongoing process.

You can always adapt your rhythms if you think they work better in a slightly different way.

Let's check your understanding.

What is an ostinato? Is it a repeated pattern of notes, a style of djembe drum, a sequence of different rhythms played together once, or a technique on the dunduns? I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer is an ostinato is a repeated pattern of notes.

True or false? 4/4 has a swaying, lilting feel.

I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer here is false and that's 'cause 4/4 has more of a driving, insistent feel to the rhythm, whereas 12/8 has the lilting, swaying triplet feel with those three subdivisions of each beat.

So, task A.

You're gonna create two contrasting ostinato patterns in the same time signature.

So choose either 4/4 or 12/8 and make sure both of them are in that time signature.

Here's some success criteria.

They are simple.

So you have four to eight notes in each one with most notes played separately rather than together.

Both patterns last for four beats.

The rhythms of the patterns contrast with each other.

They use a mixture of sounds low, high, and mid, so that's base, tone, and slap, to create variety.

And you practice them separately before putting them together in a polyrhythm.

You can use the blank rhythm grids to help you plan out your rhythms. And there's some example rhythms you could use here or adapt if you want as well when you're creating yours.

So pause my video now, get creative, and give this your best shot.

For the second part of this task, I'd like you to look at these two ostinato patterns.

Do they match the success criteria? Explain why or why not.

So pause my video and have a go at this.

And here then we might have said that both parts use four to eight notes and they're in the same time signature, so that matches exactly what we're going for.

Part one only uses slap sounds, but because part two uses varied sounds, it uses a lot base and tone and slap, they work quite well together.

The first three beats have all no notes played together, and there's only one note that's played together in beat four.

So this could be developed to create more of a polyrhythm if there are a few more notes that played together at the same time in both parts.

Well done if you picked up on some of those points.

The second part of today's lesson is looking at applying rhythms to traditional structure.

So we can fit our own rhythms into the overall structure of either Kuku or Warabadon.

This is our basic structure that we have here.

We play ostinato one in part one and ostinato two in part two.

Listen to how this might sound.

(drum thumps rhythmically) We can then add the final part to complete the overall structure, and this is our solo section in part three.

I'd suggest playing both ostinato patterns, ostinato one and two together in part three.

That will create a really nice, rich rhythmic texture, and you can add solos to further enhance the polyrhythm as well.

So to put the whole structure together, follow these steps.

Practice the first half of the structure, replacing part one and part two with your ostinato patterns.

Then practice part three with both ostinato patterns together.

Put the whole structure together, adding solo improvisations to part three, remembering to use your calls, break, and a echauffement in the correct places as well.

Consider adding the dundun parts as well, you can play the kenkeni on the beat to reinforce the pulse and keep everyone in time.

You could also use grid notation to help remember the rhythms of each section.

Remember to show the different sonorities, so base, tone, and slap, the correct time signature, and the hand pattern on right and left to help other people learn your rhythms and to help you remember them.

Let's check your understanding.

In which section do you play both ostinato patterns together? Part one, part two, part three or the echauffement? I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer here is part three.

That's where we're gonna combine ostinato one and two in the accompaniment and add some solos on top.

So before we get onto this task, I'd like you to listen to this complete composition.

Try and familiarize yourself with the complete structure as we follow it through.

I'd also like you to think about where is the polyrhythmic section? So which part has the polyrhythm in it? And what does the kenkeni do during this as well? Let's have a look.

(drums beat rhythmically) So well done if you picked up that the polyrhythmic section was part three, remember that's where we combine ostinato one and two together to create that polyrhythm and then add solos on top, and the kenkeni plays on each beat.

And having that role there is really helpful just for keeping everyone in time, giving it a really strong sense of pulse.

What's the structure of the composition? See how much of it you can remember.

Pause my video while you write it down.

And the correct answer here is we've got call, break, call, part one, call, break, call, part two, call, break, call, part three, and then call, break, call, echauffement, and call at the end.

Fantastic effort if you managed to remember that, breaking it into those sections into those chunks can really help when you're doing that.

So, task B.

Practice your full Kuku or Warabadon-style drumming composition.

Here's some success criteria.

Make sure you practice the first half of the structure up to part two, changing from one pattern to the next fluently.

Then, practice part three with both rhythms playing together creating that polyrhythm, And then put the whole structure together with solo improvisations over part three.

Make sure you choose a tempo that is suitable for the whole group as well, so that everyone can take part and play fluently.

And then you can also try adding the dundun parts to add great complexity and make it more typical of both of those styles.

Here's the structure to follow.

Use ostinato one in part one, ostinato two in part two, and then play both ostinato parts together in part three, adding improvised solos.

So pause my video now, give this your best shot.

For the final part of this task, I'd like to reflect on the success of your performance and your composition.

Answer these questions to guide you how you can further improve them.

Did you perform all of the sections in order? If not, what was the structure of your performance? Did you manage to change between the sections fluently? Did you play the accompaniment rhythms from parts one and two together to create a polyrhythm in part three? Did you all manage to keep a consistent tempo? Were all the sonorities of the drums or claps accurate? Could you clearly hear the base, tone, and slap sonorities? How did you start and finish together? And did you notate your rhythmic ideas? So reflect on these questions, pause my video, and use this to guide you as how you can further improve your performance and composition.

Let's review today's lesson.

We've composed a rhythmic piece in the style of either Kuku in 4/4 or Warabadon in 12/8.

A successful Kuku or Warabadon structure includes a call, break, echauffement, and solo sections.

We've composed and performed two contrasting ostinato patterns as the basis of our piece.

And we've developed these within the structure, creating a polyrhythmic section with an improvised solo.

So that's the end of today's lesson.

Thank you very much for taking part.

I hope you feel that you've managed to get really creative with composing today.

Creating some really interesting rhythms and exploring some interesting polyrhythms as well.

And hopefully you managed to put those together into a structure, deepening your understanding of Kuku and Warabadon, as a taste of some of the many different drumming traditions that come from West Africa.

So thanks for taking part, and I'll see you in another lesson.