How I Like To Read & Play A Notated Drum Circle Rhythm

Most of the rhythms at the drum circle are in 4/4 time, or in 6/8 time. Using the rhythm below in 4/4 time, that means there is 4 counts in each measure. A quarter note gets one beat.

One way to get the rhythm is to tap your foot 4 times, starting on the "1". Tap on the 1, 2, 3, 4, and play it. Start out with a very slow tempo, you can always speed it up later.

Another way is tapping your foot steadily 8 times during the measure, (twice for each count) So it's like this: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &, tap once for each one, 8 times as you play the rhythm. I can't get it to format quite correctly on here, but at least it gives you an idea.

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk, D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk, D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk, And away it flows.

Or try it this way, there is 16 counts in one 4/4 measure. I like to tap on just the number, and the & (+). Some people like to count them all out loud, some tap to all of them etc. It looks like this for 2 measures:

1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a][1e+a2e+a3e+a4e+a,
D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk][D-TkTkT-D-TkT-Tk,

Written out it looks, and sounds like this:
Doum-TekkaTekkaTek-Doum-TekkaTek-Tekka,

Try saying this out loud, and then play along.
1 E & A, 2 E & A, 3 E & A, 4 E & A

The "D" in the rhythm notation is a bass note or Doum. The "T" and "K" are tone notes, right and left hand. The letters in Caps are accented, or louder. I like to play the "T" or "Tek" with my dominant hand. The t and k are softer notes. I hope some of this helps you to play some of the notated drum rhythms in my older blog posts below.

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Here's another rhythm example written slightly differently with the rhythm Beledi: Timing is in 4/4, 1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a
Try it out, the rhythm phrase below is 2 measures.
I like to count on just the 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4

Rhythm Notation: D D tkT, D tkT - 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4
(The last 4 is a pause, or rest, then the phrase begins again) Sounds like: Doum Doum tekka-tek, Doum tekka-Tek(pause)Doum Doum tekka-tek, Doum tekka-Tek

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An example of a 6/8 rhythm is if you play to the saying: "Fol-low-the-yel-low-brick-road-go-do-pa-ta-pa" or say, "cab-bage-and-broc-o-li, cab-bage-and-broc-o-li". It flows like the rhythm of a shuffle in 6.

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