Rythums

topic posted Sun, July 29, 2007 - 11:37 AM by  Devi
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I was recently at a Tahitian dance workshop and the instructor said that there are no "names" for the rythums of the drum in Tahitian dance. I found this odd. Does anyone know the validity of this ?
posted by:
Devi
Oregon
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  • Re: Rythums

    Sun, July 29, 2007 - 1:25 PM
    I was taught that there were names for them. The most common rhythms that we use in our otea or dances are Paha'i,Bora Bora,Mo'rea and Pai'ea. Bora Bora and Mo'rea are Island beats. Paha'I and Pai'ea are city beats. Hope this heips Dev
    • Re: Rythums

      Sun, July 29, 2007 - 3:15 PM
      Thank you. The names give me a place to start.
      • Re: Rythums

        Sun, June 1, 2008 - 11:01 AM
        I know that I'm picking this thread up late, but I just joined the tribe...

        I'm a drummer for the group Mou'a Vahine in Charlottesville, Virginia. We formed the drum corp for the group last fall, and were looking for rhythms as well.

        A great resource for us was an article by Dr. Duerden in 'Percussive Notes' of August, 2005 entitled 'Tahitian Drumming: The Solo Dance Competition'.

        This has the rhythms named earlier in the thread, along with a description of others and notation for the rhythms.

        Hope it helps!

        Chip
        • Re: Rythums

          Tue, June 3, 2008 - 12:16 AM
          I had heard that originally there were no names for beats, but had been recently named. (And by recently I mean, probably the last fifty years or so.) But I don't know much about Tahitian drums, I am just barely learning them.

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