West African drumming

In much of West Africa, drumming is part of everyday community life: celebrations, storytelling, dance and work. It is learnt by ear and played together.

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The instruments

The djembe is a goblet-shaped drum from West Africa, played with the hands. It makes three main sounds:
bass (hit the centre with a flat hand: low), tone (hit near the edge with fingers together: a clear middle sound), slap (hit near the edge with relaxed fingers: high and sharp).
Other instruments include dundun (large bass drums played with sticks), bells, shakers and the talking drum, whose pitch can be changed by squeezing its cords so it can copy the rise and fall of speech.

How the music works

There is usually a master drummer who leads, signalling when to start, stop and change.
Call and response: the master drummer plays a call and the group answers.
Polyrhythm: several different rhythms are played at the same time, creating a thick, exciting texture.
Rhythms are cyclic: patterns repeat over and over, like ostinatos.

Learning by ear

West African drumming is traditionally an oral tradition: music is passed on by listening, copying and memorising, not by writing it down.
Drummers often learn rhythms through spoken syllables.
Performances can build up gradually as each part enters, and dancers and drummers respond to each other.
Worked example

Explain why a drumming piece with five drummers each playing a different repeated rhythm sounds so busy.

  1. Each drummer plays a different rhythm at the same time.
  2. Several different rhythms at once is called polyrhythm.
  3. The layers overlap and cross each other, giving a thick texture.

Answer: It uses polyrhythm: several different cyclic rhythms played at once, building a thick texture.

Key idea

West African drumming uses the djembe (bass, tone and slap sounds), dundun and talking drum. A master drummer leads with calls; the group responds. Polyrhythm means different rhythms at the same time. It is an oral tradition.

Key words
Tone
A step of two semitones.
Polyrhythm
Several different rhythms played at the same time.
Pitch
How high or low a sound is.
Call and response
A leader plays or sings a phrase (the call) and a group answers (the response).
Texture
How many layers of sound there are and how they fit together.

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Common mistakes
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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. Where does the djembe come from?

    1. Brazil
    2. Indonesia
    3. India
    4. West Africa
    Show the answer

    Answer: West Africa

    The djembe is a West African hand drum.

  2. How do you play a tone sound on a djembe?

    1. Hit the centre with a flat hand
    2. Hit near the edge with flat, joined fingers
    3. Play with two sticks
    4. Scrape the side
    Show the answer

    Answer: Hit near the edge with flat, joined fingers

    The tone is played near the edge.

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.