Chords for Beginning Handpan Rhythms - Tutorial with Rafael D'Arco from Tacta

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_ _ [B] _ In this video, you're going to learn how to play three-note arpeggios on the handpan.
This is a [A] super amazing technique on how to play different chords in sequential [Dm] patterns, _
and also at the same time. _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] Welcome to DigiProject.
I'm AJ Block, and on this channel, we've got all sorts of great tutorials [B] on didgeridoo,
rhythm instruments, and all sorts of things that you can play without necessarily needing
to have a background in music [E] theory, [A] reading music, or anything like that.
If [E] you've never been here before, I highly suggest you hit the subscribe button below
[B] so that you can stay tuned on what we have coming up next.
I want to introduce you all to Rafael Da Arco from Tacta [E] Handpans in Brazil.
Rafael is a master craftsman, and he's also an incredible player.
If you haven't checked out the video [C#m] of the Tacta Handpan demos, I'm linking it up here.
You should definitely watch.
Rafael [E] came out to New York this week, and we got to do an interview.
I got to do some handpan demo videos, and he taught this lesson, which is just so amazing.
Enjoy.
My name is Rafael, Rafael Da Arco.
I'm from Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and I'm the maker, one of the makers of Tacta Handpans.
First thing to think about when it comes to handpans, usually the layout of notes is not
a perfect sequence from C to C or whatever the scale is.
It gets [Am] a little trickier to find which scales you're playing, _ but there's some tricks [E] to it.
First thing you can try to is to separate your pans in [Am] sides.
Let's say you have your lowest note here, _ _ _ and if it's as a standard, your next note
is going to be left to the [Em] left.
In [E] this case, it's an A, then a B.
If you get these two and use it as a dividing line, you have two sides of your instrument,
and usually, that's not always, but usually, each side functions as a harmonically compatible
use of notes.
[A] _ _ _
_ _ Even if I play the four together, _ _ _
_ [B] and the other side. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ That alone creates two completely separate environments for [A] mood _ exploration.
_ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ _ If I keep [A] playing this for three hours, I'm going to entertain myself just using this
side and this side.
_ What you were referring to was exploring this in a more arpeggio way, instead of going,
first thing, what's an arpeggio technically?
It's like playing a chord separately.
The notes on the chord, playing one after the other, like this. _ _
_ Since we have two hands and three notes to play, or more, maybe, _ _ _ you have to end up coming
up with a way of playing the notes separately.
Usually what I do, and I've seen people doing it in very different ways, but what I do is
use one of my hands as _ a wrist movement.
I'm basically not using my fingers, I'm just rotating my wrist and arm to do this.
And [F] kind of move my hand [A] around to create more momentum.
_ And the other hand fills in with the third note.
So _ _ _ [B]
you realize I'm not [A] going like this.
_ So this will tire my arm a lot and produce too much clacking sound, clicking sound.
So I'm just moving my hand _ as if I was brushing, but not actually sliding it through the note,
actually touching it.
And this is like, every different player does it slightly or maybe completely different
so it comes to how I approach it.
_ But basically what I do [A#] is one hand using two notes and the third note is played by
the other hand.
_ This creates the possibility of freeing up this hand to change that note around.
So I keep the same pattern with the other hand _ _ _ and go around the other notes, get different colors.
_ [F#m] _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ [F#m] _ _ _ _ [D#] And that changes of course the chord I'm playing, [A] maybe not. _ _
_ [B] And I can do it with both hands, so if I do it with the other hand, _ which for me is not
as easy, I need to practice on this hand. _
_ _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
And I can keep going around.
But this is a very _ _ comfortable way of exploring chords in a handpan. _
[A] Instead of just going for the chords, because _ you separate it rhythmically, so you can explore different_
Oh yeah, I'm using a three _ [A#] beat pattern, [A] _ _ on top of a four measure.
So this creates a little bit of wavy movement, because if I was supposed to play in a four, _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ it would sound completely different.
But if I play on the same four beats using three notes, it goes like_
_ _ _ But the sound is here, the beat is here.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So it kind of does lodges, like moves the strongest beat around the counting of measures.
So it's not always on the first.
So it kind of creates a movement of, oh it's not gonna end, and then at the end of four
bars it connects again.
So there's ways of doing it.
I'm not getting to a very technical exploration of rhythms, but that's one way to create this
kind of_
As if we're limping a bit, like oh, it's not getting there, but then it arrives and settles.
_ _ This is just like ways of playing it, but it involves the same thing of using three notes.
You can do it with four, with five, with as many notes as you can, _ _ but then it starts
to get more complicated, like how to move your hands around.
I said about the easy way of separating it into sides, but you can do it like crossing [F#m] sides. _
_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _
_ [G#m] _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _
So what I encourage people to do is to actually sit down and explore the instrument, like
try to find three note patterns that work together.
Sometimes they don't, [A] _ but they might, depending on what kind of mood you're trying to create.
It's an amazing instrument, so there's lots of possibilities to explore.
[E] So thank you all so much for watching.
I highly suggest you check out Takta handpans, now available in the [B] Digiprojekt store.
There's 14 or 15 different [E] scales available, and they're super [A] beautiful.
Make sure to subscribe to Digiprojekt, [E] just hit that subscribe [F#] button below.
Like this video [E] if you dug what Rafael had to teach, and check us out on Facebook and
Instagram at Digiprojekt, and we will see you at the next one.
Bye bye. _ _ _
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