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drum circle
September 21, 2008
Drum Circle:New Season:New Venue
A Community Drum Circle
Sunday 28th September 2pm til 4pm
£4 on the door - accompanied children free.
in the Old Police Station on Station Street - Nottingham
All welcome - whether you are an experienced drummist or a complete beginner - our circles are renowned for making everyone welcome
Yes we have moved! Our first public drum circle of the new season is in our new "home" at The Art Organisation.
Drums provided or bring your own
Unfortunately the work on the building is not yet complete and there is no wheelchair access at the moment. That will be sorted in due course. We will from time to time be returning to do some circles in Stapleford. We are still working on the dates.
see below for more info about how our circles work
For more info contact Barry on 07800977583 or barry@todrumfor.com
There are lots of different kinds of drumming groups – this is what our drum circles at TDF are about. If you are not sure about anything – please ask.
Community Drum Circles
At
The Therapeutic Drumming Foundation
Advice to beginners – and a reminder to all of us
Enjoy it.
Don't forget to have fun.
Keep it simple.
You don't have to be an experienced drummer to fully participate and have a good time.
Don't worry even if you might think that you are rhythmically challenged. There is no such thing
Just get started and you will find rhythms inside of you.
Observe others.
Keep it simple.
These circles are about each of us playing our own small part and adding our own contribution to the whole
Good for you and good for the drum
Stay safe and stay healthy
Take off your jewellery if possible – and drum with clean dry hands (– your fingers can swell up while drumming and your rings can get tight) Jewellery can also damage the drum If you are playing a hand drum – don’t use other things to hit it with – it’s a HAND drum
Try not to damage the drums – in fact try to show respect for the instrument – in some traditions before playing the drum, a thank you is offered to the animal which gave its skin and the tree which gave its wood.
If you hands begin to hurt – take a break – and maybe run cold water over them
· The facilitator is not there to demonstrate his/her skills and abilities as a percussionist or to show who he or she is. The facilitator is there to help participants to discover things about themselves and about each other There are some basic rules
· Encourage each other – don’t mock – don’t compete
· It is OK to “lose the beat” – if you drop out it is OK to join back in again – anyway, who said you were the one who was off the beat – maybe it was everyone else
· This is a process of helping to discover yourself and maybe love yourself a little bit more
· The sound of the drum is a common feature of our shared inheritance – a part of being human.
· A feeling for rhythm is an inherent quality in all life forms ( it sometimes gets squashed out of us – this is a chance to assert and rediscover your rhythm)
· Nothing is compulsory
· There is a spiritual dimension to this activity but it is experienced in different ways by different people – and no-one is more “right” than anyone else.
· Drumming is an experience to be shared as equals – there is no hierarchy
· Drumming is about communicating – first with yourself and then with others
· We are all different and we are all valuable
· We are all participants – experience rather than observe
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Good manners
Ask permission before playing somebody else's drum.
Listen as much as you play. By listening to what's going on in the circle as you play, you will have a better sense of how you fit in.
Share the time and space. Leave rhythmical space for others in the circle to express themselves. Don't fill up the musical space with all your own notes so that there's little creative space others
Play at the volume of the group. If you can only hear yourself, you are probably not having a constructive musical relationship with the rest of the players in the circle. Play softly enough so that you can hear everyone around you. Follow and support the changes in volume and tempo that the group goes through .
Enjoy!
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