Drumming Gig With Students From Belgium

 So I did another drumming gig with a school in George, Outeniqua High School...

There was a foreign exchange program coming to ts end...so the South African learners took their Belgian counterparts on a tour in a "Loxion"(Location - also called a settlement or township)
where the local people invited them into their shack homes, and danced for them when they left each house....what an amazing experience!!!

 The first photo is a picture of the set up that I used...25 Drums in a big circle, with a skinless shell on display....When I start my drum session(it was done as a Team Building Exercise), I always start by introducing the Djembe, telling them how its made(Machine - Lathe - made drums versus hand carved drums)...what type of skins are used, and a little history about the Djembe.

 Then we start our actual drumming by playing the three basic notes on the Djembe to get them used to the hand placement for those three notes...(If you go back to my earlier posts on this blog I describe the three basic notes in quite a bit of detail)

After that we start to play full rhythms from Ta-Ka-Doem-Ta...to...Heartbeat Rhythms, and even some interesting Polyrythms!!!

At a point in the session when I can see that everyone has got the general understanding of how to play the Djembe, I split the group into three smaller groups...give them 5mins to come up with their very own rhythm.  As you can imagine they compete fiercely with each other and I stir the pot a bit by going over to each group and telling them more or less what I want to hear.  Look how hard they are all concentrating...hehehe


This is the entire group once we were done...tired hands but happy faces...

I am so grateful that what I do for a living is, not only my passion, but it brings joyful memories to people that will not be forgotten for a very long time...

I am privileged to become a small part of all my drum students lives!!!!....




Should you want any more info on my Team Building Drum Sessions please feel free to email me on daniel@djembeman.co.za or even phone me on +2782958482!

Thank you for enjoying my blog with me!

Enjoy your day further!

Daniel Nicholson A.K.A "Djembeman"

Amazing random meeting of an amazing muzo!!!!

So I believe in having my djembe with me WHEREVER I go, and I am simply not shy at all...so I often just sit somewhere and watch the crowds walk by while I drum in my own little world in my head...

This being said, I quite often meet interesting people on my journey in life...

This man was very cool...we chatted and chatted for almost an hour...he gave me tips on drumming styles and hand placements,etc...

He is the drummer for an old 70's band called "Four Jacks and a Jill"...if you have'nt heard of them please google them...old school music but awsome South African Band!!!

I've been invited to his house to have a jam with him - he still has a couple of drum kits - but sadly he wasn't feeling too well when I tried to arrange it...

Will post videos and pics as soon as we have a jam together!!!!

Creche Drumming Show

So this was done for an end of year pantomime show in MosselBay...

What an incredible day it as for me...up to this point I had only had 3 group lessons with the kids and they astounded me and their parents by a flawless show!!!!

DANKIE KINDERS!!!!

Drumming at the Redberry Festival

 So, I got asked to do a drum circle for 2 days at the Redberry Farm...

They do an annual strawberry festival....

So these are the pics of the 2 days, it was a lot of fun, and I got to market my business like crazy!!!!! As you can see in the pics, I made sure my car's signage was very visible at all times!!!

 Thanks mom for coming round and taking a couple of pics for me.....she also brought me Energade cool drinks to keep me going...I was basically drumming none stop for 6-8hours each day....

 There were times that I got the kids going on a rhythm, then stood back and chatted to their parents about my business and giving the marketing "speech"...lol

 My hands at the end of the day...Zoom in and see just how much pain they were in....

 And so the day went on, people of all ages came and drummed and had fun....This was a school group that rocked up and virtually took over completely....loved having them there...they created such a big "Buzz" for 30mins that it brought a load of people over just because of their happy vibe!!!

And this lovely family took a bunch of their own photos and emailed this kiff pic to me...didn't even know they were taking the photo until I got their mail...

Thanks to the Redberry Farm for the invitation to attend the Fest!!!

Djembe drum lessons at Afrovibe Backpackers

This is my drum lessons:

We get together at Afrovibe Backpackers in George every Sunday night from 5h00PM
And I teach some rythms.

Here are some pics from last sunday....


keep checking...more to come soon!!!!

new base rythm

try this at home

Drum Lesson....in the car!

Sometimes I like to sit in my car with the windows rolled up...

The base of the drum resonates sooo nicely in such a small space.
I also find that teaching yourself to play in such a limited space gets your wrists to naturally do what you want them to do...

Try it, and let me know if you get the same effect.

P.S
Forgive the sound just a little bit...vid was taken with my cellphone

Drumming at Cactus,South Africa

I enjoyed playing a couple of rythms at Cactus,a mexican restuarant and pub in George,South Africa...unfortunately the owner didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the people there, so I had to can it after a couple of rythms...

Master Drummer at Play

This is Peter from the Wilderness area(Garden Route)

It was absolutely amazing to drum along with you, and thank you for the awesome Vibe You and the Band brought to us on Sat.(Big Blu,Mosselbay,S.A)

I hope we get some more clips from you.
Daniel

Drum Circle in East London,S.A

These are all photo's from one of our weekly Drum Workshops, held by Richard in East London,S.A at a pub called "Imbizo". As you can see the pub has a very African vibe to it which is perfect for Djembe Workshops.

There are a few Experienced Drummers at this particular event. The Lady playing the Big Djembe is also a Master Drummer,(and my very best friend) Beverly.
As you can also see we even have a regular Rastafarian(Bra Gift Watchman).
This Djembe was carved and skinned by Richard,Please e-mail me if you are looking for a drum made by him...his drums are of awesome quality, so good in fact, that some of his drums have even been exported to Germany.
...And of course, no Drumming event would be utterly complete without my BEAUTIFUL Wife with her GORJIS smile(I'm scoring points folks,hehehe).

Master Drummer in East London,S.A

This is my good friend Richard...A Master Drummer from East London,S.A.

Richard has a weekly drum circle at a pub called "Imbizo" or you can find him at "Sugar Shack Backpackers" on the East London Beachfront.

If you ever DO go and introduce yourself to him, tell him I say "Hi"