How is a djembe solo composed?

In the malinké tradition the solo that is played on the djembe, is strongly dependent of the level of the dancer. Djembe-soloists improvise only if the dancer manages this. Normally fixed basic - and variationpatterns are used, and there is less  frequently improvising. If you have solo ambitions and you have the chance to attend an accompaniment of West-African dancing, you grab this chance!  Undoubtedly you wil learn a lot of it.

In all cases a strong degree of ask-and-answer-structure is used, a dialogue with the dancer, but also with particularly the sangban and the doundoun. A beautiful example of a dialogue between djembe on the one hand, and doundoun and sangban on the other you find in the next fragment of the Soko: click here.

Also between sangban and doundoun there are dialogues, be it in basic patterns, be it in variations and improvisations. The Ngoron has a clear communication pattern between sangban and doundoun, click here for a fragment. Actually joining in the communication, slightly an exception on the rule, does the kenkeni. Listen here to the same fragment but with the kenkeni being added.

The Doundounbe knows a variation on the basic pattern which lets doundoun and sangban communicate with eachother : click here.

On both basic - and variationpatterns as on improvisations the djembe on its turn can answer. Here comes again the same Doundounbe fragment, in which both djembesoloist, as sangban - and doundounplayer answer each other : click here.
Frequently a solopart exists in 'imitating' something that happens in the rest of the ensemble. Listen f.e. to again the same fragment of the Ngoron, in which the djembe repeats in faster tempo the dialogue between kenkeni and sangban: click here.
In the last fragment mentioned you can hear also well how the djembesoloist gives way to the characteristic Ngoron-sound that is performed by doundoun and sangban. Another example of this give-way-to is a fragment of the Sorsornet, listen here. The soloist never drowns out the rest of the ensemble but joins in. Another way to do that, is correctly go along in the rest of the ensemble, by emphasizing what happens there. Listen to the next fragment of the Kakilambe, a rhythm with a very typical cadance that is accentuated by the soloist: click here.

You have therefore several possibilities to perform a solo. You can play on the beat, or play around it as in the Soli. Of course your choice must be to join allways in to the character of the rhythm. A soloist never plays if on that moment another musician is improvising; that would produce a Babylonian speech misfiring. We like to hear you, but let it be no monologue but always a dialogue!

You can listen to solo-shortened versions of some rhythms on the page complete rhythms. You can listen to complete versions on our cd (choose option B)

Musicological analytics by Tubab Muso

(c) 2004 Tubab Muso. Nothing of this page may be published without permission by the authors.

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Other websites:
Video results for djembe solos
Lead Djembe Drum Solos
Method Djembe Solo