Djembe Lesson: How to play Sinte African Rhythm on Djembe

The rhythm we're going to do on this 10" Djembe today is called Sinte. Sinte is a rhythm that is used traditionally with young ladies for celebration, sometimes for initiation purposes. In the United States the rhythm is usually used for celebration.

Sinte is like a Lamba feel or a 4/4 type of feel.

The break begins the rhythm, changes the dancers and ends the rhythm. For this particular song, it is a different kind of break, so watch the break.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

The first djembe part for Sinte after the break goes like this:

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

The second djembe part goes like this:

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Third djembe part that you can play with Sinte:

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Those are three different djembe parts that you can use. Now watch as I demonstrate how to put it all together.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

So that's Sinte. Now, sometimes when you go around to other groups, you may hear a breakdown or a unison break. I want you to be on point so I am going to show the unison break for Sinte.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

Those are all of the parts and now you know the breakdown so keep that in your head and now I am going to riff a little bit on top for you.

[RHYTHM PERFORMED ON DRUM]

The drum used in this demonstration is the 10" Kalimantan Djembe.

29th Oct 2014

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