Transcript:
"My name is Andy Skellenger. I am a percussionist here in Boulder, CO, and I am offering private lessons out of my home here, or out of Harmony Music House, which is in downtown Boulder, CO, a beautiful little music studio. I can teach you a little bit on any of these instruments you see here, including the Djembe, Cajon and Udu. My specialty and what I am most passionate about is the the tabla of North India. So, I am very interested in teaching tabla, not only to dedicated tabla students, but also to any instrumentalist who is interested in becoming more versed and more versatile rhythmically on their instrument. I believe that what tabla has to teach is useful for all of us. It can enrich your brain in ways that you can't imagine until you feel it. Part of the reason for that is that we learn it orally, it is passed on orally, and each of the tabla compositions is spoken before it is ever played. So, we have what are called "bols", syllables which represent sounds on the drum, and we speak these before we ever learn to play, so for instance, here is a composition, and also when we are learning we keep these clap patterns that demonstrate a rhythmic cycle. It's a lot to explain, but I'll just show you a little bit.
Din - Din- Te Te Te Te Ghe Ghe Te Te Ga Di Ghe Ne
Ta Ki Ta Dha - Ne Dha- Te Te Ka Ta Ga Di Ghe Ne
Dha - Ka Te Dha - Te Te Ka Ta Ga Di Ghe Ne Dha -
Ka Te Dha - Te Te Ka Ta Ga Di Ghe Ne Dha - Ka Te
Dha
I'll show you what that composition sounds like on the tabla so that it is not completely abstract. (playing and reciting). Now, one thing I am particularly interested in teaching is to become comfortable with different kinds of rhythm, especially odd-times and different subdivisions of the beat. It's really fun actually to use a looping pedal and this wave drum, KORG Wave Drum and synthesizer so you can learn how to layer up a beat and make it groove. So, for instance, this beat I am about to show you is in ten, or two groups of five, and I made it by creating various different layers with this Korg Wave Drum which is a synthesized drum machine basically. (playing) So, one of the big things about being a percussionist is learning how you fit in (which I should have explained can be learned by learning how to layer rhythms). So, here's the beat I created just before this video. Like I said, it is in 5. So, the clapping pattern for Five goes… Clap, Touch, Clap, Touch, Touch, Clap, Touch, Clap, Touch, Touch. And the word for Five that we are gonna use for this little demonstration is Dha Ti Dha Ghe, Na, Dha Ti Dha Ghe, Na. And I'll show you a few subdivisions we can do, just using that word. (Demonstration with recitation and clapping). So, it's exercises like this that we will eventually work up to that will help your brain think of rhythm in different ways. And also, the nice thing about having that (the looping pedal and wave drum) is that we can practice playing along to those odd times. So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…. (playing). So, come have some fun with me. Come learn something. You can find me at Andy Skellenger Music (www.facebook.com/andyskellengermusic) and Harmony Music House (http://harmonymusichouse.com). Bye!"