African Drumming
This is one of those ridiculous phrases like "World Music" which are so broad as to be completely meaningless.
There are around 58 countries within Africa each with its own unique culture of music and drumming. Within each country there are many tribes that have also developed their own distinct musical culture.
Associated with each tribe are specific drums, rhythms, rituals and dances.
In a DrumCrazy drumcircle you will find drums that have there origins in Africa including some from the Middle East and South America. Some are traditional and some are mass produced modern versions.
Two wonderful African musicians have congratulated me after a DrumCrazy drumcircle saying that the way we work really captures the spirit of African music. The way we involve everyone in some way with singing and dancing reflects how music happened in their villages.
We create complex layers of rhythm just as is present in most African drumming styles. We follow universal principals that apply to the instrumentation and structure of all drum ensemble music. We create our rhythms and structures in the moment.
There are a whole host of web resources for learning specific African rhythm sets, the majority of which come from West Africa.
If you are working on African Music as part of the National Curriculum a DrumCrazy session will get the whole group playing together and developing the drumming and ensemble skills they need to tackle some specific African rhythms. Click here for our schools programme