Flam Stroke with the Djembe Drum

Flam Stroke with the Djembe Drum

I just gave you a quick rundown on the flam stroke—that killer technique where a slap and bass hit almost together, with the slap leading just a hair ahead for that explosive pop.

We broke it down:

  • Basics: Right hand slap into bass (slow to fast), then left hand version for balance.
  • With quiets: Add ghost slaps around the flam to fill the groove—bass, quiet, quiet, flam, quiet, quiet.
  • In rhythms: Plug it into a simple beat (two basses + flam) or the straight beat (eight strokes: bass, quiets, flam in place of loud slap). Hands alternate right-left-right-flam-left-right-left.

This stroke is huge for adding punch and speed without extra effort. Practice slow, build to tempo—it's a game-changer.

What a year it's been—fatherhood, pandemic, but stoked you're all home grooving on djembe.

Questions? Hit the comments. Want to master this and learn to play djembe? Courses are live at djembemaster.com—thanks to those who've jumped in; it fuels the mission. Let's flam it up!

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