Don't be a racehorse!

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This is not a horserace!

I remember Toumani Diabaté mocking the young kora players that were always trying to go as fast as possible when playing with him: "This is not Vincennes!", was he saying playfully, refering to the horserace track in France where all the bets were taking place at that time every night after the news in Mali.

It is indeed one of the charasteristics of the kora, the fast notes and spectacular solos that make the crowd goes nuts.

These fast paced solos, my seasoned musicians friends in Mali who toured the world many times were calling "conneries", in French "nonsense" or "bullshit". The crowd might go nuts, but we know this is just a show, it doesn't really show craftmanship or real mastery.

My teacher in Mali DialyMady Sissoko when I started with him gave me one piece of advice that stuck with me since, "you need a solid bass line", everything is built on top of it so focus on that first. He also told me that's how the old players were eveluating a young one, by listening to the strength and stability of your bassline, not the rest.

I have another story that I will share about this in a next blog post on this subject....
Till then , work slow, then increase progressively your speed.
Speed is not bad, it is useful, but it is a decoration on top of your building, not the main frame...