Why will people put the time, energy and attention into learning how to play a flute, piano or guitar properly but not a drum? It’s because in our western culture this is what we have been taught. So we respect this.
People would never think to just strum on a guitar randomly with zero knowledge or play a violin with out technique and training.
The drum is a musical instrument as well. The drum is just as valid an instrument as any other instrument and takes just as much training to play properly. We just have not been taught this yet. We were not brought up with this knowledge.
And the hard truth is many of us were not brought up to respect things from African cultures.
There are ways to hit the drum to make the sounds intended to come out of the drum by its designers and makers. There is indeed technique that teaches us to speak on the drum and to use a vocabulary of sounds and rhythms. There are indeed musical structures and compositions to be learned and played on the drum as an instrument.
There is much more to drumming then gathering in a group and simply playing whatever you want, stop and go with out any relation to anything or anyone. I have been stunned at recent jams where people are playing so out of sync! I stood next to two people who were playing nothing in relation to each other. They might have well been in different states. They are not paying attention to anyone but themselves.
This is not a bash on drum circles, it is a report. I am speaking on and from my many experiences.
I understand the drum calls out to all of us and we can get satisfaction at once even the first time we hit it. I see small children and babies wander to the drum and their first idea is to hit the drum. And they get enjoyment. I get this!
I think many of us get stuck in these first moments, in our own first beats and don’t move from this. Not realizing there is more to drumming then playing the same thing over and over again. For some drumming is social, it is not even about musicality and that’s fine too.
However, I think it’s important to share with you and others that there is a musical tradition, a musical form, rhythm patterns and arrangements that goes along with the drum.
Most people jamming on drums are not aware that systems of music, culture and history have evolved from and around the drum. Most folks don’t know about the culture it was born from. And most observers and people seeing large groups of people playing don’t realize or know any of this as well.
People speak of spirituality and unity with the drum. Of coming together. And we can indeed do so much more with drumming if we unify.
And to do so it’s important to learn to play together, to listen to each other and to learn how to efficiently play the drum. The vibration of any group of people will be much higher if they are in sync, playing with each other rather then everyone soloing at the same time with their eyes closed and disconnected.
A great way to learn to play together is first of all being open to it. To drop the resistance to information and learning. It can indeed be very helpful to learn to play different group compositions and arrangements that work together in harmony rather then discord.
If we let go of competition and egotistical energies its much easier to feel and be a part of the unity of the drum.
When we play together in harmony we can can create positive change, healing, unity and beautiful music as well. It is the ego that say’s “I am doing my own thing” and “I don’t need to learn, I already know”. I say we leave the ego at door and approach drumming with others from a humble beginners perspective.