10 Reasons Why Drumming Together Builds Great Teams

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by Jim Donovan

1. Drumming levels the playing field. Drumming levels the playing field, removes hierarchies, and helps participants to know each other on different terms. Creating music together creates lasting bonds between people unlike any other. By putting all of your employees (CEO's included) on the level playing field of group drumming watch how the hierarchies melt away and you each begin to see the importance of player in the room. Strengthen interpersonal relationships. 

2. Drumming creates a strong sense of respect among participants. You can create more effective team members by turning them into deeper listeners. Drumming unifies and creates a common purpose for your team and is the perfect metaphor for working together in harmony while highlighting the importance of the group dynamic.

3. Drumming encourages creative thinking. When you drum, it demands that you think outside the box. Drumming uses both hemispheres of the brain. Each player learns how to balance their creativity and expression while supporting others in their own pursuits.

4. Drumming quickly brings focus and concentration to large groups. Drumming helps to bring immediate focus to any size group. Within moments, everyone is on the same page, letting go of worries, skepticism and concerns, and immersed into an enjoyable group experience.

5. Drumming fosters cooperation instead of competition.Your team members will feel camaraderie closer as they experience making music together. When all players are working in complete cooperation, and with full focus, extraordinary music results. Create a common ground and a solid sense of community by uniting participants as a team and feel the power of playing as one drum.

6. Drumming melts stress. Drumming is scientifically documented to quickly and safely help people release stress. With the first five minutes you will feel a significant shift in how you feel, and also how the group is better able to focus.

7. Drumming stimulates deep listening. Group drumming demands that you learn to hear subtleness. You learn to hear more than one thing at a time. You learn to hear more than just yourself. It increases awareness of others while participants learn to listen and interact with each other.

8. Drumming helps participants to find their own voice. Learn the power of individual contribution. In their expression individuals make a unique contribution to the success of the entire group. Group drumming is the perfect metaphor for relationships in the workplace and is a cathartic way to enhance personal and self-awareness. Drumming with others with a group encourages self-expression and personal growth.

9. Drumming is easy, energizing and enjoyable! Percussion is RIGHT NOW. You pick it up, you strike it and it makes a sound. With mindful direction and leadership, any group can be turned into a "percussive orchestra" within a very short time. the Corporate Drumming Programs I do specialize in building immediate energetic synergy within groups who usually take a long time to develop.

10. Drumming can happen anywhere. Your conference hall, your business, auditorium, outside (weather permitting), parking lot. I've done sessions in very diverse circumstances such as a woodworking sawmill, a juvenile prison, factory manufacturing floor, cafeterias... you get the idea. All we need are the ability to make loud music and seating for all participants.

Get more information on Jim's Corporate Drumming Programs....

Why do I drum?

My trusty drum kit..

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by Jim Donovan

I was thinking about this question today and I realized that beyond the enjoyment and energy, that I drum because it teaches and reflects to me important aspects about my life...

• Like feeling stuck or uninspired because I feel like I am just repeating the same old rhythms...
• Or trying to learn new challenging new rhythms where the patterns challenge, frustrate, and right out confound me...
• And even realizing, that the rhythms in and of themselves aren't nearly as important as the intention I inject into them.

Elie Kihonia and I drumming at Riverbeat in Pittsburgh.

When I drum, it reminds me of the craving I have to be "in the groove", fully present and in joy. I feel the most alive when new ideas are flowing effortlessly and great music happens!

Drumming is one of the tools that continuously challenges me figure out a way to create that which is inspiring. Whether I break "hard" rhythms down into smaller parts, play them more slowly, or find someone to help me figure it out, drumming always gives me opportunities to grow... if I look closely...


I want to know, why do you drum?
Be a part of this article by leaving you answer in the comments below!

34 Easy Ways To Improve Your Drum Circle

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by Jim Donovan
(Special thanks and hi-fives to all of my friends on my Blog, Twitter and Facebook for your contributions to this article!!)

If you're anything like me, you like FUN...and FUN is probably why you decided to give this drumming thing a whirl.
So let's pretend for a moment that you have your drum and you made it to the drum circle...
Now what?

Beyond the stress relief, sense of togetherness, and joy you can get from drumming with others is your ability enhance the overall quality of the drum circle experience by the way you interact with the people around you.

Here are 34 easy ideas that you can use to maximize your fun and improve your drum circles right away. Think of these tips as "drum circle etiquette".

And if you have ideas that aren't on the list, leave them below...
Happy drumming!

34 Easy Ways To Improve Your Drum Circle

1. Remove your rings if you are borrowing someones drum.

2. Turn off your cell phone...and resist the urge to text. (Your Twitter followers can wait...)

3. Listen first, play second.

4. Ask permission to use someone's drum before just picking it up.

5. Resist the urge to play louder than everyone else.

6. Get to know each other after the circle, hang out and chat after drumming.

7. Respect the drums you're borrowing.

8. Space! Leave space for others to play.

9. Make the betterment of the "group sound" be your number one priority.

10. If you are a newbie, pay attention to the more experienced drummers around you and learn from them.

11. If you are an expert, remember the newbies in the group and give them encouragement and guidance from time to time. Remember what it was like when you first started drumming!

12. Worrying about mistakes? Fuughet abahht it!
If you are a beginner, you may feel as though everyone is listening to you and your "mistakes" (even though they aren't!) Be brave and just play.

13. Unless you are facilitating, resist playing faster and louder in an attempt to speed up the group.

14. If you get lost, listen for the downbeat - the main "pulse" of the rhythm to find your way back.

15. Tired of drumming? Just dance!

16. Made a mistake during a session? Just SMILE and keep going and get back INTO the group's vibe!

17. It's okay to not drum sometimes, so that you can really listen.

18. How about some hand percussion? Try a shaker, woodblock, or bell.

19. If playing a bell, make sure there is lots of space in your rhythm. Keep the bell rhythm simple and steady.

20. Keep solos short and sweet and then come back and support the group so others can take a "solo".

21. Drum with joy. Remember how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to make music together. Have fun, you deserve it.

22. Breathe...relax...and open your heart to collective possibility..

23. Most importantly (in drumming or dance or life) drop into your heart. Move beyond the thoughts of *how* to do it, or impressing someone, etc....and into "what deep essence wishes to express through me/the drum in this now moment?"

24. Open up to the healing energy that we create when we drum.

25. Feel the group pulse, as if it were your own.

26. In the words of the late great percussionist Bill Roth:
"It's not just what you play, it's also what you don't play."
"It's not just when you play, it's also when you don't play."

27. Realize that there are many different kinds of drum circles that will lead to different kinds of experiences.  Appreciate the value of diversity and try to be conscious of the group dynamic or you may feel disappointed that "they" didn't play the way you like!

28. Bring your best self! Your energy can positively or negatively impact the circle - let go of negativity, feel the rhythm - listen - drum - dance - be

29. Leave your ego at the door! (Or even in the car...)

30. Listen, feel, listen, breathe, listen..

31. Bringing children to a circle can be a great thing, and it can also be incredibly disruptive depending on how it's approached. Etiquette would mandate that if you bring young children, spend a bit of time with them prior, so they understand what's going on.

32. Understand that some people come to the circle with a different method of "feeling" the music due to disabilities they are triumphing over.

33. Why not turn the circle into an excuse to eat as well? Have a potluck afterwards and get to know each other.

34. Relax.

If you'd like to get my free Rhythm Newsletter with useful articles, updates on workshops, retreats and concerts near you, plus special members only giveaways sign-up here... 

Are you looking for some new grooves?
Check out my play-along learning tool "World Rhythm Seeds CD".

5 Ways to Create A Deeper Connection with Your Music : Part 3

Photo by Kaylyn Oshaben

View Parts 1 and 2 of this series...

by Jim Donovan

5th step: Be the example. This step is all about action. It's about doing all of these things; learning the mechanics, integrating your physical body into the pattern, integrating your breath into your phrases, aligning your intent into the music you are creating and then displaying these actions. Remember, that the best way to positively influence those around you is to just "do what you do" and let them watch and potentially assimilate your actions.

Many musicians get stuck early in their learning thinking that the whole goal of being a musician is the flawless execution of technique. Once the execution becomes highly advanced, sometimes they will feel they have reached their highest potential as a musician and will stop working towards a true connection to he music.

Music is not just the notes, lyrics, chords or rhythms- it's all of those things combined with humanness. Once you begin to integrate all that you are into your music, your whole perspective will change on what it really means to play music.

You may also discover that not only are you playing music, but the music is just as much playing you.

Stress?

From Rhythm :: Ecstasy :: Evolution

Drumming has been used for centuries by the world's indigenous peoples, who have always drummed in ceremony at weddings, births, deaths, harvests, and rites of passage. In recent years, major articles describing the healing effects of this ancient practice have appeared in newspapers and magazines such as the New York Times, The Yoga Journal and Newsweek.

Read more...

Find places to drum here...

Tips on Djembe Technique

This video clip from the Rhythmic Foundation : Interactive African Drumming for Everyone DVD gives you tips on how to start playing your djembe. In it, Jim covers how to sit, how and where to strike the drum so that you make good sound and how to keep your hands healthy.

Good technique is important and allows you to do a few things:
1. It keeps your hands from getting hurt.
2. It helps you learn to differentiate your tones so that you can begin to learn the language of the drum.
3. It gives you "efficiency of motion" so that you end up using as little energy as possible, thereby making it easier for you to play and learn.

As with anything worth doing, give yourself time with your drum and repeat the exercises often to make better gains in your playing. You'll get back whatever you put into it. Most importantly, infuse your approach to practice with the attitude of joy...

Now go grab your drum!

Bata Drummers

Courtesy of Awoyinfa Ifaloju

This is a short clip of some young Bata drummers, children from a long long lineage of Ayan drummers from the area to the north of Oyo town & Ogbomoso towns, which is the traditional and cultural heart of the Yoruba of Nigeria. Bata is also worshipped like any other Deity of the Yoruba people, and can speak like a human, people accustomed to the traditional Yoruba language can decipher the words that the Oni-Ilu (person drumming) is saying and will often sing along to the words of the drum, Bata is also closely related to the Orisa Sango and to Egungun society.

The highly developed artistic forms of the Yoruba people has many things to showcase to the world. These drummers are around 6-8 years of age and have been drumming several years under their mentor.

2 Master Drummers Going At it

We can all learn a thing or two from these guys...

Beginners Djun Djun Lesson with Jim Donovan

Photo by Kaylyn Oshaben

One of the most beautiful, yet sometimes overlooked African drums are the djun-djuns.
The voice that the djuns give really help drumming music become more dynamic and musical, especially when combined with iron bells.

Below is a beginner lesson from my Rhythmic Foundation DVD.
This video shows you how to hold the stick and how to strike the drums efficiently. The next step after learning this basic technique would be to attach the bell to the djun djun and learn to do the bell in one hand while playing the djun in the other hand.

In traditional West African drumming, there are 3 sizes of Djuns: The smallest is called the kenkeni, the medium drum is the sangban and the large is called the dununba. The iron bells that attach are referred to by some as toke' bells.

The djuns and the bells are typically the drums that carry the melodies of WA drumming music, while the more popular djembe is used primarily as an accompaniment instrument. The exception to this being the lead drum or master drummer who uses a very high pitched djembe for soling and doing calls....

If you're looking for a few masters of these instruments:
Check out Mamady Keita
or Michael Markus

How to Get a Good Sound From Your Djembe

Bass tone
The bass tone is the low sound of the djembe. Using the weight of your forearm, strike the center of the drum with your open palm and bouncing your hand off the skin to get the best bass tone drum. Experiment with striking the drum a little off center to see how your particular drum responds. Keep in mind that each drum is unique and has its own "sweet spots".
Each stroke you play on the drum should be with relaxed muscles and motion. While doing this and the following strokes (except for the muted tone), imagine that you have strings attached from the drum to the palms of your hands. As you do this imagine these strings pulling the sound out of the drum. The head on a drum is a vibrating membrane which moves in an up and down motion. By using this imagery you may allow yourself to pull the best sound out of your drum.

Open tone (or just the "tone")
Continuing in a relaxed way, bring your fingers together as you strike the edge of the drum to create an open resonant sound. The edge of the drum should contact the fleshy part of the base of the fingers between the two joints closest to the hand. Be careful to avoid hitting the rim of the drum with the joints in your hands (under your knuckles and in the lines of you palms and hands).

Slap
The slap is a bright, popping tone. Firm your fingers and curve them slightly (you're still relaxed remember), strike the edge of the drum with the fleshy part of the hand, just below the fingers. Watch that your thumbs stay away from the rim of the drum. Let your fingers pop down and quickly bounce off the drum. To really get a strong "popping" slap. your drum head needs to be very tight. you should not be able to feel any "give" in the head if press down on the middle of your drum head.

Muted tone
This stroke is a muted Pa that creates a cracking, dry sound. Mute the head of your drum by resting one hand on it just before and during the strike of your other hand.

My Students Opening for the Clarks in Italia..

One of my favorite things to do to my students is to make them perform in public after only playing for a short time...The students you see here were in my hand drumming class during a semester in Parma, Italy in May 08.
After 5 days of working with them for 2.5 hrs per day, I told them we would be performing live doing an opening slot for the band The Clarks in front of an Italian audience...

The students of course weren't so sure they could pull it off...I knew they would be fine...they did spectacular. the shades were there idea...

2005 Rhythm Renewal Faculty Jam

2005 was the first year of bringing faculty other than myself to the Summer Rhythm Renewal. We laid a lot of groundwork that year for what this experience would eventually become. One of our favorite events is the "Faculty Jam". This is a photo of one such jam.

Pictured here from left to right; Mike Deaton on djembe, myself on kit, Jim Gagnon with the didgeridoo and Daveed Korup playing the frame drum.

My Workshops Look Like This...

This is a shot of a workshop I did at a place out in Eastern, PA called Serenity Yoga...really sweet people, lots of good drumming that day. I love the energy of yoga studios...very conducive to music making.

Cumulative Effects

Photo courtesy of Rae Ann Drabick

Let's do the math.

If you spend 5 minutes per day playing your drum, that adds up to 35 minutes per week, 2.3 hrs per month, 27.6 hours per year.

What if you spent 10 minutes a day? That's 70 minutes per week, 4.6 hrs per month, 56 hrs per year...

The ability to foresee the cumulative effects of your actions is an important skill to learn both in music and in life. Begin to look at the efficiency of your daily routine and how much time you spend on things that are important to you. Pay attention to those things you could do without, and replace them with actions that will help you to progress.

Peace,
Jim Donovan

The Groove

The groove is what I live for.

Back in 1990, I specifically remember a day when I was in Rusted Root's rehearsal space in the Strip District near downtown Pittsburgh. It was really hot at that time, and I was practicing on the drum set by myself. There was no air conditioning, and I couldn't open the windows - but that was all fine by me. I decided to shut the lights off and I started playing an African groove on my tom-toms, (a 6/8 rhythm) and I thought to myself, "I wonder what would happen if I just kept playing this groove for a very long time?" So that's just what I did. I started playing and the more I played the same groove, the more I let my body relax. I deliberately decide to stay on the same groove over and over, and I did no fills, no variations, just the same thing over and over again. Repetition, repetition, repetition.

Being in that space for what seemed to be about 10 minutes was bliss. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was no longer thinking, I was no longer trying to be anything. I wasn't trying to become a better drummer, I was just in the groove. And when I finally stopped, I thought I had been only playing for about ten or fifteen minutes, but as it turned out, over two whole hours had passed since I had started playing the rhythm. I wasn't tired or fatigued in any way, but instead I found that I was energized and I knew that night on my ride home, I would never be the same.

Potato Soup and Bacon Bits

WHICH ONE OF YOU PUT BACON BITS IN MY POTATO SOUP!?