Understanding the Solo Tradition
The djembe solo is often improvised. However, sometimes it forms a set part of the song. A young djembefola (player) will watch more experienced players performing solo parts that accompany the song. Eventually, they will try to copy the solo. Once they master the traditional solo, they can experiment. Then they add their own style or flair.
Inspirational Solo Videos
Here are a couple of djembe solo videos to inspire you:
Mamady Keita - A Master's Performance
This video starts with singing. The djembe only kicks in at about 1 minute. However, it is well worth the wait. It showcases one of the greats, Mamady Keita.
Notice at 6:38 Mamady starts what people call the chauffe (French for 'hot'). The chauffe is where the playing gets intense. Furthermore, the lead soloist plays a rapid sequence. This signals to all the other musicians to play the call, or ending.
Teaching Through Vocal Sounds
Madou, below, mouths some of the notes of the solo using sounds. This makes teaching a rhythm or solo possible without using written notation. Each of the notes has a word to represent it. For example, 'Gu' or 'Du' for bass notes, 'Goh' or 'Doh' for tones, and 'Ga' or 'Da' for slaps.
Madou Djembe's CD is one of the best albums on djembe that I have.
Contemporary African Pop Integration
This is not a strictly traditional djembe group. However, Youssou N'Dour uses the djembe solo brilliantly here in his style of African pop. The video is set up to where the solo starts.
Advanced Solo Techniques
Here are a couple of alternatives to the 3 basic notes of the djembe (bass, tone and slap) used in a solo. Kassoum Sanogo incorporates finger rolls here. Additionally, he gets a different sound by playing with the finger on the very edge of the drum.
Master-Level Solo Work
Adama Drame, below, is a clear master of the djembe solo. Moreover, his teachings have inspired a very good book by Serge Blanc called 'African Percussion'. This book is for the more serious djembe student. Furthermore, it's one of the few books that uses standard music notation.
Breaking Gender Myths
An all-women djembe troupe in perfect form displays some powerful solos. This helps dispel the myth that 'it's a guy thing'.
The Art of Musical Conversation
Abdoulaye Diakite, below, shows what many good djembe players seem to forget about the djembe solo. It is as much about the spaces between the notes as it is about the notes themselves. A djembe solo should be a 'conversation'. It needs dynamics in terms of speed, volume and intensity.
Far too many technically good players still think the solo is a 100m sprint. They yell all the way to the finish line.
Pure Sound and Technique
Soungalo Coulibaly, rest his soul, was someone special. Mamady Keita once said about him: "[his] hand is so clean, his sound is so pure, that I wondered if I'd ever be able to play like him."
