Saidi Patterns 1

This is my first pattern I learned to play, SAIDI Patterns #1 from Omar Kattan:

I have no idea (yet) if this is a formal foundational pattern that has been taught for centuries, or if this is one that this musician put together as a basic “starter” pattern. For right now, it doesn’t matter.

This pattern gives me practice at:

• doum
• slap
• kah
• tek
• playing 32nd notes (two hands)

It also introduced me to both the verbalized notation (the words above) as well as one way of doing a staff notation for this.

I was curious about what “saidi” means, and I found this article: https://threewinds.wordpress.com/rhythm-44-the-saidi/

Essentially, any of the 4/4 rhythms that have a “Doum Doum” in the middle are considered Saidi.

Performance

Here is Saidi Patterns #1, performed at a few different tempos.

Reflection

The first week of learning this was very difficult. I could feel myself unlearning those old muscle memory habits. I was struggling to play along with Omar on his video. I kept swapping notes, playing kah when I should have been playing tek. My slap and tek were (and TBQH, still are, somewhat, but I’m working on improving this) almost indistinguishable.

I also was initially having trouble remembering the sequence of hits – the “notes” – to play them in the correct order. I would have to have the video with the staff notation visible so I could be sure I was playing them right and not swapping notes again.

I practiced this a few times a day for about 10-14 days and then felt pretty confident about it and was able to move on to the next one. When I didn’t have the drum handy, I would practice on my knee.

Getting the 32nd note open roll was a challenge, at first! I have been really trying to ensure that I am opening the roll up (so you can hear the individual notes, spaced evenly) as much as possible. They almost function as ghost notes, so it seems important to not buzz them.

Most importantly, I was pleased (and not surprised, really) to see how much I enjoyed learning this, especially after it started to feel more natural.