SOPP334: African drumming and organ playing

Published: Nov. 18, 2018, 2:20 p.m.

This question was sent by Jan. She is on the team who transcribes our fingering and pedaling scores. And she asked:\n \nI attended a djembe African drumming workshop at my local library. I had a great time. It was so much fun to play music as part of a group. \n\nI have a question...to remember the rhythms, would a classically trained musician automatically translate these rhythms into notation? (Sort of like visualizing a word that you are trying to spell.) I was able to play the rhythms by copying them, but I was not able to translate into notation. I hope that I will be able to teach myself to do so. The whole reason for me attempting to play the djembe is because I am so totally over not being able to keep a consistent tempo in my pipe organ playing and I thought that djembe drumming would provide a more whole body experience.