Jabba Jabba Jembe!!

Today class Amina had a percussion workshop from 10.40 - 3.20. When we went down to the music room, we were greeted by a man called Dave :) We all had to go out to the van (which was cool) to get all the drums and stuff. Dave's dog also came along for the craic. It is the cutest dog ever!! His name was Charlie, and I really wanted to sneak him home with me, but I think Dave would have noticed if his dog was missing.... When we had brought all the drums in, we each took one. He showed us basic things, like how to hit the drum properly with your hands, and also he taught us some basic rhythms. Then we learned a bit about the history of the jembe. It originated in western africa, in Mali. Dave said that he lived in Ghana, so I thought that was quite a cool place to live. Then we played some more songs. Some girls had the big bass drums, and some had little small bongos. Even some of the teachers played with us :D We watched a video about the jembe in africa, and how rhythm comes into their everyday lives. It was amazing to see the local people beating out rhythms when they were like working in the fields or something...I guess it really does flow in the blood! Then we got to do some freestyling and salsa. At times it was hard to keep the rhythm because other people were doing different things, but I eventually got the hang of it. Most people's hands were sore at the end, but that just means that your "hands are laughing" !! It was such a good day, definitely one of the best days in ty so far. It was SOOO much fun. everyone enjoyed themselves. It was also really different, it's not everyday to get to play the jembe!!! (haha that rhymes) the website is www.jabbajabbajembe.com