Drumming Circles
One musical movement growing in popularity among recreational music enthusiasts is drumming circles. Neither performances nor organized percussion lessons, drumming circles are groups of people coming together to beat a rhythm as an expression of togetherness, community, and stress relief.
“Everybody was born a drummer,” says music therapist Christine Stevens. Drumming is easy and requires no musical expertise. It is as innate to our existence as the beat of our hearts, our brain waves, and our breathing. Even those who are physically challenged can find some type of percussion instrument to master.
Join a drum circle and you’ll be one of a group sitting or standing in a circle, playing just about any type of percussion instrument to a rhythm created in the moment. There are no rehearsals, music to read, or audience. Everyone present participates. Instead of being led by a teacher or conductor, an experienced facilitator leads from the center of the circle. The quality of the music produced is not related to the musical abilities of participants, but rather the quality of relationships among members of a circle.
As a means of creating cohesion and unity in groups, drumming circles are popping up in corporations, men’s and women’s groups, orientations, support groups for people fighting chronic illnesses, health centers, nursing homes, and family bonding groups.
Drums Across the World
Every culture keeps its own beat, and there are as many types and styles of drums as there are ways to make music. And the best thing about drums is that to pick them up is to play them. Just give them whack and you’re a musician! Here are just a few of the instruments you might encounter at your next drum circle.
Congas
Join members of the Desert Foothills New Horizons Band and discover the joys of making music with new-found friends.
Talking Drums
In the hands of experts, this drum does actually “talk.” Typically two-headed and held under the arm, leather strings lacing the heads together are pressed to alter the drum’s pitch and provide a “vocabulary” of sounds.
Timbales
Invented in Cuba, the timbales became a staple of the Afro-Cuban orchestra in the 1940s. The timbales are two drums: the larger hembra and the macho. Like a snare drum, they are tunable and played with sticks.
Bodhran
The most well-known of the frame drum family, the Irish bodhran looks like a tambourine without the bells. It is played with a short two-headed stick that is often tapped against the wooden frame to create extra sounds.
Djembe
This African drum, invented in Mali around the twelfth century and introduced to the West in the 1950s, is fast becoming as popular as the congas. It has a wide sonic spectrum, which makes it an excellent solo as well as accompaniment drum.
Tubano
A modern addition to the hand drum family, the tubano is a cousin of the conga drum and an excellent starter drum for kids and adults alike. Though a slender drum, the tubano has a large tonal range.
Djun Djun
Also called dununs or dunduns, these are actually a group of three tunable, double-headed drums which were invented in West Africa about the same time as djembes. Sometimes played with sticks, they provide the melody in a drum orchestra.
