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Rating: 
Summary: Great jumping-off place
Review: I have the Conga Book by the same authors and have been pleased with both. Their system of notation makes learning rhythms easy, and their helpful hints and comments enhance the learning experience. The CD is what truly makes this book 5 stars. It has a multitrack feature. You can adjust the balance on your stereo to hear one drum part at a time. I like to play one part while my stereo plays another. In addition, the tracks go for about five minutes so you can really get into the rhythm, build stamina, and maybe practice soloing! Happy drumming!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Way to Get Started on Djembe
Review: If you are trying to learn to play the djembe "in a void", i.e., by yourself - then this book & CD are for you. They won't substitute for a flesh & blood teacher BUT they are good, second-best form of instruction. The book is well laid-out, uses layman's vocabulary, and notation is easy to use and interpret, though I am still figuring out triplets and 12/8 time (! ). Instructions include playing position and posture, the "handing" of the three basic sounds: bass, tone/open, and slap, as well as how to tune your rope-strung African djembe. A nice feature for actual practicing is that the book will lay flat on the floor and the musical notation is printed large enough that you can see it from a standing position. Dworsky and Sansby start you off learning syncopating parts to Kuku, a very popular West African rythm, as well as Djole, Kassa, Suku, Madan and a couple others. The accompanying CD, is perhaps the key element to this instruction. The CD contains the djembe artistry of Sidi-Joh Mohammed Camara, a master drummer from Bamako, Mali. This is what makes the whole process really come alive. You learn the parts by reading and practicing, then playing what you hear on the CD with Sidi. You also hear Sidi-Joh playing the parts ensemble with others so you know what the whole sound and rythm are like. In the instructional tracks, usually two parts are played. You can separately listen to either part by turning your CD players balance either full left or full right, and play along with Sidi. I am an enthusiastic beginner on djembe having only started 4 months ago. I'm only able to get personal intruction sporadically. Considering that the book and CD are about the same cost as an hour's private lesson with a djembe artist, it's a good buy. Heartily recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Way to Get Started on Djembe
Review: If you are trying to learn to play the djembe "in a void", i.e., by yourself - then this book & CD are for you. They won't substitute for a flesh & blood teacher BUT they are good, second-best form of instruction. The book is well laid-out, uses layman's vocabulary, and notation is easy to use and interpret, though I am still figuring out triplets and 12/8 time (! ). Instructions include playing position and posture, the "handing" of the three basic sounds: bass, tone/open, and slap, as well as how to tune your rope-strung African djembe. A nice feature for actual practicing is that the book will lay flat on the floor and the musical notation is printed large enough that you can see it from a standing position. Dworsky and Sansby start you off learning syncopating parts to Kuku, a very popular West African rythm, as well as Djole, Kassa, Suku, Madan and a couple others. The accompanying CD, is perhaps the key element to this instruction. The CD contains the djembe artistry of Sidi-Joh Mohammed Camara, a master drummer from Bamako, Mali. This is what makes the whole process really come alive. You learn the parts by reading and practicing, then playing what you hear on the CD with Sidi. You also hear Sidi-Joh playing the parts ensemble with others so you know what the whole sound and rythm are like. In the instructional tracks, usually two parts are played. You can separately listen to either part by turning your CD players balance either full left or full right, and play along with Sidi. I am an enthusiastic beginner on djembe having only started 4 months ago. I'm only able to get personal intruction sporadically. Considering that the book and CD are about the same cost as an hour's private lesson with a djembe artist, it's a good buy. Heartily recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great start, but could be better.
Review: In general, this book/CD combination is great. The text of the book is clear, the authors' approach in starting with simple patterns and then adding to / subtracting from the simple pattern to arrive at the traditional pattern is very effective. The authors' present the material clearly and succinctly, and is paced very well. This book is a good resource for getting started on the djembe. There is only one thing that keeps me from giving this book/CD five stars. A previous reviewer says the CD allows you to hear what the "whole rhythm" is like, which isn't entirely true. The book doesn't address bell and djun-djun (bass drum) parts at all, and these parts are not present on the CD. These rhythms are incomplete with just the djembe parts. The book/CD never gives the student a complete view of what the African rhythms, as played by a proper ensemble, should sound like. I don't fault them for not teaching these parts, as this is a book about playing djembe, but much of the rhythm context is missing. With the excess space on the CD, the removal of the sample tracks from the "Jaguar..." album, and a bit of creative work, the authors should have been able to give the listener a taste of what the full rhythms sound like, even if only for a couple minutes each. I still recommend this book to the beginner, but recommend that the beginner seek another source as well that better emphasizes the whole of the rhythms.
Rating:
Summary: Great start, but could be better.
Review: In general, this book/CD combination is great. The text of the book is clear, the authors' approach in starting with simple patterns and then adding to / subtracting from the simple pattern to arrive at the traditional pattern is very effective. The authors' present the material clearly and succinctly, and is paced very well. This book is a good resource for getting started on the djembe. There is only one thing that keeps me from giving this book/CD five stars. A previous reviewer says the CD allows you to hear what the "whole rhythm" is like, which isn't entirely true. The book doesn't address bell and djun-djun (bass drum) parts at all, and these parts are not present on the CD. These rhythms are incomplete with just the djembe parts. The book/CD never gives the student a complete view of what the African rhythms, as played by a proper ensemble, should sound like. I don't fault them for not teaching these parts, as this is a book about playing djembe, but much of the rhythm context is missing. With the excess space on the CD, the removal of the sample tracks from the "Jaguar..." album, and a bit of creative work, the authors should have been able to give the listener a taste of what the full rhythms sound like, even if only for a couple minutes each. I still recommend this book to the beginner, but recommend that the beginner seek another source as well that better emphasizes the whole of the rhythms.
Rating:
Summary: Solid lessons for beginners
Review: This book teaches you the basics of Djembe drumming. The book includes a great sounding CD to play along with. However; the authors should have included more complex patterns and rhythms. But, with only 1-2 hours per day of practice for a month, you will probably surprise yourself with how much you have improved.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the basics!
Review: This book/CD set has given me a couple of things I could not get from taking drum classes. First of all, it documents--in written notation and in sound--the basic rhythms. Even the best drummers are not always the best teachers, so before I got this book, the rhythms were kind of a mishmash in my head. Now I am getting to the point where I can hear & identify them. I also could not produce a slap tone at all until I saw the drawing of the hand/finger positions for it in this book--again, because people cannot always explain things well, or different people tell you different things. This book is a great SUPPLEMENT to lessons and drum circles--I'd say you need both the book/CD and drumming with others to really learn and retain the information. Oh, and the section on "How to Tune Your Djembe" is really a great thing to have.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the basics!
Review: This book/CD set has given me a couple of things I could not get from taking drum classes. First of all, it documents--in written notation and in sound--the basic rhythms. Even the best drummers are not always the best teachers, so before I got this book, the rhythms were kind of a mishmash in my head. Now I am getting to the point where I can hear & identify them. I also could not produce a slap tone at all until I saw the drawing of the hand/finger positions for it in this book--again, because people cannot always explain things well, or different people tell you different things. This book is a great SUPPLEMENT to lessons and drum circles--I'd say you need both the book/CD and drumming with others to really learn and retain the information. Oh, and the section on "How to Tune Your Djembe" is really a great thing to have.
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