Dunun Workshop Saturday Sept 14th

July 29, 2013 By

Dunun Workshop
Saturday, September 14
Decatur, GA
with Colleen Caffrey

Are you a djembe / dunun ensemble player or student?
Are you a drum circle enthusiast?
This 5-hour workshop is packed with fun and useful skills for you!

You may know them as dunun, dundun, dounoum, (or possibly even djun djun, in which case, PLEASE come to this class). They are the melodic bass drums of the Mandingue drumming orchestra. Learning or delving deeper into these instruments will ● deepen your knowledge and FEEL of djembe music ● improve your coordination and limb independence ● give you skills to be of great service to any drum circle or community ensemble

Colleen playing dununba10:00-12:30pm Traditional-Style Dunun
The traditional-style dunun will cover all 3 dunun parts (sangban, kenkeni, and dununba), accompanying bell patterns and some dununba variations for 1 or 2 (time depending) traditional West African rhythms.  More importantly you’ll learn the archetypal patterns inside these rhythms that you can use to learn new rhythms faster and create your own variations!  The bell patterns on their own can be applied to any percussion instrument and can be an empowering, solidifying force for cohesive groove in a community drum circle setting!

2:00-4:30pm [American] Ballet-Style Dunun

Turn those dunun upright and now you can play several drums at once like a drum set!  This style Colleen playing ballet style dununemerged in the 1950s with the advent of the West African national “ballets.”  But instead of sparse arrangements designed for the fast and furious tempos of professional African dance companies, in this class we’ll focus on arrangements that transpose most of the notes from the 3-drum traditional piece onto two hands.  This makes it possible to keep the full melodic richness of the 3 drums and bring a ton of musicality to your ensemble or drum circle with just one dunun player!

Who Should Come?

  • Beginner – Intermediate Djembe & Dunun Students
    If you study traditional West African djembe, it’s critical to also learn the dunun to understand the conversation going on between the two.
  • West African Ensemble Players
    Colleen is adept at teaching multi-level classes. You’ll get some new parts to add to your repertoire and review some building blocks that will deepen your groove on familiar patterns
  • Drum Circle Enthusiasts
    You’ll come away with material that you can use to support a rich, consistent groove in any drum circle or spontaneous rhythm jam situation.

Registration:

Register in advance and save!  We will need a minimum of 8 students registered by August 20 to hold each class.
One class:  $40 in advance / $45 at the door
Both classes:   $65  in advance / $75 at the door

Register  Now!
Location: 

Leafmore Community Clubhouse
1373 Altamont Dr, Decatur, GA 30033

About Colleen
Colleen Caffrey is a gifted teacher and performer who has been playing and teaching djembe since 2003. She is a close student of grandmaster djembefola, Mamady Keita and has travelled with him to Conakry Guinea, where she passed his arduous exam of music and cultural knowledge to become a Professor of the Tam Tam Mandingue djembe school. She is the co-founder of DrumRise which offers djembe and dunun instruction in Atlanta, Georgia and across the United States. As a certified TaKeTiNa facilitator, Colleen uses a kinesthetic learning process to help students deeply embody polyrhythmic relationships found in West African and other archetypal rhythms. Colleen Caffrey crafts a group experience that makes West African rhythms accessible to people at all different experience levels while challenging each person to expand their skills and play with greater confidence and musicality!

Register  Now!