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Frequently asked questions - Didgeridoo rhythms

Read below to see my answers to commonly asked questions, including questions from readers of this web site. If you have any questions that you would like answered here, please contact me on my contact page.

1. What's all this about didgeridoo rhythms?

Didgeridoo playing is all about didgeridoo rhythms. These are patterns of didgeridoo sounds put together to make that funky didgeridoo sound! When you play didgeridoo, you are in fact playing didgeridoo rhythms. If you concentrate on learning and making your own didgeridoo rhythms you will increase your skill level ten fold. Learn about this by visiting my page on didgeridoo rhythms.

2. How do I learn to play traditional didgeridoo rhythms?

You should learn to play traditional didgeridoo either from the traditional custodians of the didgeridoo or those who have been given permission to teach traditional didgeridoo. Read some more about ways in which to learn traditional didgeridoo here.

3. Jim from Cheltenham asks: "I have got the breathing, but find it difficult when trying the simple rhythm building exercises. Should I practise the basic breathing technique more to get used to it, or should I just start learning rhythms straight away and learn to adjust?"

It is always a bit difficult to know exactly how and when to move to rhythm making when learning to circular breathe. Circular breathing is hard enough without putting other things in there to learn as well. However it is important to think rhythmically when playing, as least in a very simple sense when first starting to learn.

Even if you have not tried a rhythm yet, or are finding rhythms too difficult, just try and take a circular breath at the same time every time as you play, say on the fourth beat as you count 1...2...3...4. Your are not doing anything except circular breathing, yet you are still making a simple rhythm. If you emphasise the pulsing sound of the circular breath, you will actually hear a kind of rhythm starting to form, without appearing to do anything! Even this simple technique can be quite effective when done fast and can eventually becomes a classic rhythm when played really fast.

When you get used to this, try a few other techniques shown in my video tutorials, and simply incorporate circular breaths at even intervals in between the sounds. You do not really have to consciously think about 'making a rhythm' but if you circular breaths work well and they are regular, you will be doing a rhythm without really trying. This is demonstrated in my video tutorial Incorporating Circular Breathing. The more you practice the more fluid you will get with your circular breathing, and you will start to hear some effective rhythms forming without doing much at all.

When you get more comfortable with your circular breathing, slowly start to incorporate more sounds to start making rhythms of your own. Make sure they fit within the context of your rhythm. This may be hard at first and you may get thrown off course easily, but concentrate on putting each sound and circular breath in its right place to form the rhythm. If it's too hard, just go back to the very simple circular breath rhythms shown in the video tutorial. Eventually you will get so good at this, that you will really want to try adding new sounds to make the rhythm more interesting. Make sure to see my pages on rhythms to see this rhythm building process demonstrated. Good luck!

If you have any other questions that you would like answered here, feel free to contact me.

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