12/8 Bell-Block Coordination (part one)

I am fortunate to be able to study Afro-Cuban music.  I have numerous teachers, and we trace our educational lineage primarily to Michael Spiro and his teachers from Cuba.  I highly recommend that anyone check out Spiro and his work, as he is a watershed figure, crossing many cultural and professional boundaries and bringing this music to the university community.  Spiro’s Book and DVD are especially good for beginners.

One of the barriers people have to cross to get into this music is the timing and coordination of rhythms against the Bell Pattern.  There are three common versions of this pattern, and I’ll be dealing with one of them in the following posts.

The Bell Pattern is in 12/8 time, divided into four beats of triplets.  A triplet has three “partials”, and each partial can stand alone against the Bell Pattern.

What you will hear and see is:

1) A low bell on a foot pedal keeping the beat in four

2) A high bell playing the Bell Pattern

3) A block playing one partial of a triplet in each beat.

Feel free to start by playing only one part at a time, or playing only two parts together.  The videos are designed as a play-along, so you can replay as many times as you want.  Each one has a fast and slow version.

In Part Two I’ll play two partials of the triplet against the bell.  Thanks for reading!