Egu


EGU

Posted on Djembe-L

Babatunde Olatunji taught us a rhythm at Omega a few years ago called Egu. He said it was for the unborn child.

1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a1e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a
gdgd-d-dg-t---t-gdgd-d-dg-D-G-D-
gdgd-d-dg-t-g-t-gdgd-d-dg-D-G-D-

1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . .
T t T t . t . t T . s . . . s . >>
T t T t . t . t T . b . B . b . >>
T t T t . t . t T . s . T . s . >>
T t T t . t . t T . b . B . b .

I've played this rhythm with Baba many times as a warm-up to the dance portion of his workshops.  I've never heard him refer to it as anything other than "Dance of Strength," nor that it was for the unborn child.  When he has taught this rhythm in my presence the basic first part was what you have listed as the first line, while the second line was one of several variations that he showed.  He also showed several variations of a top ride.

I have heard of it as being to introduce the unborn child to rhythm, as well as to have the mother exercise.  The style was always expressed as being very slow, it not being a good idea to get the pregnant woman moving too fast.

Baba has used the rhythm in at least the other context of _Love_Drum_Talk_ as Doug mentioned, where it is played more rapidly.  Also, when I played it in performance, people found it so danceable that we speed it up to keep things hot.

Make a free website with Yola