New Release (2023): Best of Roots Jam: African and World Drum Rhythms.
Now collected under one cover, the best drumming reference compiled from over thirty years of study, practice, teaching and performance.
Selected dunun and djembe rhythms for West African drumming and dance, Afro-Latin percussion and drum sheet music, and world drumming styles from India and the Middle East. Transcribed into easy-to-read visual grid notation.
This new volume (101 pages) brings you, under one cover, the most popular rhythms and core lessons from the four previous volumes of Roots Jam drumming books.
Introducing… a cousin of the Roots Jam family, Flutes Jam: A Guide to Improvisation.
Have you ever wanted to improvise with your pennywhistle or bamboo flute and didn’t know where to start, or where to go from the instrument’s basic key? This counterpart of Roots Jam, for melody, is full of charts and lessons to ease and enrich your solo or group jams. Read more here.
Big Tamale: The Roots Jam African Drumming Collection
A manual and guidebook of sheet music, lessons and exercises for hand drums and ethnic percussion. Thousands of rhythms notated from African, Afro-Latin, and other world beat traditions.
Access popular beats for djembe, dunun, conga, tabla, and batucada instruments. Groove on polyrhythms for DJ mixes, samba bands, kirtan, dance classes, rainbow gatherings, and drum circles. Learn djembe rhythms, dunun patterns, and other hand drum and percussion parts, along with tips to improve your technique and feel. Handy reference for solo practice, ensemble arrangements, drum circles or performance. Download supporting audio files from DjembeRhythms.com.
- Learn how to develop confidence and freedom playing hand drums in any musical jam or venue.
- Dive deep into African drumming styles from around the world.
- Find simple notation for djembe, dunun, conga, tabla and batucada parts from Guinea, Mali, Cuba, Brazil, Belize, India.
- Groove to tribal beats for hip hop and DJ mixes, samba bands, kirtan, dance classes, or drum circles.
- Explore archetypal music patterns, polyrhythm, improvisation, and drum culture.
This rhythm compendium contains:
- Friday Night Jam: Sax, Drums, Rock ‘n Roll (1991-96)
- Roots Jam 1: Collected Rhythms for Hand Drum and Percussion (1996)
- Roots Jam 2: West African and Afro-Latin Drum Rhythms (2002)
- Roots Jam 3: Arrangements for West African Drum and Dance (2007)
- Roots Jam 4: World Beats – Rhythms Wild! (2019)
Thank you. It is hard to explain how strong you change my life with your books 🙂 –Ivan Kovalenko
Collected Djembe and Dunun Rhythms
with Notation and Hand Drumming Lessons
Are you…
–a beginning hand drummer having trouble remembering the drum beats you learn? Maybe you’ve never taken a djembe lesson or learned music notation, and need a book with some basic instruction and djembe rhythms in easy rhythm notation to get you started. Or you’ve taken a few hand drum lessons or workshops and now need more patterns and exercises to keep you practicing.
–an intermediate djembe player looking to go beyond the basics and “put it all together”? Are you ready now to learn more about junjun (also called dundun or dunun) and bell parts? Or maybe you just need a solid collection of traditional West African drum rhythms in drum tablature notation, to hone your skills between workshops or performances.
–a kit drummer who’s looking to expand your chops into the expanding genres of world beat, fusion, reggae, or latin groove music–or to explore the roots of funk, jazz, and blues? Maybe what you need is a handy reference for playing African drums or African-based drum beats which you can adapt and apply creatively to the kit drum components of your choice.
–a performing or advanced drummer looking for a quick reference of ensemble arrangements for African and Latin dance rhythm arrangements, dundun patterns, or lead djembe solo parts? Maybe you want to share your drum knowledge with others, and can use additional rhythm parts and techniques to make your lessons or group repertoire more effective. You’ll also find here unique transcriptions, distillations and compilations of traditional patterns, to help you compose or arrange original percussion pieces and adaptations.
Roots Jam Rhythm Collections and Lessons
4 volumes to choose from …
Each book has material for beginners, intermediate and advanced drummers.
Included:
Easy notation for a wide variety of popular drum rhythms – hand drum lessons – rhythm concepts – tips and tricks – resources – practice patterns – basic universal patterns – audio files – and more!
Roots Super Jam: Get Roots Jam volumes 1-3 in one book and save $ (ebook or print)
Big Tamale: Get Roots Jam volumes 1-4 (plus Friday Night Jam) in one book and save $ (print only)
Go to the Roots Jam Series page on Amazon.
Contents, Samples, Excerpts | Sample pages & audio tracks
The rhythm notation: introduction | full notation system
Nowick Gray has been a teacher and writer for over three decades, and a drummer since 1990. He plays and performs with a number of drum and percussion groups in Victoria and Salt Spring Island, BC.
Overview of the Roots Jam series
Which of the Roots Jam rhythm books is best for a beginner?
All 4 volumes of Roots Jam are appropriate for all levels: beginners, intermediate and advanced drummers. Read more (FAQ)
Roots Jam 1: Collected Rhythms for Hand Drum and Percussion
This unique resource contains hundreds of rhythms from the African, Latin and rock traditions, along with inspired improvisations. Easy notation, useful for all levels, from beginners to performers. Includes lesson guide, arrangements, popular styles, practice exercises, and a list of other resources. Fully indexed, 80 pages. Click here to view contents, sample pages, and index of rhythms.
Roots Jam 2: West African and Afro-Latin Drum Rhythms
An expanded collection of over 125 traditional West African, Afro-Latin, and Middle Eastern rhythms, arranged for ready reference for individual learning or ensemble play. Covers djembe and dunun/bell parts and variations, in box (grid) notation for clear display of timing. Includes unique exercises, generic patterns and in-depth study of polyrhythm. Optional full-length audio CD with 28 demo and practice tracks. Click here to view contents, sample pages, and index of rhythms.
Roots Jam 3: Arrangements for West African Drum & Dance
This third collection of rhythms helps you take the next step in playing West African drums for dancers, in a group, or just for fun. Learn basic accompaniment parts, selected bass drum (dunun) and bell patterns and variations, and traditional djembe solos. Roots Jam 3 adds to the previous Roots Jam books in offering complete and cohesive ensemble arrangements for 16 popular dance rhythms. Included are lessons and exercises to help you understand basic downbeat, upbeat and offbeat timing; choose from available bell and clave patterns; and learn both traditional and improvised lead djembe solos. Practice listening to and playing parts with the optional audio CD. Also featured is notation for 27 original compositions by Nowick Gray, with audio tracks on a second CD. Click here to view contents, sample pages, and index of rhythms.
Roots Jam 4: World Beats – Rhythms Wild!
A deep dive into African drumming styles from around the world. Simple notation for djembe, dunun, conga, tabla and batucada parts from Guinea, Mali, Cuba, Brazil, Belize, India. Tribal beats for hip hop and DJ mixes, samba bands, kirtan, dance classes, or drum circles. Archetypal music patterns, polyrhythm, improvisation, and drum culture. Click here to view contents, sample pages, and index of rhythms.
Roots Jam audio (MP3) files…
- Roots Jam 2: twenty-eight short demo clips
- Roots Jam 3: full arrangements for 16 traditional & 27 original compositons
- Roots Jam 4: Six new compositons (mini-LP, Black Moon Bay, plus a new compilation, best of Roots Jam 3 & 4 (full LP, Elephant Garden)
mini-LP, 6 mp3 tracks
LP, 19 mp3 tracks
Order Roots Jam books and audio
Save $ with combos and bundles!
Go to the Roots Jam Series page on Amazon.
Reviews and testimonials of satisfied drummers
About the Roots Jam series…
Thank you. It is hard to explain how strong you change my life with your books 🙂
–Ivan Kovalenko
About Roots Jam 1… 5-Star Review – “A Unique Book”
Roots Jam is a compilation of hand drum rhythms that is well presented, with an easy-to-understand-and-use notation that appears to be gaining some acceptance as a standard for hand-drum rhythm notation. This foundation has allowed me, a beginner, to use Roots Jam as one of my primary instructional books. I highly recommend this book to any one who hand drums.
–A.E. Rice, Albuquerque, New Mexico
About Roots Jam 2…
What a monumental effort! Combining theory, rhythms, scholarship, personal research, exercises and philosophy as well as technically combining text and audio examples. This is a comprehensive, readable and affordable reference for over 80 African rhythms and 40 others. The book also contains a new and important contribution; the identification and classification of generic rhythm patterns.
–Jean Vaucher, Montreal
About Roots Super Jam (1-2-3):
— The wealth of knowledge is invaluable. Never gets old.
— Great and comprehensive source for every djembe player, from pure noob to real djembefola!
— Clear content, well organised information, love to read and love to play according to!
Amazing resource for any serious hand drummer
I love this book and recommend it without reservation. Nowick has combined his three books on hand drumming into one volume making it a very comprehensive collection of rhythms and hand drumming techniques. The rhythms are all portrayed in an easy to follow format which allows the drummer to practice and rapidly learn them. I am currently facilitating a drum circle and finding the book to be very useful not only in teaching rhythm ensembles but for my own continuing improvement.
–William E. Clark
About Nowick Gray’s YouTube drum lessons…
Viewer comment: I recently bought a djembe in the hopes to self teach and have found it hard to get good beginner videos on youtube and also videos that give me good rhythms that I can play alongside other instruments….Your videos are the best videos I have found on youtube yet to help me, absolutely brilliant!…thank you!
Viewer comment: Excellent! I went form having no clue, to having a tightened and tuned djembe in minutes! Thank-you!
Fun instruction for all levels…
Your books are great! Kids love the rhythms. Thanks!.
–Sharon S.
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