Hand Drum Lessons & Notation for Djembes, Dununs & Bells

Category Archives: drum jams

Sunu Jams, and other exercises for handing and timing

Sunu Jams, and other exercises for handing and timing

Do you know the feeling of a rhythm that knows you so well it always shows itself when you sit down to play? So you can’t shake it, as if it doesn’t want to let you go. You might call it your song. At least until the next one comes along.

Lately (like, the last ten years) I’ve been obsessed with a kind of Sunu groove, which I feel is the core of Sunu, the opening g – P T in 4/4, and so many variations thereof. Also what attracts me to the Sunu feel is its flexiblity to become triplets, or 6/8 meter, interchangeably with the 4/4, simply by an adjustment of timing between the notes, sometimes obvious and abrupt, sometimes nuanced, imperceptible.

So often what starts out as a straight Sunu soon morphs into a Lafe, or Aconcon, with a doubled tone to start. Or, what starts that way veers into Sunu before long, then into triplets and back again. (See the YouTube video I recorded from such a jam, with some patterns as indicated below).

Here are some of the patterns that turn up in such a solo practice jam, with many more variations just by mixing and matching the half bar patterns. Note that a switch of handing sometimes makes sense when lining up with triplets.

Note that in many of the above patterns, the key is to keep alternating right and left handing through the sequence of notes. That way the timing can be squeezed or stretched wherever you like, for additional variations whether sticking with 4/4, or giving a triplet twist.

Happy drumming!
—Nowick Gray

YouTube video: Lafe/Sunu practice jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXJbDQl187c

For more exercises and studies in djemberhythms, see the Roots Jam books available at DjembeRhythms.com (PDF and audio) or Amazon (PDF or print).

How to Get Into a Jam

How to Get Into a Jam

The following excerpt from Flutes Jam: A Guide to Improvisation addresses issues that apply to group music in any context, whether playing a drum or flute or other instrument. It could apply as well to the daily performance (or jam) we call life. How to Get into a Jam: Four Stages of Personal Evolution Unconscious self-absorption Not… Continue Reading

Samba du Soleil

Samba du Soleil

Samba du Soleil, based on Salt Spring Island, BC, has been playing Brazilian batucada music–arranged by Sam Miller and inspired from Brazilian master Celso Machado–for almost twenty years now. Personnel changes and musical variations continue, but the band plays on with ever zestful flavors of Carnival. The Samba du Soleil set list is featured in… Continue Reading

Musical Sound Awareness

Musical Sound Awareness

(an excerpt from a forthcoming memoir by Nowick Gray, My Generation) In the winter term (1971) I explored an intriguing new avenue of expression, one also well suited to the temper of the time. Musical Sound Awareness was taught by a black jazz musician, Robert Northern, who on the first day said to the class,… Continue Reading

Hendrix and Jamming

Hendrix and Jamming

It’s a way of life. —Frank Zappa I just finished reading a fascinating biography called Hendrix: Musician, by Keith Shadwick (Backbeat, 2012), which caught my eye in the discount bin at the local music store. I’ve been delving into Hendrix lore since working on the 1968–70 portion of a memoir, My Generation. Hendrix was god… Continue Reading

Drum Jamming Made Easy (Sometimes)

Two new publications are available for beginning or experienced drummers to learn from. These resources offer accessible rhythms and experiential lessons that helped me in the early phase of my journey as a hand drummer. Friday Night Jam is a kind of anecdotal, instructional how-to (and sometimes painful how-not-to) guide to group improvisation, based on my… Continue Reading