The Djembe, which consists of a wooden goblet drum covered in animal hide, tuned with ropes running down its sides, is a popular instrument used in Africa since ancient times for many purposes.
It is used for long-distance communication, and to transmit to generations important religious, cultural, and historical messages. I grew up seeing people using Djembe to play songs during traditional weddings, and even when there is a newborn in a family or a funeral. I have always been fascinated by the synchronisation of the singing and drumming, but I never had the opportunity to learn how to play a drum.
Hopefully, in my community here in Canada, there are some Djembe that I can use for my learning project with the help of my friends and some Youtube videos such as this one.
My interest in learning how to play a drum has two objectives: (1) it will help me to develop a transdisciplinary and playful project as a teacher to confront the students with humanist values of sharing and fraternity, (2) participate as a drummer in our local community.
As you might know, apart from the Djembe, there are many other materials that are used. Below are some of them:
Some materials needed when drumming and singing with Djembe
To reach this goal of learning how to play songs with Djembe, my plan for the project is as follow:
Learning Plan and work schedule
- Project design.
- Identification of the instruments that are used with Djembe to produce desired songs
- Learning and reproducing different songs from different sources using Djembe alone.
- Practices with friends of my community (they have agreed to have me on board)
- Drumming and singing during our local cultural event.Work Schedule
