Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Slap Happy: How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy
    Slap Happy: How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy
    Slap Happy: How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy
    Ebook71 pages28 minutes

    Slap Happy: How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy

    By Alan Dworsky and Betsy Sansby

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Slap Happy is for kids of all ages. It turns drum rhythms into body rhythms you can step, clap, and slap with a buddy. Right from the start, you'll be learning traditional dance rhythms from West Africa and the Caribbean: Kuku from Guinea, Sunguru Bani from Mali, Kpegisu from Ghana, Bomba from Puerto Rico, and Conga from Cuba. You can do Slap Happy in pairs or in groups, indoors or out, at home or at school. If you're a parent, it's a great way to do something fun and educational with your kids that doesn't require any previous musical training. If you're a music teacher, you can use Slap Happy to give your students a hands-on experience of world rhythms without having to buy any instruments. It's physical, it's funky, and it's fun! Please note: audio files of the CD that comes with the print version of this book are not included in this ebook version (but are available separately).
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDancing Hands Music
    Release dateMar 4, 2015
    ISBN9780985739867
    Slap Happy: How to Play World-Beat Rhythms with Just Your Body and a Buddy

    Read more from Alan Dworsky

    Related to Slap Happy

    Related ebooks

    Teaching Methods & Materials For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Drums, Lies, and Audiotape: When I was invited to drum in Ghana, I gladly accepted. Then something went wrong.

      Nov 5, 2015

      My wife Ingrid and I had been in Aburi, Ghana for just over a week when our host, Kwame Obeng, informed me that I’d be joining the royal drummers for a performance at the chief’s palace the following afternoon, in celebration of an important holy day

      15 min read

    • Article

      Syncopation

      May 6, 2020

      Syncopation
      3 min read

    • Article

      Beginners’ Lesson

      Jun 16, 2020

      Beginners’ Lesson
      7 min read

    • Article

      Beginners’ Lesson

      Sep 3, 2019

      Beginners’ Lesson
      7 min read

    • Article

      Napoléon Coste

      May 3, 2023

      VIDEO & AUDIO https://bit.ly/426nebY ON VIDEO 19th-century Europe saw some of the most important and influential exponents of the Western classical guitar tradition living and working alongside each other as peers, mostly in and around Spain and Ita

      5 min read

    • Article

      Beginners’ Lesson

      Dec 24, 2019

      Beginners’ Lesson
      7 min read

    • Article

      Melodic Muse

      May 18, 2021

      THIS MONTH, I’D like to continue our exploration into the horizontal approach — moving up and down a single string — to crafting improvised solos. We started with one finger on one string, the benefit of which is that it immediately pulls you out of

      2 min read

    • Article

      Master The Major Scale

      Nov 3, 2020

      Master The Major Scale
      6 min read

    • Article

      Master Your Time Awareness

      Aug 10, 2021

      Master Your Time Awareness
      5 min read

    • Article

      Problem Solving Practice Ideas For Our Pieces

      Nov 20, 2020

      In this article, I have chosen three pieces that we are featuring in the scores, coming up with some ideas that I hope will help focus and guide you as you practise them. Let’s dive straight in. This is the tenth and final piece from Book 1 of On an

      4 min read

    • Article

      Something Chromatic

      Sep 8, 2020

      Something Chromatic
      3 min read

    • Article

      Picking Large Intervals

      Jun 8, 2021

      Welcome! To finish off our exploration of pick playing, we’re going to look at a couple of things related to playing bigger intervals. As we’ve noted before, every technique takes on a whole new level of difficulty when we start to move it across the

      7 min read

    • Article

      Words From The Wise

      Jun 2, 2021

      First thing is to keep your calisthenics/ mechanical practice to where you can handle your difficult parts without strain. I figure that if I can make a part 10 times in a row in my home, that I have a decent chance of pulling it off at a gig where t

      6 min read

    • Article

      Percussion Toolbox

      Mar 9, 2021

      Percussion Toolbox
      3 min read

    • Article

      Chromatic Notes Explored

      Dec 1, 2020

      Chromatic Notes Explored
      6 min read

    • Article

      Technique Of The Month

      Mar 17, 2020

      Technique Of The Month
      2 min read

    • Article

      The John Frusciante Workout

      Nov 15, 2022

      The John Frusciante Workout
      6 min read

    • Article

      Beginners’ Lesson

      Aug 6, 2019

      Beginners’ Lesson
      5 min read

    • Article

      Fretting-hand Independence

      Sep 20, 2023

      Fretting-hand Independence
      3 min read

    • Article

      Should We Play On The One?

      Nov 9, 2021

      Should We Play On The One?
      4 min read

    • Article

      Scales

      Mar 13, 2020

      Scales
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Perfect Hi-hats And Cymbals

      Jul 15, 2020

      The hi-hats are a pair of cymbals mounted on a stand, one upside down and the other the right way up, both held in place on a central spike and connected to a footpedal at the base of the stand. By operating the pedal, the drummer brings the hi-hats

      3 min read

    • Article

      2022 Guitar Workout

      Mar 21, 2022

      2022 Guitar Workout
      10 min read

    • Article

      Beginners’ Lesson

      Feb 18, 2020

      Beginners’ Lesson
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Slap Happy

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Slap Happy - Alan Dworsky

      Music

      What is Slap Happy?

      SLAP HAPPY is a fun way to turn drum rhythms into body rhythms you can step, clap, and slap with a buddy. Right from the start, you’ll be learning how to slap traditional rhythms from West Africa and the Caribbean: Kuku from Guinea, Sunguru Bani from Mali, Kpegisu from Ghana, Bomba from Puerto Rico, and Conga from Cuba.

      You can do Slap Happy in pairs or in groups, indoors or out, at home or at school. If you’re a parent, it’s a great way to do something fun and educational with your kids that doesn’t require any previous musical training.

      If you’re a music teacher, you can use Slap Happy to give your students a hands-on experience of world rhythms without having to buy any instruments. And while the kids are learning the rhythms, they’ll be building co-ordination, concentration, and cooperation.

      Here’s how it works. The book is organized into lessons that are arranged in order of difficulty. Each lesson includes several patterns related to a single rhythm. The patterns start simple and gradually get more complex. But you’ll hardly notice, because we make sure you get the right-size steps, in the right order, at just the right time.

      The first step with each new pattern is to learn to slap it solo. The next step is to learn to slap it with a buddy. The final step is to combine patterns to create the Slap Happy version of an African or Afro-Caribbean drum ensemble.

      The charts we use are easy to understand even if you’ve never read music before. And we don’t just dump a pile of charts on you and leave. We’ll be with you every step of the way, anticipating your questions, pointing out whatever is most important, and explaining whatever we think will make your journey easier.

      Slap Happy was designed to embody the spirit of world rhythms and make people laugh. We hope it does both for you.

      The charts and the moves

      We use box charts for Slap Happy because they’re simple, clear, and easy to read. We could have used standard music notation, the kind you’re familiar with if you play an instrument or sing in a chorus. But standard music notation gives you lots of information you don’t need for Slap Happy, like the pitch of a note and how long to hold it. All you need to know to start slapping is what move to make and when to make it.

      That’s what our three-row box charts tell you. Let’s take a look at one:

      Above the chart you’ll see the name of the pattern and the word solo or buddy in parentheses. You’ll also see track numbers that tell you where you can hear the pattern on the CD.

      If there’s only one track number, that means you’ll hear the pattern slapped on that track. If there are two track numbers – as on the chart above – you’ll hear the pattern slapped on the first track and drummed on the second. The slap tracks

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1