I was shown the guinea weave a couple of years ago. I've used it a couple of
times, but have to work hard to remember it as I use it infreequently.

I think you are correct though, it looks like it would be good for once around
the drum, but it tangles the upper strings in such a way as it doesn't look like
you could do a second lap (never got that far to try).

The mali weave however, you can keep going around as many times as you can fit
horizontal rows of "diamonds", two or three layers or more?

We were told that the point of the guinea weave is that because it pulls the
first and third strings together (as opposed to the mali weave's first and
second strings) it tightens faster than the mali weave, so I guess once around
the drum should be enough. If you still haven't got your drum slapping tight,
then you probably didn't pull your verticals tight enough before you started
weaving.

Even with the mali weave, if you need three layers, you probably didn't pull
your verticals tight enough in the first place and you should remove all the
mali weave, retighten your verticals and start weaving again. While it looks
nice to have all those little rows of diamonds in the mali weave, I think even
two rows probably means you didn't tighten the verticals enough before you
started.

The secret seems to be in tensioning the verticals as much as you can (and then
some) even before you start weaving. I'm not sure I've got quite there yet :-)

Glenn

--- In djembe-l@yahoogroups.com, Ed Haggard <edhaggard@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings Drummers!
>
> I have recently learned the Guinea weave, pulling three verticals
> together, where as the Mali weave pulls two verticals together. It
> seems that one can only go around once with the Guinea weave (is that
> true?), but up to three times around with the Mali weave. I am
> wondering which has more pull, one time around with the Guinea weave
> or three times around with the Mali weave.
>
> Ed
> thelovedrums.com
>
> Mod Note:
> There are different ways of weaving drums in Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso,
Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast. There is no Mali weave and there is no Guiena weave
per se. I know because I've been there and many people do differently.
>
> The phrase 'Mali Weave' caught on years ago, like the word 'pulling' or
'pulling diamonds'. There were a few videos that taught varius ways to do the
'Mali Weave'. 'Tightening the drum' is also a good phrase.
>
> Alan Tauber, Mod Squad
>