The Beat of the Djembe Drum Trivia Quiz

Answer: A hand drum

A common misconception about djembe drums is that they are a type of bongo drum - which is completely untrue.

A djembe is a type of hand drum, meaning that it is meant to be played ONLY with one's hands, and not a type of mallet (as there is a good chance of tearing right through the skin if one does so). While the same can be said of bongo drums (which are sometimes classified as hand drums), bongos are typically played by having two small drums attached to each other, whilst only one djembe is played at a time (although some professional drumming circles might occasionally tie two djembes together!)

The djembe drum is also a member of the membraphone family, membraphone meaning that it is a shell or a frame covered by a drum head.

Answer: Bass, tone, and slap

There are three primary types of sounds that can be produced using the djembe drum, although other tones can be produced using combinations or variations of the three basic ones.

A bass tone is the lowest of the three notes. It's played by hitting the very centre of the drum.

A tone is played on the side of the drum, with the players fingers held together in a relaxed and comfortable fashion. The place where your fingers meet your hand is met by the edge of the drum. A tone has a nice full, round sound, and is generally the softest of all the notes.

A slap is a much louder and sharper sound than the tone. Unlike the tone, the edge of the drum meets the middle of your hand (I'm not much of a palmist, but roughly where your head line begins). The sound is made by quickly bringing your relaxed and separated fingers down, and quickly pulled away. The slap, by and large, is the hardest djembe tone to properly master.

Something that beginner djembe players fail to realise is that the whole point of a djembe is the idea that maximum effect is achieved with minimum effort. Many think that the harder they hit the drum, the better they'll sound, which is most definitely not the case.

Answer: West Africa

The djembe drum can be found all over West Africa, where it originated, more specifically in Mali, as far back as the 12th century. The djembe can now be found all over the world. In 2007 during my visit to Canada, I was pleasantly surprised to find a shop which housed all sorts of African instruments, including the djembe drum (although they were a lot smaller than the traditional African ones).

Answer: The Mandinka people

The Mandinka people are a West African ethnic group, living in various West African countries such as Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. As of 2006, there are approximately 6.4 million Mandinka people left in the world. Their traditional language is also known as Mandinka (why thank you, Captain Obvious), but the large majority can either speak English or some other African dialect.

Answer: Goat skin

The djembe drum head is typically made with goat skin. It's believed that the best djembes come from Mali (where they were first made), as central African goats are believed to have the perfect climate and grazing conditions. They have also had a rougher experience than domesticated goats from other parts of the world, and thus their skin makes for the perfect drum head.

Some drums are made from zebra, buck or calf skin, but this is not common, and do not yield results as good as a drum that uses goat skin.

This sounds truly barbaric, but realise that the tribesmen that make these drums use the entire animal!

Answer: True

Using only one piece of wood from a hollow tree to carve the base of the djembe drum makes the drum much stronger than it would have been had it been made from several piece of wood glued together, although some drum makers do still do this. Traditionalists believe that if the drum is made with different piece of wood, it will not contain the soul of a tree, and thus is not considered a "proper" djembe.

Answer: Because the body of the djembe was traditionally crafted from hollow trees called Dimba, also known as Devil Wood

Traditional djembes are made from hollowed out trees, known as Dimba, or Devil wood, hence their alternative name "Devil drum." Interestingly, this fact isn't well known, and they are most commonly called by their proper name "djembe."

Answer: You would evenly pull the vertical ropes that run down the side of the drum very tightly

The tighter the drum head, the better the sound; tight drum heads produce louder, sharper sounds of far better quality. A loose drum head sounds very dull and flat, and can ruin an entire ensemble.

Tuning a djembe is quite a rigorous process, as it involves loosening several of the ropes, and pulling tightly with all your might in order to stretch out the drum head.

When tuning a djembe drum, it's also best to let someone who knows what they're doing tune it for you, as in the hands of the inexperienced, it could turn out disastrously!

Answer: A djinn

According to a Mandinka legend, a djinn, which is considered to be a type of genie, gave a Mandinka blacksmith the first ever djembe drum. Some variations of this legend say that the djinn gave the blacksmith the tree used to carve the drum, and then taught him how to carve it.

To me, this is interesting, as in all other African legends I've heard, djinns are malevolent, mischievous and evil entities, yet in this one, the djinn was a giving, non-trouble-making creature.

Answer: Three

Very similar to the Native American beliefs, the West Africans believe that the djembe drum contains three spirits; the spirit of the tree from which it was made, the spirit of the animal whose skin covers the drum head, and the spirit of the maker.

Thanks for playing. I hope you learned a lot more about this wonderful, yet little-known instrument. Have a lovely day!