TextbooksAfro-DrumsRitmos do BrasilGrooves from A to Z

__________________________________________________________________________

Grooves from A to Z

Grooves from A to Z is a compilation of 26 afro- and latinamerican rhythms. The intention was to show the polyrhythmic and melodic essence of these traditional rhythms in compressed and short exercises.

The modern drumset is an excellent tool for playing more than one rhythm simultaneously. Personally, I like to imitate the rhythms of percussion instruments on the drumset and to combine these elements in complex grooves. This approach is very beneficial for the drummers coordination and his ability to hear and play different rhythms at the same time. And it gives you fresh ideas ! The melodic possibilties on the drumset are limited but not non-existent. Therefore, I find it very important to develop this aspect of drumming as far as possible. Grooves from A to Z gives the drummer many examples for this.

I choose the rhythms by assigning them to the letters of the alphabet. At first glance, this appears strange but the advantage is, that you have to include also many not so well known rhythms. For some letters, it was not at all easy to find an interesting rhythm. As a rule, I preferred little known rhythms. This appeared to me more interesting then to fall back on standard rhythms. Nevertheless, the drummer will also find some popular rhythms like songo, rumba and comparsa.

This nice compilation is only available as a free pdf-download on my website. Connected with this offer I would like to present a project, which needs support:

Since the beginning of 2008 I am involved in a very challenging project on the Cape Vert islands. With the help of many cape verdean musicians I am in the process of collecting and describing all the traditional rhythms of the islands by means of recordings, transcriptions and documentary movies. This has never been done before and there is no time to waste because many of the traditional drummers are far beyond 70 years of age. The unique culture of these islands deserves it to be preserved.

Unfortunately, there are no institutions for musical education. In former times, this was not neccessary because playing music and singing were some of the few leisure time activities. But, even on Cape Vert they now have television and computer games and the interest amoungst young people in playing music is decreasing.

On the other hand, even if a teenager would like to play music, it is for many of them impossible to buy an instrument.

In São Filipe, the capital of the island of Fogo, there is a public school with more than a thousand pupils. Here, we would like to establish an educational programm for teenagers, who would like to play an instrument. The financial ressources of this small town are very limited and so we need support.

If you like to donate money please contact me for the bank account data. I canceled the existing bank account because of unauthorised debits.

Offering the free download of Grooves from A to Z is my way to say thank you to all the people, who would like to support this project.

Grooves von A bis Z (Pdf-Download: 2,2 MB)*

*) Pdf files can be read and printed by Adobe Reader (Version 4.0 or higher).
Free download: www.adobe.com