The drum circle is one of the oldest forms of the creation of the community.  In practically all of the ancient civilizations we have news about, people gathered regularly to fulfill their various types of rituals, such as weddings, births, deaths, planting and harvesting. In short, drum circle is a group of people playing drums together. It is also practiced in Canada to celebrate nations, and more specifically by indigenous peoples.

A drum circle in Meridian Hall Park, Washington D.C. Photo by Elvert Barnes

There are three distinct types of drum circles:

• Open drum circle

This is an open and free drum circle, without rules. There is no protocol. The rhythms evolve totally at random. At certain moments the drum stops in order to reorganize and/or start a new rhythm. In this type of drum circle, one participant in the middle point another participant to stand out. Once the participants come to a rhythmic agreement, a “rhythmic alchemy is created” where the group, through this momentary musical collaboration, creates a single harmonic voice.

• Specific Cultural drum circle

This type of drum circle follows a specific ethnic-cultural model that is generally characterized by the use of instruments typical of a certain culture or social grouping, the formation of choirs, pre-structured rhythms, folkloric and ritualistic aspects, typical dances, costumes, among others. Examples: Senegalese drum groups, Afro-Cuban, etc.

In preparation for our local cultural event, here is a video of what our training. Please note that we will be wearing typical clothes while I will be drumming and singing during the event in November.

• Community drum circle

In this one, anyone is welcome to participate; there is no commitment to prior musical knowledge or practice of drumming. An open space where people can come to gather and share the pleasure of playing, dancing and singing together. Within this category are drum circle for specific populations, such as children, schools (all levels), colleges and universities, etc.

Photo by Al Paton, from https://afrodrumming.com

Of note, drum circles are also used in education as you can see in the video below. This can be very amazing for students.

I hope to post more videos of our practice in preparation for our local cultural event in November. Looking forward to receiving your comments.

Hello everyone!

Today, I would like to share with you two dances mainly of black people to the sound of drums that are called Tambor de Crioula and Capoeira.

1. Tambor de Crioula

Tambor de Crioula is a dance of African origin practiced by descendants of African slaves in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, in praise of São Benedito, one of the most popular saints among black people.

The reasons that lead groups to dance the tambor de crioula are varied and include the payment of a promise to Saint Benedict, birthday party, arrival or farewell of a relative or friend, celebration for the victory of a soccer team, birth of a child, slaughter of a bumba-meu-boi, party of an old black man, or simple gathering of friends.

The Tambor de Crioula of Maranhão is a form of Afro-Brazilian expression that occurs in most municipalities of Maranhão, involving a circular female dance, singing, and drum percussion. For my final project, we will be doing something similar in our cultural local event that will occur in November.

Women dancing Tambor de Crioula. Photo from Luiz Fernando via the culture trip.

The dance of the Creole drum, usually performed only by women, presents a very free and varied choreography. One dancer at a time evolves in front of the tambozeiros, while the others, completing the circle between players and singers, make small movements to the left and right, waiting their turn to receive the punga and replace the one in the middle. The punga is usually given on the abdomen, the thorax, or passed with the hands, in a kind of greeting. When the person who is dancing wants to be replaced, she goes toward a companion and gives her the punga. The one who receives it, goes to the center and dances for each one of the players, bouncing in front of the big drum, the middle drum, and the small drum, and repeats everything again until she looks for a substitute.

2. Capoiera

Capoeira is a dancelike martial art of Brazil originated in 16th-century.

If you are interested in learning more about this dance, visit the link https://www.britannica.com/sports/capoeira and the secret history of Capoeira.

I was impressed to see these women drumming and singing capoeira, with no martial art associated to it.

I found it to be like what we will be presenting to our local community in our cultural event. Here is a video of me training a rhythm that I will be playing at the event. It is not easy, but it comes with practice. I have at time the impression that I will lose to rhythm.

See you next week for a new post.

Thank you for your time.

Hello everyone!

I am back with one more video of my practice of learning how to drum.

I had the opportunity this week to visit the website www.afrodrumming.com where I learned different Djembe rhythms. Most importantly, I read and tried to practice the Kuku, which is one of the most popular rhythms played in Guinea (West Africa) during traditional events. I learned that the song is played by two djembes and consists of:

1. An introduction (‘the call’),
2. The basic rhythm
3. An ending (or ‘call out’).

For more information about each of them please visit the Djembe Rhythm – Kuku.

I also listening to the YouTube video below entitled Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy”), and tried to rhythm it with the Djembe. Listen from 0-2.48 min.

Here is me rhythming Kyrie Eleison with the Djembe. Let me know what you think.

Thank you

Hello everyone!

I am back to show you how I was able to improve with my learning project during the week. Most importantly, I am very happy to have integrated a Screencasting tool into it. I tried to practice a lot of the single, double and triple paradiddle that I learned from the videos of my previous post. You can see me here in action.

I sing the first song in recognition of the coming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30). In the next video, I tried to reproduce a song commonly called “Kougang” in Cameroon.  People dance it with masks and the materials I shared in my previous post. Please, note that I am only playing one part of the “Kougang” song. In the last video, I was trying to drum and sing at the same time. The third song is generally played at funerals in Cameroon.

Overall, these videos used a paradiddle which is a drumming rudiment that combines single stroke with precisely placed double strokes. I found it to be very amazing and I am happy with that.

SCREENCASTIFY OVERVIEW AND REVIEW

Screencastify is an extension for Google Chrome used to record the screen of your desktop, browser tab and webcam.

Printscreen of the tool.

It is free to use, and you can record video freely for a maximum of 5 min. However, the unlimited versions are payable from $7 (Starter) to $10 (Pro) per month and per person, both for unlimited video creation and video length.

I realize that the teacher and the students can use this tool in the classroom to explain an activity. Of particular interest, it can help make student voices heard and thinking visible by means of activities such as comprehension exercises and interactive slide presentations.

When considering the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model, it appears that the Screencastify tool falls under Augmentation and Modification. This is because this tool can substitute face-to-face contact which is the traditional method of  learning (Augmentation), and can be used to create your own unique graphic organizer for the class or change your actual lesson’s design and its learning outcome.

I am back with more details regarding my learning project. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit my community for the preparation of our local cultural event. I took some pictures of the materials that will be used during the event while playing djembe. Here are some of them:

I also learned different rhythms from the youtube video below. The video is in French, but you can find a similar one here in English.

Basically, I learned simple, double, and triple paradiddle. It consists of coordinating the movements of your hands to produce the desired song. I found that it really needs more practice and concentration, especially when you increase the speed. Nevertheless, I am getting it slowly and will be showing it to you in my next post.

The Djembe, which consists of a wooden goblet drum covered in animal hide, tuned with ropes running down its sides, is a popular instrument used in Africa since ancient times for many purposes.

It is used for long-distance communication, and to transmit to generations important religious, cultural, and historical messages. I grew up seeing people using Djembe to play songs during traditional weddings, and even when there is a newborn in a family or a funeral. I have always been fascinated by the synchronisation of the singing and drumming, but I never had the opportunity to learn how to play a drum.

Hopefully, in my community here in Canada, there are some Djembe that I can use for my learning project with the help of my friends and some Youtube videos such as this one.

My interest in learning how to play a drum has two objectives: (1) it will help me to develop a transdisciplinary and playful project as a teacher to confront the students with humanist values of sharing and fraternity, (2) participate as a drummer in our local community.

As you might know, apart from the Djembe, there are many other materials that are used. Below are some of them:

Some materials needed when drumming and singing with Djembe

To reach this goal of learning how to play songs with Djembe, my plan for the project is as follow:

Learning Plan and work schedule

1. Project design.
2. Identification of the instruments that are used with Djembe to produce desired songs
3. Learning and reproducing different songs from different sources using Djembe alone.
4. Practices with friends of my community (they have agreed to have me on board)
5. Drumming and singing during our local cultural event.Work Schedule