Down-Up Djembe Technique

I just dove deep into the down-up technique—my essential move for doubling your strokes in one fluid motion, making every jam smoother and faster.

Here's the core:

• Down: Hand drops for the hit (loud bass or slap).
• Up: Rebound lifts for the second stroke (quiet or loud, with full contact for power). We drilled bass variations—loud-quiet, loud-loud—then slaps the same way. Focused on right hand first: singles, doubles, patterns like bass-quiet-loud-quiet. Added left hand quiets for the full right-left-right-left flow in a straight beat.

Practice hands separate, slow to fast, then combine for that down-up-up-down magic. It's in every groove I play.

This is core to my courses, especially the advanced masterclasses.

Questions? Hit the comments. Ready to integrate it? Check a djembe workshop at djembemaster.com. Let's turn up the technique!