Mande Ternary Groove Vocalese

These are some poly-rhythmic a capella groove studies based on actual percussion patterns from the West African
Mande empire drumming traditions common to Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and The Gambia. Top staves represent
the djembe, center staff a medium dundun, and bottom staff a low dundun. Use ‘gin’ and ‘tet’ syllables for high and
low pitches of the djembe and dunduns, and add ‘pax’ (pah-ch) for the middle djembe tone. While singing each line,

clap the basic West African bell pattern .

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