 With his father, uncles, and brothers, he began to play alongside them at village festivals and celebrations.By age ten, he was taking turns as a soloist, and by his teen years he had learned all of their traditional rhythms, and had achieved the status as one of the lead soloists of his village.Kourouma moved to the capital city of Conakry to work, and a year later was accepted as apprentice by the well-known drummer, Famoudou Konate.