The Drum as a Source

Rhythmic training course

by

Carlo Seminara

Table of contents:

Analysis and understanding of fundamental matrices for the knowledge of Afro derived Latin American music

Writing systems

Keys to understand the Clave

“Teoría de la clave y la serie escondida” by Ramiro Musotto. Introduction, analysis and development

Coordination as both analysis and learning tool

The [3 3 2] Matrix as starting point

The Argentinian North-Western Rhythms as Poly-rhythmic structure

From Bahía to Río, from Río to Bahía: The Samba Trips

Tango Congo and its derivatives

San Baltasar Cult Rhythmic Orbit in Cuenca del Plata Region

 Introduction

When we study Latin American popular music (which is basically based on percussion) we find an incredible
history in which many cultures from different continents participate: hundreds of years of voyages, slavery, tortures,
colonialism, wars, migrations, fights and political claims intertwined in a unique narrative.

The African people, forcibly brought to the American continent, had to recreate their cultural heritage within
the few possibilities of this new social context and their new status as slaves, which meant they haven’t got any kind of
rights nor permissions. These more or less obvious recreation processes, which Fernando Ortiz refers to as
“transculturation”, are the hallmark of Latin America. This situation occurred throughout the continent. If we take into
account that the enslaved population came from specific geographical sectors (the Congo-Niger ethnic group), which
have obviously changed during the slave trade process, we can understand that the Afro contribution in Latin America
has its same roots. Thus, the creole manifestations that we find will be the result of the interaction processes between
the Congo-Niger ethnic group, the Europeans (in these cases, from Spain and Portugal) and the American native
people, established within specific geographical regions.

Taking this into account, we can understand the large number of rhythms, dances and cultural expressions we
find when we study the Latin American culture, fundamentally, those based on the drum, which is the focus of our
study. These complex expressions before mentioned were previous to the nation-states formation, therefore, in order to
maintain a coherence with the historical processes involved, we need to apply a cross-border panoramic approach.

On this matter, to apply the Eurocentric academic analysis logic to understand musical manifestations that are
clearly of African descent may result in erroneous assessments. This academic logic may result suitable to study certain
music from a particular period of time and a particular region of Europe, for which it was created.

This is the main reason why we will work from a starting point based in Latin American popular music,
fundamentally that crossed by the drum, and having in mind the different artistic and intellectual development trends
regarding Latin American thought and aesthetics.

From an educational point of view, the amount of tools and the complexity of academic contents that we can
find in Latin American popular music can be overwhelming to some extent. However, if we manage to avoid certain
prejudices and pre-established paradigms, we will discover that these tools are extremely didactic and of immediate
application to educational fields.

In this course, we will try to call into question certain knowledge that is given as “universal” in our academic
training, which is naturalized and systematically reproduced, without giving us the opportunity to at least cast doubt on
it. This knowledge ranges from more general aspects (such as historical or anthropological points of view) to more
specific characteristics (such as a rhythm writing or analyzes).
 Specifically, there is an aspect that is transcendental, which is related to the metric concept of music. We are
used to understand music from the meter or the pulse: before we “make music”, we set a meter. We don’t seem to be able
to think from another point of view. But can we? Of course, if allow ourselves to think, feel and corporalize music from
the rhythm. This is one of the goals of this course.

Theoretical basis
Throughout this course, we will try to build a technical and theoretical framework regarding Latin American
music of Afro matrix, which needs to be study and analyze from its own logic. We will delve into concepts that range
from the micro rhythm, the “claves” and the time-line patterns, to the Euclidean proportions, polyrhythms and
polymetries, hemioles, divisive and additive logics, among many others.

This technical and theoretical framework is the result of years of teaching experience and investigation in the
field and the study and exploration of alternative point of views regarding Afro music. This framework aims to build a
link between the popular tools and methods inherent to the Latin American drum orbit and the different educational
institutions, transforming the academic methodologies to better suit the popular knowledge.

From this point of view, is it extremely important to understand cultural praxis such as music, rhythm and dance
inside its context (social, cultural, historical, etc.) and its functions within the community everyday life.

Objectives

Throughout this course, the students will:

● Acquire a method to analyze, interpret, assimilate, perform and develop music, especially the Latin American
of Afro matrix, incorporating the proposed tools, which involve the body, spoken voice and percussion.
● Develop a way of thinking from the time-line patterns (claves) and use the coordination as a mechanism to
interpret the interrelationships between the different functions within the ensemble.
● Understand the importance of study the historical processes of each cultural manifestation, its contexts and
functionality within the community.
● Understand the collective nature of the drum praxis and its didactic and creative possibilities.

Methodology

This course will be carried out as a workshop. The groups should be between 15 and 35 students according to
space and instruments availability.
 According to the level of expertise of the students, the workshop will have two different methodologies:

1) Beginners. The workshop dynamic will be focused on exercises which will allow students to understand the
logic of this particular point of view and the different ways that we can apply this method to an specific rhythm.
These exercises are based on the use of the body and the spoken and sung voice and the rhythm repertoire will
be adjusted to the technical capacities of the group.
2) Percussionists. In this case, the proposed logic will be introduced directly applied to the rhythms chosen by the
group. In this scenario, given into account that the students would already have the technical skills needed, we
can increase the complexity of the exercises focusing on more challenging rhythms. The most rewarding is to
incorporate these tools to use them in performance situations which prove to be more difficult from traditional
logics but not so much from the point of view we are studying.

Duration

The duration of each course could vary according to the specific objectives of the group.
In general terms, we can establish a minimum of 2 meetings of 4 hours each to be able to address the method
proposed, with sufficient practical demonstration so that the general guidelines can be established. From then on,
depending on the conditions of the group, the instruments available and the complexity of the repertoire, which should
be agreed beforehand, meetings may be added, jointly agreed with the professor.

Requirements

The minimum requirements for this workshop are:

● Large and comfortable room (size may vary according to the number of attendees). The floor should allow to
stomp on it, lay and play the instruments.
● Board.
● Instruments according to the rhythmic contexts chosen.

Optional:
● Projector (preferably with USB input)
● Sound system
● Wireless microphone
 Contact

Prof. Carlo Seminara

Email address: seminaracarlo@gmail.com
Phone number: +54 9 341 5190622
Skype ID: carlo.seminara
Instagram: carlo.seminara
Facebook: carlo.seminara.3
YouTubeChannel: https://www.youtube.com/carloseminara
Spotify: Carlo Seminara