Tag Archives: West african drumming
2014 July Camps at MusiCamp
Here are the July weekly themes for MusiCamp 2014!
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July 7-11 – BLUES: from shouts to 12 bars
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July 14-18 – ROOTS MUSIC (guest artist!) – NEW in 2014!
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July 21-15 – COMPOSITION & SONG
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July 28-Aug 1 – WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING (guest artist!)
Registration forms and August dates will be posted very soon!
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More info on Roots Music Week More info on the Blues
More infor on Composition and Song More info on West African Drumming
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Composition & Song Camp 2014
Composition and Song $225
July 21 – 25, 9 am – 4 pm (extended care available)
Have a song you want to sing? A story you want to tell? Through a series of writing workshops and the study of different elements of music, aspiring songwriters and singers put their ideas to music. In a fun and practical way, campers are introduced to aspects of songwriting – like hooks, riffs, harmony, and rhythmic accompaniment, chorus-verse format, basic chord progressions, intros and outros, rhyming and storytelling. By the end of the week campers will have written and/or collaborated on the creation of original songs and arrangements. Kids who already have basic guitar chording are encouraged to bring their guitars. The week ends with a world premiere performances of our songwriter’s compositions!
Click the picture above to view our Flickr gallery of the Composition and Song camp from the summer of 2013. The pictures are of:
- campers constructing, stringing and playing diddley bos (home-made instrument)
- making/eating pizza (homemade by campers from a wood-stove) in Dufferin Grove Park (yummmmm)
- campers writing lyrics for a song (we had individual and collaborative writing workshops)
- some of the original lyrics-charts
- performance day & the after-performance party with parents, friends, watermelon and (more!) pizza
2014 Weekly Themes
It’s that time of year and MusiCamp is sorting out the summer schedule. We’re planning to keep our three themes from last year –
- West African Drumming
- The Blues
- Composition and Song
But we’re juggling some other possible weekly themes, like:
- OLD TIME & BLUE GRASS – details are still sketchy but the idea involves fiddles, guitars, and singing that old North American folk music (Blue Grass and Old Time music) featured so brilliantly in O Brother Where Art Thou? Special guest artist (to be announced) will co-direct this week.
- JUST SONGS – this week is for serious singers! With a focus on technique and a blended sound, we’ll learn 2- and 3- and maybe even 4-part songs! Repertoire will be drawn from across the genres, from classical to world music, from madrigals to pop tunes!
Let us know what you think or if you got any other ideas. Anything is still possible!
For reference, below are the descriptions from last years themes…
Guest Host AnnA Melnikoff
Anna Melnikoff is a gifted teacher and perpetually grateful student of traditional Mande music from West Africa who has been performing and teaching in the GTA for 15 years. She has studied with many master drummers and visits West Africa as often as possible. Currently she teaches djembe at York University, and is also the founder of an all-female performing ensemble, Moussoufolila. She is also a certified teacher of transformational healing and meditation with the Training in Power Academy.
AnnA with fellow djembefola Salimata Diabate
Daily Schedule for West African Drumming Week
Additional WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING WEEK!
We have added an additional West African Drumming Week for Aug 12-16, 9 am – 4 pm with extended care available for your music-loving, creative 8-12 year olds.
THE WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING WEEK is co-hosted by special guest artist AnnA Melnikoff and her orchestra of drums – so NO DRUM NEEDED – a drum will be made available to every camper! Campers will have a chance to play the polyrhythmic accompaniment on 3 bass drums (known as dunun) and develop riffs and patterns on djembes. Focusing on rhythms that accompany rights of passage, participants will have the chance to build masks and also explore the meaning of the drums and the rhythms from the very ancient Mande tradition. (To learn more about Mande music and what we’ll learn click here.)
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Mande Traditional Music
During the West African Drumming Week, we’ll be exploring the Mande musical tradition – more of which can be read (and seen in videos) just below this introductory section on the history of Mande drumming.
In 1235, the Mande warrior king named Sunjata Keita rose to power and united many kingdoms in West Africa to establish the Mande empire and what would be a 200-year golden age of peace and prosperity in the region.
Musicians at this time were more than just musicians. They were highly valued as negotiators, praise singers and historians. This history and its musical tradition lives on in a large part of west African countries, including Mali, Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Guinea Bissau as well as parts of Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
By the way, the story of Sunjata Keita is incredible since he was born a cripple and was exiled from his home because of this. Yet, he not only overcame his disabilities but established the prosperous Mande empire. More youth-oriented information can be read here: http://www.africa-junior.com/en/youth/knowledges/sundiata-keita.html.
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How MusiCamp Will Explore Mande Music
Guest host AnnA Melnikoff , with her expertise in the Mande drumming tradition, will guide us through this week’s activities. She’ll be bringing her exquisite drums which include djembes and a set of 3 bass drums called dunun. Each dunun has its own pattern which overlap with one another to form a melody upon which djembes can solo. In this week, you’ll get a chance to learn the various dunun patterns, djembe accompaniment patterns as well as a group djembe solo.
Focusing on rhythms that accompany rights of passage, participants will also build masks and explore the meaning of the drums and the rhythms from the very ancient Mande tradition.
Check out the videos below to get a sense of what we’ll be playing in the West African Drumming Week!
An Idea of Mande Drumming in Videos
SOUNDS OF MANDE DRUMMING
The 3 drummers standing are playing the dunun – the smallest drum is called the kenkeni, the middle drum is called the sangban and the largest drum is the dundunba. The guys sitting are playing 2 different accompaniment patterns on djembes.
THE SOUND OF THE DJEMBE
This one the drum instructor is demonstrating the 3 different tones on the djembe – tone, slap and bass, or in French “ton,” “claque,” and “bas” . By the way, French is spoken in many West African countries.
THE SOUND OF THE DUNUN
This video starts with a pattern on the middle dunun drum known as the sangban. Then the kenkeni (the smallest drum) is introduced. Note it is the simplest of all the 3 drum patterns but has the most important role of keeping the beat steady. Finally the bass drum, the dundunba, is introduced.
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MORE ON WEEKLY THEMES
THE BLUES: From Shouts to 12 Bars $225
July 15 – July 19 2013 9 am – 4 pm
Besides the musical games listed on the “about page”, the week will also include exploring the roots of the blues through the pentatonic scale, African American shouts from which the blues came, and a host musical stories. Campers will also:
- make their own drone instruments (and explore some ideas about acoustics)
- vocalize rhythms and chord progressions of the blues
- compose, improvise and sing over 12-bar blues.
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WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING $275
July 22 – July 26 2013 9 am – 4 pm & Aug 12 – Aug 16 2013 9 am – 4 pm
…. Special guest artist for the week includes AnnA Melnikoff and her orchestra of drums!
NO DRUM NEEDED! Special guest artist AnnA Melnikoff (along with her orchestra of drums!) will be co-hosting this week. Campers will have a chance to play the polyrhythmic accompaniment on 3 bass drums (known as dunun) and develop riffs and patterns on djembes. Focusing on rhythms that accompany rights of passage, participants will build masks and also explore the meaning of the drums and the rhythms from the very ancient Mande tradition. A drum will be made available to every camper.
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COMPOSITION AND SONG $225
July 29 – Aug 2 2013 9 am – 4 pm
Have a song you want to sing? A story you want to tell? This week will help aspiring songwriters put their ideas to music. The week’s musical activities introduce campers to aspects of songwriting – like hooks, riffs, harmony, and rhythmic accompaniment. Other aspects – like chorus-verse format, basic chord progressions, intros and outros, rhyming and storytelling – will also be explored. By the end of the week campers will have written and/or collaborated on the creation of an original song. Kids who already have basic guitar chording are encouraged to bring their guitars. The week ends with world premiere performances of our songwriter’s compositions!
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MusiCamp
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- African Dununs
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- Body percussion
MusiCamp is a summer day camp experience that explores music making in a positive environment, filled with activities that build your child’s musical skills in an intuitive and fun way. The activities are designed to supplement traditional formal musical training but also be accessible to the less experienced music enthusiasts. Weekly themes like The Blues, Singer-Songwriter or West African Drumming provide musical direction to the week, which is further supplemented with craft making (instruments and masks) and stories that broaden the child’s cultural and historical understandings of music and society. It all culminates in a end of week performance to which parents and friends are welcomed to attend.
No instrument needed. No formal musical training. All that’s need is a love for music, the willingness to explore the voice in all its beauty and rawness, and the readiness to be a part of an exciting and affirmative team!
CLICK HERE TO SEE 2015’s WEEKLY THEMES.
Weekly themes vary each year. Past themes involved the Blues, West African Drumming, and Composition and Song.
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