I asked each one our group to write a line for a group composition, and this is what they created:
The Divas – November 2011 —> Divas 112811 [either link should work]
Here are the individual patterns that made up the song. Each student had 16 spaces to enter either a bass, tone, slap or rest. Some of us were transcribing the rhythms we could hear in our heads. Others were letting the patterns emerge on the whiteboard. The resulting rhythm was beautiful by blending both. There were patterns that were simple, beautiful and foundational. Those were the stepping stones in the brook. I used the first pattern as the ride. It runs throughout the song in the background with a shaker on the pulse and son clave, to meet the “more cowbell” requirement.
Other patterns were elaborate and elegant. They had starts and runs and pauses where I wouldn’t expect them. I like my expectations rattled! Those patterns dove and flowed around the solid stepping stones. They broke over the banks, fell back into ride rhythm, then surrendered the song to shaker and bell….
That what Divas do, and this is how they did it:
| t t b . | t t b . | t t b | b . b . |
| b t s . | s t b . | b s t . | tt s b |
| b t t t | b . b . | b t t t | b . . . |
| b t t . | b s s . | b . t t | b b b . |
| t b t b | s s . . | t b t b | s s . . |
| t t . s | . b s . | . b t . | t t t s |
| b t . t | b . b . | t . b b | s s . b |
| b . t t | t . b b | . s s . | s s . . |
| . . b . | t t . s | t t . . | . b t s |
| b t t b | b t t | s s . . | b t t b |
| . b . t | t s . b | b t t . | b s s . |
You are amazing people. Thank you for playing music with me!
It is awkward for me to say that “I teach drumming.” I really don’t teach that. I share what I know from my experience, how to make music with people with instruments that have only two notes: on and off. I share techniques, patterns, ways to build a rhythm song, adding their instrument’s voice in the time and space framework the group has established… I remind people to listen to the beat and hopefully, help them find the confidence to express themselves on a rhythm instrument with other people. [As playing alone is called 'practice'].
I share “rhythmic-music-making” with children – babies and their parents, grade-school aged kids, adults and the “people who come as they are.” Euphemistically and practically described as “special needs.” [I squirm those terms, too. Who doesn't have special needs? Doesn't every child deserve a special education? Another term - "disabled" cracks my classes of special needs kids up. Nary a one of them has ever told me they have no rhythm, or tell me they can't play because they don't know how. Even before they have tried. I tell them about those responses from adults I invite to play and they say, "Ha! and they call US disabled!"]
In my adapted classes, I don’t try to get folks to play one of the West African rhythms I share in other classes. I don’t really try to get them to do anything. We just play together in a musical environment. It’s loud and noisy and messy and joyful and engaging and spontaneous and everyone is absolutely successful.
One of the fine and humbling artifacts I realized is that, if the way other people do things does not work for me, I need not have a great amount of strife trying to figure out what is wrong with me that I cannot get it. I simply find a way that does. Simple. I mean, if the shoes don’t fit, there is no need to blame my feet….
The S.T.E.P. classes – along with my other adapted classes – are the best of what I can be a part of. These are young people who “come as they are”. They come with Autism and Asperger’s and Down’s and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and CP and names and jobs and intentions and relationship issues and life desires…..
As far as I can tell, we all come as we are. I am grateful they take me as I am.
We played Friday, taking turns being the dunun lead. The dununs – the big bass drums that are the foundation to the West African rhythms I learned – are a powerful ground the hand drums can dance to and all around. I guided only by asking them to start with a steady pulse. After that, go nuts! But try to keep the pulse strong. Sometimes it goes that way, sometimes it is pretty random and jammy. Someone in the group holds a pulse; either me or an aide. It is home. It gives us a touchstone… I had set up a little kit that could be played with sticks [unlike the hands-only drums], with a few cowskin drums, a tambourine, the krin and a bell I think. Each kid took a turn. The last person in the circle was their teacher. She was – like many ‘typical’ adults – reluctant. The kids were incessant; drumming and chanting her name. Finally, she got to the sticks and completely gave herself to all of us and the music.
These kids have so much to share with others about fearlessness. What can you do that is wrong when we are all here together to play?
I have no reason to call myself the teacher…..
I am grateful… making music with others – especially showing other people that they are music makers – is truly a reward in itself. I spend most of my time and resources doing just that. It is worth every breath, every moment, every muscle. This morning I had one of my adapted classes at the Fort Boise Community Center. A young woman asked, “What are you going to teach us?” ”Nothing.” I said. “You already know how to play music. I am just going to remind you.”
They remembered! One young man took a giant beautiful dununba, and without suggestion, began to play a steady deep pulse. Whoa, baby! That’s all I need! I matched his beat with bass notes on my djembe and the room immediately settled in time for the song to begin.
I want to let you know that this is a room filled with around 20 young adults [19 -25] with “disabilities” – Down’s, Autism… conditions, symptoms, complications, behaviors that distinguish them from “Typical”. Everyone in the room was playing to this pulse. [I did have to encourage the aides who believed they were there to observe. It is never a baby, a child or a person who 'comes-as-they-are' that tells me they cannot play a drum.]
We built the rest of the hour from there. Always the same. Always different. Start with a pulse, add your voice, your joy, your frustration, your day. Make the song we’re playing our own. A couple girls got up to dance. The kid on the tambourine rocked! The young man whose expression does not change, smiled. They laughed and drummed and hooted and cheered. It is worth everything to play this way.
I have been devoted to this sharing caring play time music fest for years. A few days ago, I received a financial gift. In my world, it was a really BIG gift. I am not a non-profit, so the donation of money and instruments really is a stringless Gift. The giver doesn’t get a tax break for it. It is encouragement to continue on and the means to do so. What my friends ‘paid for’ was my ability to donate several hours to a couple of classes of 5th graders, and still be able to pay some bills. They enabled me to purchase some lummi sticks so everyone can participate when we invite others to play. They have validated this priceless work…
The world is changing and asking us all to show up with our deepest love and greatest contribution. That is our own self. I just play drums. But it is my voice, and shared with the voices of each person willing to speak up and share their deepest love and greatest self, we really can have harmony in this world.
http://failladrums.com/doing-the-best-for-the-most/
In the Rhythm Kids class on Monday, my Yasha kid stated that “when we experiment” with which sticks or brushes to use on this or that instrument [or bucket or chair or window] “we are actually playing.” I like when kids say actually. They mean ACTUALLY. Like it is really real then. Experimenting IS playing, actually.
But structure gives us the context. The framework of our play. We wouldn’t be able to make up a very playable card game with half of us holding a ball….
I like structure. It gives me something upon which to improvise! We’ve been doing structure this month in the Tuesday Night class. These are the djembe codes for the song, Lolo as we learned it from Famoudou Konate’s book, “Rhythms and Songs from Guinea”
lolo codes . They are really slow and looped the number of times stated in the book [for consistency of practice]. If you’d like a written copy, let me know. If you were in class, you have it! Next month, we’ll see what sort of experimentation we can do playing with this song.
I am sorry I have been out of touch, friends. It has been joyfully busy! I think this drum thing is catching on [after thousands of years!]
We’ve been busy with kids programs and adult classes; drum sessions for adults with traumatic brain injuries, kids & adults who come as they are. a great session going on at the boise Language Academy with the Refugee kids, great performances with The Fleet Street Klezmer Band, and for as long as we can, drumming on the sidewalk Saturdays at 10am on 6th & Main.
In a little bit, I will be back to the regular updates, class notes and pictures galore! Thanks for checking in. Let me know you’re still there and what I can offer you in your sacred, community, healthy, playful, exploratory journey into rhythm.
~failla-marie
Schlepping enough drums, shakers, bells, sticks, chairs and verve is not as easy as it looks. Especially on a bike! I am so grateful for the people who offer hands and arms and cars and trucks… We get everything we need in place, and the place fills with every expression from anticipated elation to tentative doubt. Then the magic happens. So far in this life of mine, I have found nothing more rewarding.
I have shared stories of people who believe they have no rhythm playing SOLO’s during our Saturday Sidewalk jams; non-verbal kids in my adapted classes slinging on the hip scarf and leading their peers in an orchestration of rhythm, Idaho City kids creating a masterpiece of unity, and adults finding a welcoming avenue for letting go of the day. Getting back into our groove. Finding a sweet spot in the rhythm of life…..
On August 31st, we’ll be celebrating the End of the Month and the Start of our new Tuesday gathering in my friend Shannon’s studio on Warm Springs Blvd. What a beautiful place! Not only is the location awesome, Shannon and her fellows fill the place with healing. Councilors, psychologists, healers, wellness practitioners all of them! I am so grateful to be invited to be a part of that… I hear everyday from people who just need something that soothes the day. Drumming – rhythmic music making – has brought humans together and soothed our wild souls since the beginning of ourselves as us.
“Recreational Music Making encompasses enjoyable, accessible and fulfilling group music-based activities that unite people of all ages regardless of their challenges, backgrounds, ethnicity, ability or prior experience. RMM ultimately affords unparalleled creative expression that unites our bodies, minds and spirits. ” Karl Bruhn, Father of the Music Making and Wellness movement.”
Drumming in support of wellness has found a place….
The next mission is to locate an affordable studio in which to hold classes for school-aged kids and teen-agers. Let me know if we can come play. I can schlepp this stuff almost anywhere!
Filed under Music with Kids, Playing Together · Tagged with At Risk Kids, Building Community through Music, Drumming with kids, New Drummers, Playing!!, REMO Healthrhythms, School programs, students, Teens, The Importance of Play
Two miraculous things happened when we played today: We play outside a bookstore in town every Saturday, offering drums, rhythm toys and play time to families passing by on their way to Market. We invite everyone. Today, an older man walking by was invited to play, and, like many adults, said, “I can’t.” But like me many years ago, he hesitated….
“Give it a try. Will you clap your hands together?” I began clapping to the beat my pal Luis was keeping underneath the rest of the song. He joined me. “That’s it! That’s all this song needs!” I pulled up the chair sitting empty before an eager drum. He began to play. He began to play…… He played with us the rest of the hour, and when I indicated it was his turn to ‘play louder than everyone else for a moment’ [my gentle invitation to do a solo] he began to play.
The next hour was class. We had three new people join our little circle this morning. A beautiful new drummer and a retired couple who had somehow gotten enchanted by what we were doing the week before. I listen with all the love I have in my heart to people tell me their trouble with drumming, and rhythm in general. The gentleman was older than I and I am older than I have ever been in my life…. maybe he has been here for 60 years. It was clear to me that for a good number of those years, he believed he had no rhythm. Who told him that? How long ago? How long has he believed that? How do you compassionately tell someone they have been lied to most of their life?
From my sister, Ruti Mizrachi: ”When we were stationed in Germany, an opera singer gave us a clinic on song. She said that everyone can sing — it’s just that we believe the tape we play in our heads from our childhoods: “You can’t carry a tune in a bucket!” Like that. She said she would prove it. “Who is the ‘tone deaf’ person in the room?” she asked. Everybody, including Bob, pointed to Bob. “C’mere, Bob,” she said. “I’m going to hum in your ear, and I want you to sing out of your mouth what you hear.” She did — and Bob did — and what came out of his mouth amazed all of us — most of all, Bob. It was beautiful! “Stop believing the tape. Everyone was given the gift of song by God.”
He played beautifully. He kept the foundation alive while some of my more experienced players reviewed a series of patterns we were working on. He played so we could play. He was the heartbeat of the song we were bringing to life. No pulse, no life…. In spite of what he was told to believe, he began to play….
You have rhythm. I promise. Put your hand on you chest; a little to the left. Then be still for a minute. Listen. Be still….
Before you play a drum or a shaker or sticks, be still for a minute. Listen. Before you say you can’t, be still for a minute. Listen. Do you believe that or did someone tell you to believe that? Before you answer, put your hand on you chest; a little to the left. Then be still for a minute. Listen.
Lefties click here
When practicing or playing on your djembe drum, don’t forget to use breaks. This is sound advice whether you’re practicing alone or with others. And if you’re performing it’s even more important. It tells everyone when your rhythm starts and when it ends. There’s nothing like starting and stopping on time. That is part of the magic of good percussion. It helps tremendously with timing!
If you’re not using breaks now then give it a try. Once again, you can google for information on breaks or you can use the ones we’ve supplied on this page. Just click on one of the images and when the larger image is displayed right-click and do a Save As… If you’re left-handed click on the link above the images to see the left-handed version of this post.
We use breaks all the time at Failla Drums. We use them during classes before playing rhythms together; we even use them before our warm up exercise (Baba’s Warm Up). And when we perform in public events we use them to let everyone else drumming know when to start and when to end. And often when Failla Drums is performing so is the audience who may be playing along with drums, sticks, bells or just clapping their hands. It’s sounds more professional. Without breaks there tends to be clatter at the end of songs. With breaks it’s crisp and clean endings. So play them loud so everyone can hear.
By the way, these breaks work great for rhythms in 4/4 time signatures. For 6/8 rhythms we use different ones, but we’ll cover that in another post. If you can’t wait try googling for more info. If you like our graphic format for djembe rhythms don’t forget to check out our Hand Charts, Graphic Rhythm Sheets, and Animated Rhythms DVD. They’re reasonably priced and free samples are available.
Go Go Do Do Do Go Pa Pa
Failla Drums
Drum Practice Tip #1
Drum Practice Tip #2
Drum Practice Tip #3
Use both hands
Once you get comfortable playing a specific rhythm try starting with your other hand. Download a rhythm from the net and change it so it begins with your other hand. For instance, if a rhythm goes like this: Gun Go Do Pa change it to Dun Do Go Ta. Or better yet, try one of the free sample Hand Charts available on our website. There’s a left-hand and right-hand version for most of the rhythms. If you like these hand charts try using our Hand Charts book which includes many popular West African rhythms. Just place your hands where the pictures display the hands. Remember, if the hand icon is black it means Bass note (Gun or Dun), if a white hand it means Tone (Go or Do) and if the hand icon is red then it’s a slap (Pa or Ta). Practice the pattern (starting with your other hand) over and over again until you can do it without the hand chart. Then you’ll be able to play it with either hand and it will make practicing on your djembe more interesting. Your playing will improve as well; your other slaps, tones, and bass will be consistent with your main ones. If you want to push yourself even furthur try playing the complete rhythm only with your strong hand first and then try it with your other hand because when it really comes down to it, it doesn’t really matter how you play it.
Just play it,
Failla Drums
Drum Practice Tip #1
Drum Practice Tip #2
Drum Practice Tip #4
