Dr Jon's Djembe Clinic

Ever wondered how to play that difficult phrase you can never figure out?

Or how to get that crisp dry pop of a tone that djembe folas produce effortlessly but seems impossible?

Do you want to break out of playing learned solo phrases by improvising around them? 

Then Dr Jon’s Djembe Clinic is for you!

With a background in classical music and a doctorate in Cognitive Psychology (Ph.D) Jon Weaver has been studying the djembe since 2000 (including three years spent living and playing in West Africa). He has learnt with some of West Africa’s greatest djembe teachers as well as studying the physics of the djembe in order to understand exactly how djembe folas produce the sounds that they do. By combining his knowledge of both western and Guinean music with his understanding of how people learn Jon has developed a clear and concise system of study for the djembe.

In Dr Jon's Djembe Clinic you will learn how to liberate the true sound dynamics of your drum and produce crisp, dry popping tones along with snappy multi-harmonic slaps you may have thought were impossible. You will be amazed how things can improve in such a short time by playing with practical exercises to improve your technique!

In addition you will learn a variety of solo rudiments: techniques that commonly occur in traditional West African solo phrases. By teaching the individual techniques, and then giving example phrases in which they occur, Jon provides insight into the mechanics of solo phrases that allows students to understand commonly occurring patterns.

Jon believes passionately that we all have the ability to solo, but that often fear gets in the way. To help with this he has created a simple set of ‘solo rules’ that allow a player to:

• Improvise between learned phrases using rudiments

• Build phrases out of simple elements and develop a theme

• Deconstruct traditional solo phrases into their simpler elements and then play with these in their solo

Jon has had great success using these techniques in both his beginners and intermediate class and is helping an increasing number of people to find their sounds and enjoy soloing as part of their weekly (or daily!) practice.

Here's a video explaining Jon's take on technique, including what creates the difference between a slap and a tone and how to achieve different slaps:

Book now on 07880 821033, email djembeweaver@gmail.com or visit www.africandrummingsheffield.co.uk for more information!