African Beats for Modern Music

Several years ago I provided a series of drumming workshops for teachers and counselors at a local school district. Near the end of the series, they requested a session on learning simple but sophisticated drum patterns that they could present to some of their students in a music appreciation festival. I felt that it would be helpful to create a specific list of songs that they could experience and have a specific pattern attached to each song. It was so much fun to see their expressions when first hearing each song and making comments like: “I know that singer!”, “I just listened to that on the radio”, “That songs is so beautiful”. I provided most participants with a djembe, and a few with a tubano or conga drum. After some warm-up exercises, we were ready to learn a few basic African rhythms using BASS and TONE sounds. Here is a list of the first five songs I used in the workshop:

I’ll Stand by You by Carrie Underwood
Mercy by Duffy
Rumour Has It by Adele
Heart of the Matter by India.Arie
Firework by Boyce Avenue

I presented the rhythmic notation in an adaptive form for ease of reading and recall.  The words that we paired with each pattern were included.  In their presentation, they used the recording with students.  It is also recommended to sing the song yourself and add in the drum accompaniment- so cool!

Recently, I shared this approach with my music therapy staff at Spectrum Creative Arts.  We discussed using these patterns with a variety of current favorites and new pop songs.  With another staff member, we talked about the application of these rhythms with trap music.  Trap drumming uses technologies to create electronic drum patterns and loops.  Try adding these simple patterns to Garage Band or other apps like DM1 (Drum Machine).  Then you can explore by adding additional percussion layers.

Spectrum Press Challenge: Share one of your ideas for using one of the downloaded patterns!  You can just submit the song idea, or feel free to send in a video or audio clip!