Music To Play

In Africa (and in most forms of western folk music) songs and dances are passed down by oral and aural tradition. (Indeed, an ability to read or write music is not a requirement to compose, understand or learn music; but it may facilitate and shorten the process.) On this way, however, a large amount of music get lost forever. That's why I decided to publish music in written form too; using the editor of Capella Software for classical music.

The pieces are definitely not for beginners. For people wanting to learn balafon I recommend two excellent works:
- Adrian Egger - Moussa Hema: Die Stimme des Balafon / La voix du balafon
- Gert Kilian: Balafon Beat (The exercises are particularly valuable.)

While reading "Fonban So", "Fa te dogoya" or some other scores you might get frightened at the quintuplets like this. Don't be afraid of them and don't take them deadly serious. They stay for the so called swing rhythm. Their asymmetry makes our music swing. We Sambla are (and have always been) notorious "swingers". But instead of assumming "our" swing feel on your side by writing pairs of similar values I have explicitly specified the 3:2 shuffle, because this is the closest approximation to our swing rhythm. 2:1 (like triplet quarter + triplet eighth) or 3:1 (like dotted eighth + sixteenth) would be too sharp.

Tusia (Toussian) Balafon  

- Senekelaba for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Tanchi for SIX hands (CD Kamalenya, balafon parts only)

Sambla Balafon  

- Fonban So for FOUR hands (CD Sababu, balafon parts only)
- Foni tomo for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Jemejugu for TWO hands (CD Kamalenya)
- Jine wele for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
Jobanden So for SIX hands (to my son born on the 2nd August 2010)
- Koko wele for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
San Tsyobe Din for SIX hands (CD Keneya)
- Tan Fogo Bo for SIX hands (CD Sababu, balafon parts only)

Siamou Balafon:

-

Dioula (Jula) Balafon:  

- Balanfola for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Biworo Fani for Balafon and Vocal (CD Fenba)
- Biworo Fani for TWO hands (from my video clip)
- Dgo So for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Donso Don for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Duguyayiri for TWO hands (CD Fenba)
- Fa Te Dogoya for TWO hands (CD Fenba) - it helps a lot, if you are three-handed...
- Fenba for TWO hands (from my video clip)
- Jarabi for FOUR hands (CD Sira Fila, balafon parts only)
- Jarabi for TWO hands
- Jemejugu for TWO hands (from my video clip)
- Kanu Jugu for TWO hands (CD Fenba) - easy, if you are three-handed...
- Sira Fila for Balafon, Vocal and Double-bass (CD Sira Fila)
- Sira Fila Original Version for FOUR hands