Djaa * Dance of seduction
Traditional * Ethnical Group: Malinke, Northeast Guinea. From: Mamady Keita, A Life for the Djembe
In earlier times, Djaa was played without instruments, only sung and clapped by the young girls. Later the rhythm developed into a dance of seduction that is now played at the festivities for young people. They form two semi-circles, with the girls on one side, the boys on the other.
The boy who leads the dance holds a scarf as a symbol of love and friendship. He jumps into the center of the circle and dances a short solo. Then he selects one girl and puts the scarf around her neck. She also dances a solo and then chooses another boy. This goes on for many hours. Through this dance, the young people get to know each other and many marriages have been the result of this.
Suitable for beginners and advanced players
As with many rhythms that I teach, I have "converted" the doundoun melody to djembe. The doundoun melody is the recogniseable part of the rhythm. It is usually played at half the speed of the djembe parts, and it usually can be played on the djembe with just the bass and the tones. Which is exactly what makes these doundoun melodies very interesting and very accessible to beginners. The Djembe doun parts below are therefore not traditional but of my own making.
Call
3t=itt3tt.3tt.3t..
3s.t3s..3s.t3s..
3s.s3stt3s.s3stt
3b..3b..3tt.3t..
3b.b3b..3t..3b.b
3b.b3b..3t..3t.*b
Djembe doun 2A
(advanced)
3b.b3b..3t..3b.b
3b.b3b..3.t.3t.*b
Djembe doun 3
(wood = clap)
3_...3_...3_..b3bb.
3sss3.tt3sss3btt
3bst3.s.3bs.3ts.
3bss3btt3bss3btt
3bss3s..3bss3.tt
3stt3.t=it3tss3...
3xsxs.3x.x..3xsxs.3x.x..
3xt.xt3.xt.3x.xm.3xm.x.
3xb.xb3xb.x.3x..xb3xb.xb
3xb.xb3xb.x.3x..x.3x..x*b
Create an intro
Here is an intro for solist and (beginner) group, created from the elements above:
Call by solist
3t=itt3tt.3tt.3t..
3f..
Group answers
The 'wood' notes are hand claps. Doundouns can play uni sono.
3b..3b..3b..
3b..3b..3tt.3t..4x
3_...3_...3_..b3bb.4x
Call by solist again
3t=itt3tt.3tt.3t..
3f..
Group answers
3b..3b..3b.b
The rhythm ends with an echauffement and call by the solo player and a single repeat of the full intro.
The main rhythm is one of the doundoun melodies, adapted for djembe. Beginners have great fun playing it, and a beginner-soloist is also able to play on top of it. A more advanced group may move towards the more traditional setup: a proper doundoun section and two accompanying djembe parts. The djembe-doundoun part can then be used as a variation or short break.