Sarah experiences ‘Village Music Circles’
Or - African drumming teacher finally lets people do their own thing…sometimes…after a bit of training
I have always hated jams. Drumming jams. Not for me, no thank you.
They have always driven me mad – people getting together, badly tuned African djembes before them, clattering out a rhythm with no care for technique, bang bang bang, clatter clatter clatter, doubtless having a great time, but surely only because they know no better. Enter the impresarios, the ‘Drum Gods’, playing louder than those less confident, competing with other ‘Drum Gods’, clamouring for attention, clatter clatter clatter, bang bang bang….
Am I a drumming snob? A failed hippy certainly. And I don’t do drugs.
I have just never ‘GOT’ it – the jamming thing I mean. Boo, blah, boring. (Is it because I’m not in charge?) Bang bang….yawn…. clatter clatter…..snore.
So as a teacher I have always TAUGHT. Teaching makes sense to me, and amazingly I have got away with it in community music for YEARS – hurray!
No, but seriously, the benefits of teaching traditional African rhythms & technique really are many: • Good technique = much better sound • Traditional rhythms are beautiful, amazing • Learning about other cultures • Learning a sophisticated musical language • Gaining a foundation for improvising
If people are going to play drums, why shouldn’t they be taught like any other instrument – actually taught?
My own musical history was a classical one – classical guitar as a teenager, and a bit of flute. I was used to reading music, to structured learning and to playing compositions. So when I picked up drumming in my mid-twenties I straight away gravitated towards the same approach – studying with teachers, learning stuff.
Actually, although I approached drumming in this way, I was very aware that drumming gave me the opportunity to develop improvisational skills from the very start – something my classical background couldn’t give me.
It was also the first time I could play in front of people without shaking like a leaf – my hands were going so fast there was simply no time to shake – brilliant! (Guitar was honestly dreadful for that.)
The first drum I put my hand to twenty years ago was a bodhran, the Irish drum. I loved it and quickly got involved with playing at Irish sessions. I next ventured into playing samba, started getting lessons on congas and then was blown away by West African drumming. I have studied with many teachers, completed long courses in Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Cuban percussion and studied in Gambia and Cuba with some of the most highly regarded drummers in the world. Exciting!
I played in bands for many years and started teaching very quickly, loving the combination of the two. I work in schools, with children & teacher training, with community groups and for businesses.
To be fair, although I do teach, my experience in community music has led me gradually to giving people more ownership of their drumming experience: to create their own arrangements, to conduct themselves, and even to make up their own rhythms! Yes indeed. (It only started when I was too ill to take centre stage.)
But the idea of letting people JAM, still no.
But wouldn’t you know, I have actually had an epiphany.
I recently had CPD funding from a project at Heartlands Hospital. I decided to use it to attend a Drum Circle Facilitator Training course led by Arthur Hull, a pioneer and visionary who has promoted the idea of what he calls ‘Village Drum Circles’, around the world.
I didn’t know if I would love or hate it, but I was curious to see if it would alter my perspective.
We were a big group – 50 people from all over the UK & Ireland. The level of musical and facilitating experience in the group was wide: beginner drummers to skilled; no facilitating experience to many years.
On arrival I was aware of feeling anxious, as well as excited. My drummer’s radar/ ego was switched on – how many other experienced drummers would there be? Would there be many better than me? Would it be comfortable or scary? Would other people be better facilitators than me? All the usual worries when I’m not the teacher… (Is this article too revealing?)
After getting our range of instruments together and a welcome and hello, we were told to – play anything. Literally, "One, two, let’s all play…"
Cool!
Because the beat had been set, we all managed to play in time with each other. And it sounded – okay. Big bass drums, mellow drums, strident drums and an array of bells, shakers and rattles, all doing their own thing, but to a common beat.
We were then taken on a guided tour of facilitating. We began with someone simply directing the group to start and stop. Over time we used drum rolls, call & response, loud & quiet, slow & fast, all to get dynamic changes in our self-created music.
That led on to some of the group being directed to carry on whilst others stopped & listened. Facilitators could choose according to pitch, timbre, instrument type or any other random idea that took their fancy. Sometimes only one person carried on, sometimes many.
At first I thought – well two things: 1. This is easy (i.e. there’s nothing to this) 2. Although people are playing their own patterns, actually this is still a bit of a dictatorship, albeit by participants taking turns as ‘leader’.
But gradually over the weekend I found an amazing change happening in my perspective and in the group.
We were learning to LISTEN to each other. Yes, some people still wanted to show off. Not me, you understand…Arthur showed us how to contain that – experienced drummers were given opportunity to go for it, then encouraged to pull back & support the whole sound.
Isolating different instruments and hearing the fascinating and ever changing combinations woke up our listening muscles and attuned us more and more to each other. As a result we became ever more musical as a group – the groove got groovier.
The initial strong directing was leading to a point where the facilitator would do less and less and the group make its own decisions more.
And then came the Saturday ‘Late Night’ – a JAM!!!!! Woooey! (Drum roll…….)
I stayed with it folks, for the first time. And it worked, it rocked, no leadership, just the group really listening, going wherever we took ourselves, like a flock of starlings wheeling across the sky, ready to change direction on a whim, being in the moment (okay I am a bit of a hippy after all) and enjoying the spontaneity & the joint creation.
And that, I found, is the magic of the drum circle. It is a jam, but an EDUCATED jam. A jam of people who have opened up their hearing, their eyes, their senses, to all around them. Who are not just trying to fill a space with their own sound, but who are COMMUNICATING.
In the process people find a balance of contribution and going with the flow. Giving & receiving. And yes, we all start to love each other…
It feels good because it is true community, pure creation, in the moment.
Now THAT I like.
Peace & love,
(PS. If you still do want PROPER African drum training, do get in touch) (PPS. I might do some drum circle stuff too.)
Sarah Westwood Drumvoice Training & Events www.drumvoice.co.uk 0121 442 4976/ 07812 991770