The "split-finger" or "split-hand" technique is a common

drumming Drumming may refer to: * the act of playing the drums or other percussion instruments * Drummer, a musician who plays a drum, drum kit, or drums * ''Drumming'' (Reich), a musical composition written by Steve Reich in 1971 for percussion ensemble ...

technique (used mainly on Egyptian style

goblet drum The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-s ...

s and Indian drums like tabla and kanjira) which was made popular by the famous Turkish

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

, Mısırlı Ahmet. Mısırlı Ahmet studied and practiced drumming in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, hence 'Mısırlı' (the Egyptian). There are various ways of implementing the split finger technique, using one hand, or interlacing the hits using both hands. The one hand split finger. This involves striking the rim of the

drum head A drumhead or drum skin is a membrane stretched over one or both of the open ends of a drum. The drumhead is struck with sticks, mallets, or hands, so that it vibrates and the sound resonates through the drum. Additionally outside of percus ...

(or a bit further down) with a downwards (or diagonal) movement of the

index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...

of your ornament hand (that is the left hand for right-handed people, or the right hand for left-handed people) and from there, with no extra movement, bringing your

ring finger The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger. Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-han ...

up with a slight twist to strike the rim (or close to the rim). When this is done correctly each hit should sound like a regular "ka" (which is a standard rim hit with the ornament hand). The two hand split finger. This is a combination of right and left hand strikes. The table below shows the most common ways that it is done. Note: A side-to-side motion with the hands is more ideal and efficient when doing the two hand split finger (for speed and comfort). Also note: a "Tek" is a standard rim hit with the main

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each "h ...

(not ornament). ---- 1. Index finger, index finger, ring finger, ring finger RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND ---- 2. Ring finger, index finger, index finger, ring finger RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND ---- 3. Index finger, ring finger, index finger, ring finger RIGHT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND ---- 4. Ring finger, index finger, index finger, ring finger RIGHT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND ---- 5. Tek, index finger, Tek, ring finger RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND ---- 6. Tek, Index finger, ring finger, index finger, Tek, ring finger, index finger, ring finger RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND LEFT HAND ---- The result of each one of these combinations is that there are 4 rim hits for each beat making a very fast roll at anything over 200 beats per minute. Note: the last combination (number 6) is over 2 beats, making for 4 strikes also per beat (not 8 strikes). Note 2: There is a more efficient way of doing the split hand technique, which doesn't allow the fingers or

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the Carpal bones, carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known ...

s to become sore, and doesn't involve as much wrist movement as the above-mentioned way. This is done by using a more "side to side" movement than an "up and down" movement with the wrists. This generally increases speed without hurting the wrists.

Links

Split-finger technique on the Dumbek

Turkish split-finger technique
scroll down for detailed descriptions and comments
Egyptian split-finger technique
scroll down for interesting details about various musicians and their own versions of it
Darbuka split-finger technique

The ''Tekronomicon"
is a book believed to be the first instructional publication on the split-finger technique written in North America. {{Dead link, date=February 2020
Instruction on the Turkish split-finger technique by Raquy
Percussion performance techniques