Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson entitled "Kuku - djembe and dundun parts." My name is Mr. Norris.

Today we're gonna be starting to put together a performance of a song called "Kuku," looking at some of the rhythms and sounds involved, and seeing if we can play some of them together.

Our outcome is, "I can explain the context of the Kuku rhythm and can replicate the different parts using untuned percussion." Some keywords.

Kuku, this is a dance song which celebrates the return of the women from fishing expeditions.

Syncopation.

This is a rhythm that emphasizes or accents notes in between the main beats, and you might sometimes hear this referred to as offbeat or an offbeat rhythm.

Kenkeni.

This is the highest pitched dundun, which often keeps the pulse by playing on the beat.

Sangban.

This is the middle-pitched dundun, which plays more complex, often syncopated rhythms. And then dundunba.

And this is the lowest-pitched dundun, which plays a more traditional bass drum role, accenting the strong beats.

First, we're gonna be looking at the Kuku rhythm.

Kuku is a rhythm and a dance, which is danced by women to celebrate after they return from fishing expeditions.

It's also played at other celebrations and festivals to promote community celebrations and joy.

Now there are many different versions of Kuku, and the one we are looking at comes from the forest region of Guinea, which is one of the larger countries in West Africa, and we can see it highlighted on the map there.

This Kuku rhythm is played using a solo djembe, with two accompanying djembes and dunduns.

One accompanying djembe is tuned higher than the other, so that they stand out from each other, so they're slightly different tuned djembes.

We can imitate the three djembe sounds with our hands.

Here we've got the three different hand sounds.

Cupped hands, palm clap, and full clap.

Can you match up the three djembe pitches, the high-pitched sound, mid-pitched sound, and the low-pitched sound, with the hand sound that would best imitate them? Pause my video while you try and do that.

Well done then, if you matched up cupped hands, that would imitate the low-pitch sound.

A palm clap will best imitate the mid-pitch sound.

And a full clap would best imitate the high-pitch sound.

And you might have used the words bass for cupped hands, tone for palm clap, and slap for full clap.

Well done if you got those correct terms in.

Now I'd like you to practice replicating those three different pitches with your hands.

Let's see what that would look like.

(hands clap and slap) (hands clap and slap) And now pause my video and practice those three techniques.

So when you were doing that, did you manage to create the lower sound by cupping your hands and hitting palm to palm? And did you manage to create the mid-sound by using the smaller area of the fingers on the palm? And did you manage to create the high sound with a full clap? If you want some more practice of those techniques, pause my video and do that now.

So to create those sounds on a djembe, your hands would look like this.

For the bass sound, we're gonna be playing in the middle of the drum.

That's the lowest-pitched sound.

For tone, we're gonna be using fingers on the edge together.

So you can see there, the fingers are together, creating that mid-pitch.

And then for slap, fingers on the edge, but with the fingers spread apart, creating that distinct high-pitched sound.

I'd like you to practice now, replicating these on a drum if you have one, or on a suitable surface, to get used to the different techniques.

Pause my video now and have a go at that.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the following is not true? A djembe is used to accompany dancing.

A djembe plays different parts within a piece.

Djembes are played with hands.

And there are five main sounds on a djembe.

I'll give you a few seconds to choose the best answer.

And the answer here then is, there are five main sounds on a djembe is not true.

All three of the other statements are true.

In the Kuku rhythm, the djembes work together to create an accompanying polyrhythm.

This is when there are multiple different rhythms playing at the same time, creating quite a complex texture.

In this case, it's syncopated, and remember, syncopated rhythms are where there are notes emphasized that are not on the main beat.

So offbeat notes are emphasized, creating an interesting complex rhythmic pattern.

Traditionally, the parts in Kuku are learned aurally, without notation.

So they'll be passed down by people hearing them, copying them, and teaching them to each other.

However, we can use grid notation to help us understand how the rhythms work.

It's important to note, this is not how musicians in these traditions would traditionally learn these rhythms. There are two parts in Kuku that we're gonna look at in just a second.

Before we do that, let's check your understanding.

True or false? Syncopation is when you play in time with everyone else.

I'll give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer here is false, and that's because syncopation is rhythm that is offbeat or fits between the beats of the music.

If you're mixing these words up, you might have been thinking of the word synchronization, which is when you're playing in time with everyone else.

So syncopation is when you have rhythms that emphasize notes in between the main beats.

Let's look at how we use grid notation.

Green boxes show us where the beat is, so we can see the one, two, three, and four in the beat there.

And each beat is subdivided into four.

So if we are counting this, we go, one-e-an-a, two-e-an-a, three-e-an-a, four-e-an-a, one-e-an-a, two-e-an-a, three-e-an-a, four-e-an-a.

That's how you count that with those four subdivisions of each note.

The bottom row tells us which sounds to make.

So you can see there's slap, tone, and bass.

And then the hand pattern row tells us which hand is best to use.

R for right, L for left.

And this can change to suit individuals.

But generally, these are a good guide as to what pattern to use.

So with that in mind, let's look at the two parts of Kuku.

So part one is the higher accompaniment part.

It's played using just tones and slaps.

Let's have a look at what it sounds like.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) Let's break that down then.

So we're using slap and tone, and we would count it like this.

One-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an.

That's our pattern there.

We could make it more complex by starting on the offbeat before beat one, shown by the purple arrow.

So instead of starting on one, we start on that "an" just before one.

An-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a.

And so on.

Wait for the call, then join in, clapping the djembe part one rhythm.

Remember, a high sound is a full clap, and a mid sound is a palm clap.

Give it a shot.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) So when you were doing that, did you start after the call? Play the same rhythm as the djembe? And did you play the pattern using the high and mid sounds, or the slap and tone sounds correctly? One-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a.

Now part two is similar to part one, but with the bass added on the strong beats.

So now we've got bass tone and slap being used.

The lower part can be played on slightly lower tuned drum.

So remember we said, the djembes are often tuned differently to make them distinct from each other.

And here this would be played on the lower tuned drum.

Let's have a look at this pattern.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) Let's break this one down then.

So the key difference with part one is that beat one and beat three are now played using the bass sound.

One-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an.

And we could also do with this one what we did with the first one, which is make it more complex by starting on the an before the one.

An-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an.

So we can start on that off-beat.

Let's have a go at playing part two.

Wait for the call, then join in clapping the djembe part two rhythm.

And remember, we've got a high sound is a full clap, a mid sound is a palm clap, and a low sound is cupped hands.

Give it a shot.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) When you were doing that, did you manage to start after the call? Did you manage to play the same rhythm accurately as the djembe? And did you make sure you were playing the pattern using the low, mid, and high sound? Bass, tone, and slap equivalent sounds? One-an-a, an-three-an-a, an-one-an-a, an-three-an-a, an.

Now the break is a third section that's used to break up the different parts.

Let's see what it sounds like.

(energetic drumming) Let's break that one down.

So here, we're using bass and slap.

One-an, two-an, three-an, four-an, one-an, two-an, three-an, four-an, one-an, two-an, three-an, four-an, one-an, two-an, three-an, four-an.

So it's playing consistent quavers here with a slap on beat two, and on the "an" of beat three, and it follows a low, low, high pattern.

Low, low, high, low, low, high, low, low, low, low, high, low, low, high, low, low.

Let's see what we've learned of the Kuku rhythm so far.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) So a typical structure might look like what we have here.

Start with a call.

Then we have the break, then we have another call, then we have part one, that part one rhythm.

Then we have a call, then a break, then the call, then part two.

And then we have a call, then the break, and then the call.

And there's no fixed amount of cycles for parts one and two, so performers can decide this as they perform, based on how they feel, based on what the purpose of the performance is, and so on.

Let's check your understanding.

Which part uses just tones and slaps? Part one, two, or the break? Give you a few seconds.

And the correct answer here is part one uses just tones and slaps.

Well done if you remember that.

Fill in the missing sections of the structure.

You can pause my video while you do this.

(no audio) And here we're missing a break at the start, then part one, and then a call at the end.

Remember, the call comes in between each section to communicate when performers move on to the next one.

So task A, practice the Kuku rhythm on djembes or with your hands.

Here's some success criteria.

Make sure you practice in sections at first, with a call, then the break, and then the call.

Then practice the djembe one section, then the djembe two section.

Then I want you to try and put them together in this structure, with calls indicating when we change between each of those.

So use that structure there.

And then finally, make sure you keep a consistent tempo, and start practicing slowly so you can get the rhythms accurate before you try and do any faster.

Here are the different rhythms for the different parts.

We've got the call, the break, and djembe part one and two.

And you can pause my video now and give this task you best shot.

(no audio) For the second part of this task, I'd like you to watch this version of the djembe parts.

Which aspects are performed correctly, and how could it be improved? Let's have a look.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) Pause my video while you're finishing off your answer.

And here we might have said that the first half of the performance is correct, with good timing and an accurate order and transition between parts.

From part two, it's not played correctly, because it uses only tones.

The last break lasts only half its correct length, and the last call starts too early.

So to improve this, they need to focus on that second half of the structures, working on some of those sections there.

The second part of our lesson is looking at the dundun parts.

The dunduns play the bass line that accompanies the djembe parts in Kuku.

The first part to enter is the kenkeni.

This is the highest pitch of the dunduns.

This part keeps the pulse, and it plays on the beat, with a quaver part on the apitua, which is the bell.

Let's have a look at what it sounds like.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) So that rhythm uses a consistent pulse on each beat played by the kenkeni.

One, two, three, four.

And then we've got the quavers on the bell, on the apitua.

One-an, two-an, three-an, four-an.

And they're played at the same time.

You will have noticed there as well, there's that call on the djembe that signals the end of the rhythm.

And we finish on the first note of the pattern.

The next dundun part is the sangban, and this is the mid pitch of the three.

Remember, we've got a kenkeni, the sangban, and the dundunba.

This part is more syncopated, with the drum playing on the "an" or on the offbeat, unlike the kenkeni.

Let's have a look at what it sounds like.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) So it's a similar rhythm to the kenkeni rhythm, but as you'll notice, the difference is in the sangban part.

One, an-three, an-one, an-three, an.

So it's not playing on the strong beat of each beat now.

We've still got that apitua, the bell playing twice on each beat.

One-an, two-an, three-an, four-an.

The final of the three parts is the dundunba, and this is the lowest pitch of the three dunduns.

Now, this pattern is two bars, or eight beats long, so it's double the length of the kenkeni and the sangban parts.

And it's also highly syncopated, with a more complex apitua part.

Let's have a look.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) Let's break this one down, then.

First, let's look at the apitua part.

One-an-a, e-an, three-an, four-an, one-an-a, e-an, three-an, four-an, one-an-a, e-an, three-an, four-an, one-an-a, e-an, three-an, four-an.

That's our pattern there.

That's quite complex.

It'll takes some practice on its own first.

The dundunba part is quite sparse, and it fits in with that apitua part.

We're playing on the "a" of beat one.

On the "four-an" of beat four.

And then the "one-a" of beat one.

So it'll sound like this.

One-a, four-an, one-a, a, four-an, one-a.

Let's watch it one more time to get really familiar with its pattern.

(energetic drumming) (drumming continues) (drumming continues) Let's check your understanding.

Which of the dundun parts is the most syncopated? Is it kenkeni, sangban, or dundunba? Give you a few seconds.

(no audio) And the correct answer is, it's the dundunba part that is the most syncopated.

Well done if you said that.

Which of the dundun parts plays the pulse? Is it kenkeni, sangban, or dundunba? Give you a few seconds.

(no audio) And the correct answer is, it's the kenkeni part that plays that strong pulse.

So for task B, you're gonna practice the Kuku with the added dundun rhythms. Here's some success criteria.

First, practice each rhythm slowly on its own.

Then add the kenkeni part to the performance.

Then finally, add the sangban and the dundunba parts as well.

You can also replace the apitua with finger clicks or with verbal "ta" sounds if needed.

Here are your three dundun parts, and your challenge here is to try and make all the parts fit together really rhythmically in time.

So pause my video now, and get stuck into this, giving it your best shot.

(no audio) Now it's time to reflect on the success of your performance.

Here are a few questions to think about, and get yourself reflecting on that.

Which dundun parts did you add to the performance? Was the kenkeni playing on the beat, keeping that strong pulse? Did you all manage to keep a consistent tempo? If not, how would you improve that? How did you start and finish together? Was it coordinated well? And did you adapt anything else to make your performance a success? Pause my video while you reflect on these questions and think about how you could further improve your performance.

(no audio) Okay, let's review today's lesson.

The Kuku rhythm is performed to celebrate the return of the women from fishing expeditions.

Kuku has many variations in performance, but it's based around two djembe parts and three dundun parts.

The parts are highly syncopated, and when they're played together, they create exciting polyrhythms. And grid notation can be used to help understand how the syncopated rhythms are counted.

So this isn't a traditional way of learning these rhythms, but it can be useful to help us.

And we performed a Kuku rhythm with syncopation.

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

I hope you've enjoyed getting stuck into that performance there and starting to get used to some of these complex syncopating rhythms. Hopefully you can see how they fit together and how, when they're played together, they create this really interesting, complex rhythmic texture.

Thanks for taking part in today's lesson, and I'll see you in another one.

(no audio).