My family heritage: Djembe

Work about family heritage


       My family heritage: Djembe by Margarida Costa (PT)

  This instrument is a type of drum originally from Guinea in West Africa, is very old and is still important in African cultures, especially in the Mandingue region (which includes Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cote D'Ivore).

  When my grandfather died, about 13 years ago, we discovered a Djembe among his things, among many other he brought on trips he made when he was young.

  My grandfather bought this djembe on one of this trips and he gave this instrument to my father when he was little, and years later, my father gave me this djembe and he gave me this instrument, not only to be an inheritance, but because he knows how much I love music.

  For me, music is very important because I think it brings a balance to our life. We all have our good and bad days. When I'm having a bad day, I lie down on the couch, put on the headphones and choose a song... I attend a music school near my house and I've been playing guitar for 3 years. We have already done many presentations for families and friends. But at the beginnings of last month we gave a presentation at a festival in the area. There were lot of people there to watch and everyone felt a little nervous, but when it came to my turn, and the drumming set the tone, the nerves I had disappeared...

  And of course, when I have children, I will transmit these values.