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Personal News Leading drum classes and playing for dance classes takes up most of my time right now. This means that all my pending web projects have been put on hold for a while: The notation project I´ve been working on recently is to replace not only the "SHARE" site and the "Notation Playback Rhythm Exchange", but also the "Notation Playback" software itself. It will include features like multiple parts playback with CD-quality sound at any desirable tempo, easy-to-follow animated handing instructions and online notation interactivity. You will probably see the first appearance of this before long, as it will gradually take over the above mentioned resources, one by one.

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On the Use of Rhythm Notation The African drum tradition has always been passed on from master to student without the use of a written language. Any use of rhythm notation is therefore a violation of this tradition. This does not mean that the traditional way of learning is the only way or even the best way. But it is definitely the only traditional way. In my djembe classes over the years I have noticed that there are at least three ways of learning. Some learn by listening to the rhythm, some learn by doing the actual movements, and some learn by watching the movements of the teacher, visualising the rhythm or noting it down. Most people seem to use a combination of these three, although one of them is often the predominant and preferred way of learning. Rhythm notation is a great aid for anyone who is inclined to learn visually (while it may be of very little use for others). It also relieves your memory and helps you get the rhythm right the next time you play. Notation can never replace a good drum teacher, but it sure can replace a bad one!

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On the use of Western Notation for West African Drum Rhythms Western notation is used to describe Western musical traditions in writing. It has evolved over the centuries to become the system that is used today. Whatever we may think of it, it is in fact the notation standard of our time. One of the main features of Western notation is the bar, which is always constituted of a strong (accented) part and a weak (unaccented) part. This is also the main flaw when using Western notation to describe African drum rhythms. African drum rhythms are not put together in this way. Our concept of bars simply does not apply. In fact, using Western notation here would be highly misleading, because it implies that the rhythm is supposed to be perceived and played with the traditional Western accents. I quote from professor Simha Arom´s book African Polyphony and Polyrhythm: "Let us have the courage to admit that our method of numbering measures is a masterpiece of absurdity. It cannot be logically defended, ... and its only explanation is to be found... in the historical stages of its derivation." "Western music has made do with this method as best it could. But when a system of this kind is forced on African music, the result can only be nonsense." Professor Arom has spent more that 30 years of rhythm research in Central Africa. He found that: In Central African music, the periodicity constitutes the basis of temporal organisation. Each period is characterized by an equal number of isochronous pulsations, which are therefore essential for defining the boundaries of the period. The polyphonic and polyrhythmic music of this region is so structured that its component parts are usually assigned different periodicities, which nevertheless always stand in simple ratios to one another. Under these conditions, the pulsation becomes more than a mere marker. It takes on the role of temporal reference unit, a common regulator which syncronises all parts and consequently coordinates the superposition of their periods. Professor Arom introduces the concept "minimal operational value" as the shortest distinctive duration resulting from a subdivision; all durations that are not identical vith this value are necessarily multiples of it. This minimal operational value is reflected in all box notation systems, as well as in the Djembe Font notation system that I use on this website and in my educational material. However, as soon as we add a Western time signature to the notation, we imply a Western perception of the rhythm that will probably keep us from perceiving its true nature.