al jam session which would include a legitimate drum set and sticks but one where I was able to learn how to go to the basics of drumming by learning and creating beats and rhythms.With our humble array of pots, pans, tupperware, and spoons as sticks, my lessons be
gan. My personal opinion on drums always seemed to be that anyone who could create a beat could play the drums. And while this is somewhat true, there are definitely more to drums than simply banging on a drum to your own beat. There are various rhythms and techniques used in so many different ways. For instance, the basic beat my willing teacher Elyse taught me was: "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and." While hitting one drum consistenly with that pattern, I was to hit a different drum on beats 1 and 3 by "double drumming" (Drums). Being a former piano student, I thought that I would be able to easily carry a beat with these drums but as we went on I realized that it takes much focus and more than simply rhythm and the ability to count. One has to be able to understand which drums you're hitting, the noise it creates, the speed that sounds the best. It is much more complex than I realized, and yet so simple at the same time.
gan. My personal opinion on drums always seemed to be that anyone who could create a beat could play the drums. And while this is somewhat true, there are definitely more to drums than simply banging on a drum to your own beat. There are various rhythms and techniques used in so many different ways. For instance, the basic beat my willing teacher Elyse taught me was: "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and." While hitting one drum consistenly with that pattern, I was to hit a different drum on beats 1 and 3 by "double drumming" (Drums). Being a former piano student, I thought that I would be able to easily carry a beat with these drums but as we went on I realized that it takes much focus and more than simply rhythm and the ability to count. One has to be able to understand which drums you're hitting, the noise it creates, the speed that sounds the best. It is much more complex than I realized, and yet so simple at the same time.Drums have b
een around for centuries. While there have been many guesses as to when it began, it is impossible to place the date of emergence of this basic talent. It's utility in different cultures has varied greatly as centuries pass and societies change. Today in society, drums are largely used for music and dancing, yet in older cultures, it was used for things as important as warfare where drums were used as signals for soldiers and to impose fear on the enemy (Cadre). Drums and their various uses have created a universal organization of sound that stems from one drum or a whole group of drums. They come with the ability to be played by musicians to mere common folk who enjoy tapping their feet to the beat of any song.
een around for centuries. While there have been many guesses as to when it began, it is impossible to place the date of emergence of this basic talent. It's utility in different cultures has varied greatly as centuries pass and societies change. Today in society, drums are largely used for music and dancing, yet in older cultures, it was used for things as important as warfare where drums were used as signals for soldiers and to impose fear on the enemy (Cadre). Drums and their various uses have created a universal organization of sound that stems from one drum or a whole group of drums. They come with the ability to be played by musicians to mere common folk who enjoy tapping their feet to the beat of any song. In learning about these drums through folk knowledge I have gained more appreciation for folk knowledge and the insights it gives once one becomes aware of what folk knowledge is and it's incredible effects. It teaches you so much about the how and when of learning as well as the different outcomes of it because of its influences.
By learning this skill, I can somewhat appreciate and pick out drums and beats within songs or even the simple beat to someone walking down the street. It helped me to realize that music is everywhere, in pots and pans, in falling raindrops, and nearly in every action that creates a sound. All in all I had great fun banging on the various pots and pans from my cupboards and learning how to create a beat from my own homemade drums.
Sources:
"Drums, drums, drums in the deep..." Ah, such good books.
ReplyDeleteI would attempt to drum up support for this comment, but the punnishment would get me thumped on the head.
This reminds me of James' post: music really has a deep and often visceral effect on us. I talked to someone who had been in Ireland watching a parade by a group that was not in its territory. Apparently the style of drumming, the rhythms, and the general atmosphere made him just want to punch someone in the face. Drums tend to make me want to dance, though what kind of dance depends on a lot of factors, including the rhythm.
I also have spent many years learning piano and also singing. Music seems to be one of those subjects that has been changed so many times throughout history. There are music styles where the order and pattern of the movements or phrases are in such an order that it creates and "educated" or "sophisticated" sound. Yet there is also music that causes us to get up and dance and want to sing along. It's like that kind of music can even be reduced to a child hitting a pot or singing an exciting primary song. The music I love the most is music that doesn't seem "sophisticated" but is more natural. . .where the material doesn't seem to have a pattern. I think that kind of music brings people together more because one thinks that even THEY could create music, as long as it didn't have to have a complicated pattern.
ReplyDeleteI love how music becomes an outlet for us to create our own situation where we can manipulate sound to make either a sophisticated or natural sound. It's like we get to control whether the father or mother tongue get spoken.