Alfred Publishing has published several books on world percussion. What sets Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion apart from the others is that the book or CD can be purchased together or separately. This aspect alone could be very attractive to educators.
Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion appears to be written for music and social studies teachers and drum enthusiasts looking to bring new ideas to their playing. The authors cover 28 different instruments, grouping similar instruments into individual chapters. The format of each chapter is consistent, beginning with interesting background and historical facts. Tuning and playing position are then discussed before technical performance is demonstrated. Nearly 90 black-and-white photos accurately demonstrate the position and playing technique.
Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion really is a fantastic introduction to a host of percussion instruments from around the world. Here, musicians will learn Brazilian, Arab, Cuban, Malian, Guinean, Irish, Syrian, and Egyptian (among others) instruments and rhythms. The book’s Introduction chapter encourages readers to try out other instruments with traditional songs, which is a great way to grow as a musician. We have found this to be a very interesting approach to drumming as well.
Pages 53 to 65 list traditional songs from the Middle East, Africa, Cuba, and Brazil. Pages 65 to 72 offer a modern use of world rhythms in 8 or more ensembles. Both traditional and modern notations are included.
The book states that the enhanced stereo CD is interactive with audio and visual tutorials for Windows compatible computers.
I was a little disappointed to learn that although the CD did have an audio track available for use on the computer, it was just a QuickTime recording, rather than audio/videos, which is what I was expecting.
Another negative aspect of the CD is that at the end it makes an irritating electronic or static sound that made us run to the stop button. However, my husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to playing the larger ensembles with our percussionist friends.
Publisher: Alfred Publishing
Author: Chalo Eduardo and Frank Kumar
ISBN numbers: 0-7390-2309-8 (book and CD)
0-7390-2319-5 (CD only)
0-7390-2309-X (book only)