[HANASHIR:3642] Re: Drumming Circles--HELP!

[Rglauber <Rglauber...>]

Hey Steve, your drimming cilcle question seems to have grinded the list to a 
halt.  This is a topic that interests me a lot, and I'll actually be teaching 
a workshop in the CAJE preconference entitled Sounds of Celebration (Jewish 
Jamming 101) that deals with this type of situation.  

I came up with 5 principles that go into the making of a successful group 
musical experience, and I believe that they have some relevance for what you 
are going to tackle. 

The first is the idea of Kavod..... of honoring this thing which you are 
about to do.  One way of honoring is to begin in silence, play some music, 
then end in silence..... in this way, the act of making music takes on a 
special sacred dimension, (which is where music making belongs in my 
opinion).   It could be a short piece, but if you arrange beforehand that it 
will start and end in silence, it will focus the participants to pay good 
attention  to the sound and the music

Second principle is the idea of supporting one another.  Drum circles are a 
good time to work on the important musical skill of being able to copy 
someone else's part.  If player A goes boom chick boom boom rest    boom 
chick boom boom rest.....  Then players B and C can copy that part, and 
suddenly there is a section happening.   Not everyone need copy, but the 
knowledge that copying is OK is very helpful to the group dynamic.  It gives 
people a lot of choices, and it helps a group coalesce and get together.

Third principle is rhythmic integrity.   If you do establish a repeating 
part, then hang on to it for awhile, and let other players play off of it.  
People are counting on you (in more ways than one),    too often people let 
go of their part too quickly and there is no center to the music.   

Fourth...... Leave space.....   don't play all the time.   Nothing is worse 
than a drum jam in which many people are playing steady eighth notes or 
sixteenth notes.   It's much better to play a phrase that has rests in it.  
That way, other people can fill in the blanks, and there's a great sense of 
fitting together.   When in doubt.... sit out...

Fifth.......    The best of all jams is when the music takes on a life of its 
own.   It changes, it evolves.   think of it almost inpsychological terms.... 
"are you willing to change? are you willing to grow?   In other words there's 
a time to hang on to a part, and another time to let it loose to go where it 
will.  This gets into the idea of dynamics.... loud and soft, fast and slow,  
busy and spacious.   The best jams cover a lot of different dynamics.

Final tip.....   When the music is going good you can say ON 4,,  Everybody 
Stop!
Then you go (loudly)   One    a two    a three afour.   then there will be a 
silent measure of four and you can start in again.   People love it.   You 
can do the same thing and on Four, everybody plays real quietly.   this is 
especially good if there is some flute player who can't be heard during the 
bang bang part of the circle.....   

that's my twenty two cents.... I hope it helps....

Rich Glauber

I guess the first thing is to get a drum, eh?  

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