Communique: #15: Technique and Spirit

Technique and Spirit

So there's Technique;

the mechanics and maths of rhythm functions,

the movement and force of finger tips,

all the minutia of posture and breathing,

and disciplined playing of routine rhythms,

training the mind and body to know without thinking

the structures and accents of a foreign language.

There is also Spirit.

The first drummer had it,

no-one taught them how to play

or what to play.

For each drummer a drum

for each drummer a rhythm

ten rhythms

a thousand rhythms

rhythms without end

and

the one rhythm,

the rhythm that doesn't repeat.

Stand in your bedroom and sing it

sit in your car and roll with it

dance all day in stillness

drum all night in silence

It is in you

So practice if you like, or if you must,

and play when you can, or when you can't,

be inappropriate, dance though there is no music,

it's a fair kind of madness to be free

and to drum upon the belly of the world

or your own belly

or your thighs

drum with your sighs

make breathing a rhythm that has a secret song,

a song that has a secret lyric,

let my life be that unspoken promise between us

to live forever,

to play without trying,

without asking,

without language or thoughts or regrets or goals,

play timelessly,

in the kitchen,

or the car park,

or your own mind – in a field in a dream, in a dream

forget learning, forget knowledge, forget the awkward adult staring at you

from inside your mind

forget the lessons

and play

as

if

it

didn't

matter

at

all

because it doesn't.

It doesn't concern me if you play or don't.

It doesn't concern the world, or your parents

or anyone

it is hardly a concern, whoever you are,

you can play, or not, if you like

as you like

no aspirations

no bigger meaning

You are a girl

or a boy

or whatever you like,

with a drum.

There is Spirit you see,

in you,

in me.

Communique #14: Home drum lesson 3 - the circle inside ourselves

Home Drum Lesson #3

Hey Gang,

This week I've been mucking around with a rolling pattern. I'm not going to notate it, rather it's better that you just listen and play along. The routine of shifting from one rhythm to the next is pretty essential stuff in terms of drum practice, and in this instance it's more important that you just practice whatever rhythms you enjoy playing, shifting as you please from one to the next.

I use the rolling pattern that I begin with, then shift to a Saiidi (always a favourite), then back to the rolling pattern with some variations, then onto a Chiftatelli...

To quote the popular meme, 'with all this shit going on...', I've not been drumming much. I play ukulele nearly every day because it is a source of never ending joy that I cannot put down. Or, as I put it in a poem, written some years ago....

*

Ukulele Trouble

the ukulele doesn't care about your troubles

just strum those lost-on-the-highway blues
those lonely-crowded-party blues

just play your heart's-sadness-away blues
just sing a song-to-unmake-the-devil blues

just play it again-and-again-and-again blues

the ukulele doesn't care about your troubles

but it will listen to you anyway

*

So whatever you've been doing with your time during this unusual time, I hope that you are being moved by rhythm, even if that rhythm is not played on your drum. I hope that you are dancing, even if it's not your body that is doing the dancing. I understand that it's difficult to motivate to play the drum outside the circle.

I guess we have to find the circle inside ourselves.

Communique #13: Home Drum Lesson 2

Making class videos still feels weird, and I'm figuring out lighting slowly, but here is the new At-Home class video.  I've kept it short, it seems like that's the best way to absorb new material.  This lesson quickly covers the HayAllah rhythm, then i spend a few minutes covering a variant I have been practicing at home.  Drum along with me on this one.

Class Video 2


Also:

remember why we drum
remember why you drum
and
if you can't remember,
play your drum until it comes back to you.