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Basic Drum Circle Exercise #1

Today we started our drum circle experiences for the year at my school!  First up were my students in our public school day treatment program.  I began by showing a video from Kalani Music, as he demonstrated a Groove Pass technique he uses.  Here it is in case you haven't seen it:




Before we watched, I told the students I wanted to know a) what the group was doing, and b) how they were doing it.  As we watched, we discussed how they were passing the groove on to each other in smaller groups--the groove traveled around the circle--some people played while some people did not, and the music never stopped.  Then we discussed how that was happening--they were using their eyes and ears as a player and leader to communicate and know what to do.

After the video, I asked the students what body parts they would need today--a lot of them said, "Hands!" to play the drums--but I reminded them I needed them to use their eyes and ears, too, so that they knew when and how to play their drums.

We moved into a basic drum circle review, which for me uses these commands:



Then we ended with an adapted Groove Pass technique.  We had six people in each circle.  We split into three pairs, and each pair played for eight beats.  They could choose to play eight quarter notes, or to improvise rhythms, and using their eyes and ears, the group followed me to know when to pass the beat as we moved around the circle several times.  They did EXCELLENT with this.  A lot of great nonverbal communication and divided attention practice!

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