Darbuka Teaching Resources

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Kaligi breakdown for Darbuka c 2009 Matt Stonehouse

A frequent mistake that many beginning and experienced darbuka players make is cluttering the rhythm and overplaying. Trying to jam in as many notes as possible is not the objective of making good music. Think of the last conversation you had that was really enjoyable. Was it with someone that spoke the whole time without even taking a breath? Or was it with someone that actually listened to what you had to say with a genuine interest and then responded with a thoughtful reply? I’m sure your answer will be the latter. Making good music is no different to making good conversation. Many people have said that you can tell more about a person within ten minutes of playing music together than you could through talking for the whole day! Music is a concentrated conversation. It’s something that really is ‘in the now.’ That feeling of being lost in your music is just another way of feeling present to the moment, something that many of us struggle with in today’s society.

The topic of today’s darbuka lesson is simplicity! You are about to enter a whole new world that is Kaligi.

In Kaligi we have two groups of double ‘Ka’ strokes and a single ‘Ka’ at the end i.e;

The above version of Kaligi is what I would call ‘full’ Kaligi.

This next exercise shows Kaligi with only the ‘early Ka’ being played-

If we play the rhythm with just the ‘late Ka’ we have-

Not only has this simplified our darbuka playing but it has also given us two new versions of Kaligi i.e; Kaligi with early ‘Ka’ and Kaligi with late ‘Ka.’

Once you can comfortably switch between these two new rhythms on your darbuka, try some new variations such as the following two bar cycle:

I highly recommend spending as much time as possible experimenting with your own creations of this. I would also like to stress the importance of being able to just play the fundamental of Kaligi with one hand and with no ‘Ka’ tones i.e;

The mistake that I see many darbuka players making is pushing the second ‘Dum’ along to the second beat. This shows that not only are the ‘Ka’ strokes acting like commas, but they also serve as training wheels on a bike!

I will leave you with one more idea. This is a Kaligi funk rhythm with three ‘Dum’ tones and a new stroke called the ‘Puc.’ To do a ‘Puc’ we need to first learn the ‘Cup’ technique with our right hand, yes this really is another language!

Your teacher will show you how to cup with the right hand and then how to do this same technique using the thumb rather than the hand and little finger. This should leave all of your fingers facing down toward the skin.

Once you have become comfortable with this cupping technique and have produced the ‘Puc’ tone with your left hand, funk out with this:

The above darbuka rhythm is really just a funked up version of Kaligi. It has a third ’Dum’ tone added for extra groove. When playing this you should use your thumb to make the ‘Cup’ stroke. Note: When you play the ‘Cup’ stroke it is audible and included as a part of the rhythm.

Enjoy your drumming.

Matt Stonehouse Fingers of Fury