How To
Mode D'Emploi
Instruzioni
Nii Tettey Tetteh
Audio
Video
 

 

OUR WEBSTORE IS OPEN AGAIN FOR BUSINESS!

We would like to apologize for any inconvenience or store closure may have caused, and we thank you for your patience!

ARE KASHAKAS THE NEXT BIG THING? CBC RADIO THINKS SO!

2013 got off to a great start with a radio documentary about Rufus Glassco's 12 year journey to bring Kashakas to popularity, and the ups and downs of starting a business to market a rhythm instrument that was virtually unknown before.

Click here if you'd like to listen to it from the CBC's website (note: live streaming of the documentary from their website is unavailable in some countries - if you have difficulty hearing it from the CBC website, another link will be provide soon).

Our first Kashaka rap song is now available! Click here to listen to "Kashaka Convert."

Rufus Glassco wrote the song to explain how he came to discover the ultimate African shaker instrument ever! He didn't mention when however - he lived in Mali, in West Africa, for 8 months in 1996-1997, working as an anthropologist on a research project funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.
On the track you hear kashakas, guitar, bass, conga drums, djembe drums. All Kashaka sounds, lyrics and vocals are created by Rufus. The other instruments are pre-recorded royalty-free loops. Rufus also the composed the song.

"Kashaka Convert" is a play on words, in homage to Chaka Khan, the "Queen of Funk-Soul". She's a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970's as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band "Rufus!" You probably familiar with their big hit "Tell me something good," which, we just discovered, was written for Chaka Khan by Stevie Wonder.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy learning more about Kashakas, where they are from, and how to play several different rhythms. To see video clips of master Kashaka player Ni Tettey Tetteh playing different rhythms, click here.

Facebook

Please join our Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/kashaka, to connect to a community of like-minded percussion enthusiasts from around the world. Learn from others, and share your favourite tips, rhythms and YouTube links, and be the first to hear about our latest offerings and instructional videos.

In our Webstore, you'll also find a great CD for sale, by Nii Tettey Tetteh, an amazing musican, percussionist and teacher from Ghana. Nokoko, his second full- length album, is full of great songs and rhythms, including Kashaka and Caxixi rhythms. Click here if you'd like to listen to some free sample clips from the album.

Want some more help learning how to play Kashaka? Our instructional DVD, also starring Nii Tettey Tetteh, will soon be available for purchase and digital download as well.

Our Kashaka Blog with Video Clips!

Come and see some amazing video clips of Kashaka performance and instruction from around the world!

Stay tuned for new, portable teaching Podcasts that you can download to your laptop or iPod and take with your wherever you go! Some Podcast episodes to look for in the future? How to get two hands going. How to skip Kashakas. How to throw Kashakas. How to create multi-rhythm Kashaka compositions, and keep track of it with Kashaka notation.

If you'd like to improve your karma and demonstrate your appreciation for the time, effort and cost of building and maintainging this website for over 11 years, teaching thousands of people to play this amazing shaker, and to encourage us to put in even more effort to mobilize a global community of amazing percussionists, then you are welcome to donate below. Many thanks for any support you can offer!

 

© 2001 - 2014 Rhythm Kingdom Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MAKE SURE NOT TO MISS THE AUDIO CLIPS

The Audio section has been completely redone, and there are 21 brand new rhythms to check out! In addition, all of the audio clips have now been recorded at the same tempo.

  If you want to have fun and get really creative, open several audio clips at once - they will play in time, creating new polyrhythms!
 

If it's your first visit to our website, and you would like to learn how to play the Kashaka, please visit the How To section. And don't miss the slow-motion video clips of different Kashaka rhythms.

If you've come back for a return visit, check out 2 new videos of Nii Tettey Tetteh, the world's best Kashaka player, playing with The Kusun Ensemble, his drumming and dance troupe, at The Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. We also now have some great Tettey video clips on this site - the video quality is not what we wanted it to be, but you will still be able to appreciate Tettey's amazing skills.

And the Nii Tettey Tetteh page is also very cool. Come and learn about the world's best Kashaka player!

We've also re-recorded all of the original audio clips at the same tempo, so soon you'll be able to open several clips simultaneously, creating new polyrhythms!

 
 

"Making the world a little funkier every day."