|
by Rick Cormier
There can be
calm in the midst of noise.
My mind quiets as I play...
suspending its judgements,
rehearsals, and self-reproaching...
Time slows down...
...Just enough
that I begin to see the moments.
I become grounded and aware
of myself
and of others
and
of the music we have become.
There can be such healing in Joy.
"There are no mistakes...only improvisations" ~R.A. Fish
by Rick Cormier
In our group song I hear
people grooving...
hands and fingers dancing
on drum heads.
In the moment
in the music
we are co-creators
co-creating.
I glance at your face
and hands...
and knowing
nothing
about you...
I know everything that matters
now.
In our group song I feel
emotional energy...
that unique blend of tension,
frustration
sadness
apprehension
and joy.
I
let this simmer a while
so the flavors combine
then add a bit more joy...
(One can never add too much joy).
We
have lived
another week
in our respective worlds.
I don't know your stressors,
and you don't know mine...
but we are here drumming
our group song
in this roomful
of cherished hearts and souls
and
for a time...
nothing else matters.
.
 by Rick Cormier
Some of us are smiling,
some look grumpy.
Some
look timid,
some aggressive.
Some look comfortable,
others look lost.
We lift our drums confidently
or
cautiously
and begin to play loudly
or softly
Wildly
or with reserve
From the heart
or from the head
Knowing our place in the song
or doubting ourselves.
We look unlikely to belong
to the same group.
We
differ in every way
Were Christian and Pagan
Men and women
Black and white
Gay and straight
Sixteen and
sixty
Well-off and poor
Educated or not
Eloquent or not
Experienced or not
It doesnt matter here.
Some
are here to make music
and some are here to touch God.
Some came to be together
while others came to be alone.
Some came for the joyful noise
and some for peace and quiet.
Some came to heal their souls
and others just
for fun.
It doesnt matter which.
Some are here to connect with spirit...
to journey
to raise energies
to be entranced
or find their essence
And some are here to stop thinking.
To just Be.
A dozen
souls
Together for a dozen reasons
Headed for a dozen destinations
Yet we travel as One.
Supporting one another
without a word
Building something of beauty
and energy
and spirit
that not one of us
could have
conceived.
Ending each piece with laughter
...or with silence.
Feeling so alive,
and in the moment,
and
so connected.
When its time to go, I pray
I can bring a bit more
of my drum circle heart
into the world
this time...
Because the world has much to learn
about community.
Drum-mer: "1. One that plays the drum or drumset. 2. He who constantly bangs on things and pretty much drives everybody
nuts!".
"Without art, we're just monkeys with car keys."
~ Author Unknown
"Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
~ Pablo Picasso
Dawn Andersen joined Different Drummers recently. She drummed, she sang, she chanted...and at one point she asked if it
was ok if she read a few poems she had written. We were all so moved by them I asked her permission to post them on our website:
Drumming With Others
Drumming with others - in sacred rhythm - fills my soul to overflowing.
When Righteous harmony is achieved within the drumming group,
I feel the Divine Creative Musician at work in each of us
contributing to a sound that both grounds me, and
makes me soar in an indescribable rapture.
There are all kinds of intimacy. This surely is one of them.
It's a time where we can be intimately connected to others
we may not even know. Yet, we make beautiful music like
we've known each other for always. And maybe that's the lesson here.
When we offer our individual drumbeat in harmony with the whole,
all of our barriers drop until we are nothing but the one drumbeat.
We become the heartbeat of Godde.
I think we all understand this in our own ways.
Thank You, Musician Healer, for being an expression in all of us
that drum your heartbeat song - whatever that is.
Today You have saved the life in me.
You have resurrected my joy. You have resurrected my hope
that I am not alone. You have resurrected my knowing
that I am part of the whole family and that I am needed here.
In humility and gratitude, today I promise I will drum for You.
Dawn Andersen 2/25/07
Drumming: An Instrument Of Love
I pick up my drum.
There's a deep awed silence - a revered stillness -
in the moments of anticipating what that first stroke
to my drum will create for a sound vibration and
what that will do to my soul.
I let go and make contact falling in love again
with the vibrations, which are not only heard clearly,
but felt deeply in my heart and body.
Before long, the sounds create within me some
earth based erotic impulse to move.
compelled to move, I follow this urge and very quickly
my movement turns to dance.
Dancing - my soul lightens - freeing me to expand. I am inspired.
These acts of dancing and drumming
bring sacred spirit's light into myself.
I call thanks to all the great beings
of the universe for helping me to satisfy
this great primitive longing in me.
I realize doing what makes me joyful fosters gratitude.
I know having a grateful heart makes me
an instrument of Godde's peace.
I drum.
I move.
I dance.
I bring light into myself.
I bring joy into the world.
I am an instrument of Godde's peace.
Dawn Andersen 2/30/01 revised 2/23/07
“The
improviser employs the oldest in music-making... Mankind's first musical performance couldn't have been anything
other than a free improvisation." ~Derek Bailey
IN THE SPIRIT
by Cliff Latta
It's all from the Great Spirit,
The Sun, mountains,
Mother Ocean,
Ravens
in the Sky,
You and me...
A tree that fell crashing to the forest floor,
And the elk's skin that now embraces
it,
Begin a new journey.
Hold your drum to your ear,
In a private moment
When you want to talk with
God,
Then begin to beat
Against the elk and tree
Until their voice fills you
You have created the path with this drum.
That future generations may follow.
There
is a new voice in the world
That is the elk
and the tree
and you
Moving together in the spirit.
"A good drummer listens as much as he plays."
-Indian Proverb
THE DRUM
by
David C. Smith
The drum will call those who hold the spirit.
It will draw near, those who
do not yet know.
The elk and tree will speak to the hearts of the believers.
They will seek to make others hear their
stories.
But those who are not drawn to it, will not hear.
Those who are, will never forget.
Rhythm is the soul of life. The whole universe revolves in rhythm.
Every thing and every human action revolves in rhythm."
~ Baba Olatunji
The idea that there are harps in Heaven is a common misconception.
When we get to Heaven there will be DRUMS!!! ~Tony Vacca
"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
~Mahatma Gandhi
HEART And DRUM
by Martin Steingesser
Listen to the Earth,
drum of the heart. Native Americans say the world is a drum.
In the ear, the drum itself is hearing.
Feet dance in the
ear
on that drum. A song
comes straight from the heart.
Listen to the Earth.
Sound is power and the first sound we hear is the pulse of our mother's
blood. No sound has a more powerful effect on our consciousness. Drumming is the musical expression of this primal power.
Rhythm is a means of organizing sound into specific energy formulas to harmonize the mind and body. Chanting, rhythmic breathing
and drumming form an ancient technology for directly synchronizing the mind/body complex, creating conditions for psychological
and physical healing.
I'm Taking My Drum!!
|
When Grandpa gave me this bass drum
It
made my heart go zoom.
My parents cheered each time I played:
BoomBoom BoomBoom
BoomBoom!
But then one day my mother said,
"Take that thing to your room."
I appreciate encouragement.
BoomBoom
BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
To become a great bass drummer
Is nothing to presume.
So I worked
real hard at practice:
BoomBoom BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
As I played a little louder
It
made the neighbors fume.
And I think that means they like it:
BoomBoom BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
So
when Grandpa came for Christmas-
With tension in the room,
He gave my brother his bass drum.
BoomBoom
BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
BoomBoom BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
Dad says his dad just likes us
But
Mom says he gives doom.
I really don't know what she means,
BoomBoom BoomBoom
BoomBoom!!
BoomBoom BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
Since they give harps in heaven,
When I go I now assume,
They'll
be needing my percussion,
BoomBoom BoomBoom BoomBoom!!
BoomBoom BoomBoom
BoomBoom!!
Copyright ©1998 by Bob Tucker |
Alas for those that never sing,
But die with all their music in them!
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
~Aldous Huxley
"A good groove releases adrenaline in your body. You feel uplifted,
you feel centered, you feel calm, you feel powerful. You feel that energy. That's what good drumming is all about."
"In many cultures there is a belief that the sound of the drum actually
rearranges matter and spirit on the atomic level - correcting imbalances in emotion by bringing to the surface those feelings
that require release. It is not surprising then that the drum has been the tool of the Shaman for all time."
Groove has a relationship to the whole area of trance, repetition,
meditation and hypnosis. One view is that by repeating things beyond a certain point, the listener`s mind is forced to jump
off to a new place. But rhythm goes very deep at instinctive level too, and has become increasingly an antidote for me to
excess infomation. Losing myself in playing a hand drum gives me a route to shedding all the clutterings and clammerings of
a world over-rich with media, and finding a more wholesome space.
Drum circles create physical vibrations that relax the body. They
also massage the heart and the emotions.
We live in an age and culture
where our sex, race, age, and class separate us. Our lifestyles separate
us. Our neighborhoods separate us. Our livelihoods separate us. Our politics
separate us. Even our religions separate us. So many distinctions in our
culture serve to keep us disconnected from one another.
Much has been documented regarding how
drum circles can heal individuals,
but another kind of
healing takes place:
Group drumming builds bridges between people.
We feel connected, find commonality
and build Community. ~Rick Cormier
"DRUM FOR YOUR LIVES!"
~Ed Rooney
|
