Instructional

In reference to yesterday's post about mrdangas and metronomes, Maha-mantra wrote me to say that "triplets at 66 bpm is too fast for beginners", and of course it is.

I didn't start out on 66 bpm with triplets - and neither should you. The 66 bpm practice of that mantra is just what I'm doing at the moment. The post is as much inspirational as it is instructional. The main point is - practice with a metronome.

Mantra suggests starting out with single beats at 204 pm. You can use the initial mantras in my book "The Art and Science of Harinam Sankirtan Yajna", such as te ta and te ta ta. That way you'll be following, rather than imitating.

When I have a little more time I'll sit down, start with the basics, and go systematically from there.

In mrdanga playing power is good, endurance is great, but precision is king.

If you have power and endurance people will notice you. If you have precision you can become invisible - the kirtan will rock so hard that people will forget you're there.

And that's the goal.

To develop precision you need to practice with a metronome. It's a form of hasta-sadhana ("finger practice") that involves subordinating yourself to Krishna in His form of time (kalo 'smi). It can be hard on the mind, but that's what it's all about - conquering the mind and becoming a faithful and useful servant of the kirtan.

Mrdanga and Metronome from Sitapati das on Vimeo.

After I shot this video I had a realisation about muscle fibres. You see, I've been practicing with a metronome for 30 - 60 minutes a day, and my precision is pretty high. However, I've been noticing that while my power and endurance have been going up with my new physical training program, my precision has been disappearing.

Here's my theory as to why: the precision is not simply in the brain, it's also in the muscle fibres. High speed mrdanga playing uses reflex actions. These reflexes are stored in the muscle memory. As you add new muscle you need to retrain it to make it precise in mrdanga playing. So it's back to the metronome and hasta-sadhana for me, otherwise all this power and endurance is just for show.

How to play darbuka in kirtan from Sitapati das on Vimeo.

By popular demand, a video demonstrating darbuka beats to accompany the Bengali mrdanga beats used in ISKCON kirtans.

A sifu master once said: "If you want to master something do it ten thousand times".

Of course, beyond the conception of mastery is the realization that we are subordinate to our environment and exist in order to serve.

However, the principle is valuable. I express it like this: "The difference between an experienced drummer and an inexperienced drummer is ten thousand strokes."

The other day I taught the basic strokes on the mrdanga to a student. Then I told her: "Now you know what I know. The only difference between us is ten thousand strokes."

There is no short cut, no substitute. Of course, there are lots of things that you can do to accelerate and deepen the effectiveness of your practice. Serving and associating with others who are better than you will lift your game. But still, the hard yards are there, just waiting for you to do them.

Ten thousand strokes - that's all it takes to get to the next level. How long will it take you to do them?

Prahlad and I are studying the Egyptian tabla at the moment. When I watch a video like the one below of young Yunus firing over a 12/4 rhythm, I realize that he is simply picking up from where he left off in a previous life. Born into an appropriate family, he quickly reconnects with his previous patterns. This is the fate of unsuccessful spiritualist as well - he or she gets the opportunity to take birth in a family of pious, devoted persons.

So in a sense our explanation that at the time of death everything material is lost is not strictly true, because otherwise there would be no such thing as karma. According to Bhagavad-gita 15.8: "The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas."

While material wealth cannot be taken with you, your conceptions of life remain, and you continue to evolve, or degrade in terms of your consciousness.

Materially or spiritually, you get some impetus from your previous life's effort, and you go from there. Ten thousand strokes. Whether it's playing an instrument or progressing in spiritual life, the principle is the same. Do the hard yards.

These guys have dedicated their time to something. Instead of playing video games or watching tv, they've developed this skill. They have the same number of hours per day as everyone else, but they have invested them in a focused way. They have used their time to do ten thousand strokes on one drum.

"Those who are on this path are resolute in purpose, and their aim is one. O beloved child of the Kurus, the intelligence of those who are irresolute is many-branched." - Bhagavad-gita 2.41

Focused effort. Enthusiasm to begin, simultaneous determination and patience to see it through.

These are the principles of success.

"Ten thousand strokes" - that's what it takes.

A video podcast lesson on playing daadra taal beats on mrdanga, as per a request on an earlier lesson posted to YouTube.com.

Here are the mantras:

Daadra taal cartal beat:
dheiya da da dheiya

Mrdanga beats:

Dhei da dhei ta kheta kheta
Thei ta thei ta kheta kheta

While I'm singing Hari haraye namah krishna, I think I also change to:

Dhei da dhei tak da dhena kheta
Thei ta thei tak ta dhena (thena) kheta

The dhena and thena in the second line of the above mantra are interchangable. Do either one or the other, not both.

Here is the breakdown beat:

That top end is used for the other beats that I demonstrate. I'll get the images for those beats to you later on.

Here's the "Babalu madness beat" :-) :

da guru gur da dhei da guru gur da dhei da guru gur da dhei ta kheta kheta
ta khur khur ta thei ta khur khur ta thei ta khur khur ta thei ta kheta kheta

For those who are listening really carefully, the last mantra that I'm playing after this in the final "Nitai Gaura Haribol" at the end is:

dhei ta tak take ta tak take ta tak ghida ghida

Here are some of the best websites to help you learn to play mrdanga:

• KK Songs Khol Lessons - as well as fundamentals this site will teach you the double time beat and the dadra taal "breakdown" beat, as well as a lot of good background information.
• Learning Mrdanga - the basics of transcendental drumming - Jagannatha Mishra prabhu and his son Arjuna teach you to play the standard ISKCON kirtan mid-range and fast swing beats.
• Chant and Be Happy.com - the grand daddy of online mrdanga lessons. This site will teach you to play the "Prabhupada beat".

Enjoy!

Mad jungle skillz by the whipper-snapper!

Clearly it runs in the family.

Turkey's young virtuoso, Onar, with his friend Levent. The piece they are playing is a darbuka standard, similar to the ghenere ghena jha one for khol - I forget the name of that one right now - it's at the beginning of Babalu's mrdanga book.

Misirli Ahmet, "Misirli of Egypt" as his Turkish countrymen call him. The maestro who developed an innovative style of play.

Here's an instructional video showing you how to play using the split-finger technique that Misirli developed. (This guy sounds like an Aussie, doesn't he?)

David Kuckhermann of framedrums.de travels the world learning from traditional percussionists. This is a great introduction to doumbek / darbuka.

You'll never look at a tambourine (or "Riq" as it is known) the same way again after this excerpt from David Kuckhermann's Darbuka and Riq instructional DVD.

And a bonus for the seriously hard-core: David Kuckhermann's trio 4th Race. If you were ever into old-school Yes, Jean Luc Ponty, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, or any other uber-technical music with the odd time signature and heavy syncopation, this will float your boat. :-)

Nitai posted a comment with some mrdanga beats written out in tab form for learning.

He asks: "Why hasn't it been done before?"

Actually, it has. My 2001 book "The Art and Science of Harinam Sankirtan Yajña" contains 50 beats all tabbed out for your learning pleasure.

I'll start making video podcasts to go along with them to help you out, but anyway, in the meantime download the book and start a revolution of Krishna Conscious musical culture!

Here's a mrdanga mantra for you: Bonafide beats are best!

See also here.

So simple a five-year old can do it... :-)