Watching the dancers at the end of our seminar was such a thrill I couldn't stop smiling. I'm unbelieveably excited to play for them ...

Too bad we didn't get to play for the kwanza celebration because of logistics, but in any case seeing the Muntu dancers this Friday made me even more excited about this performance, so whether we play for them or separate, it will be awesome. I've noticed people (including myself) tend to use the same drums ever week now, which is cool because you can really get to know one particular drum.

Naomi Klionsky

This Is Anthony On Connors

The performance is almost here and im getting pretty pumped. Were all starting to play rythmicly with eachother. Im very enthused to illustrate to the school what weve been able to accomplish in such a short ammount of time. im also pretty scared...

The performance is nearing and I'm getting pretty estatic. We are all starting to play isync and it sounds awesome. I'm very excited to show what we have apprehended so far!

drumming

The performance is coming up, but we still haven't practiced with the dancers yet. I think we need to do this soon because otherwise the performance will totally fail. I think we finally learned the song last week and we were alright, but we still need more practice. Drum on Drummers!

The performance is getting closer and i am really excited. I think we are finally able to play in harmony and it sounds great. Can't wait to show what we've learned!

Drumming for the performance would have been fun. we are well on our way to be ready for the final performance. i have learned a lot on drumming through this seminar and learned a lot about african culture.

Dancers?

i think we have been improving alot in our drumming. but the question still remains... are we gonna play w dancers? i think were ready but if were gonna play w them i think we should do it b4 break. But this drumming has gotten alot more fun. Since we mostly know how to play the rhythms its mostly fun from there. So Dancers? Were definately ready.

Dancers

Maybe we'll finally be able to play for them tomorrow? I'd really like to do it once before break to get somewhat of a feel for how the rhythms and dancers interact. Anyway, it's been really fun drumming so far, and I know I'll be thinking of it during break!

I just realized that my hands are starting to get calluses, especially on the ridges of my fingers from hitting the drum and carrying my instrument case. I guess that shows i'm really trying to get the beats right... (sort of)

I cant wait to play for the party. This will be our very fisrt time to actally play for someone. Im so excited! I just hope we can pull it off. The beat that we are learning now is kind of hard for me to get down.

This drumming session, I feel like we're finally pulling it together. I think that we need to spend more time individually on each session. As far as the sound, I feel like together it's brilliant! Next session, I think we should play non stop for as long as we can just to really get the beat in our head.

Although I missed the first half of our seminar i could tell that we are improving on our keeping unity but now all we need to do is work on our tempo becasue we keep, or at least I, speed up when we're playing. I feel like we need a bit more practice before we play for the dancers but maybe working with them will allow us as a group to improve ourselves a great deal more.

Last week I found drumming to be a lot harder with several different beats going. It was incredibly easy to just totally lose the beat that you were asked to do because of hearing all the other ones. Hopefully this week Ill be able to focus on the one beat and not everyone elses, and maybe it will sound good this week.

The Log

The only instrument i can play is the hollowed out log. It makes some pretty cool sounds. I wonder what its made out of? The beats we are learning are pretty hard, but I am the master of the log. I hope we merge with the dancers soon.

This is Anthony on Connors

Last week was pretty cool. We learned some cool beats. When we were drumming i felt pretty cool. I thought that it was nice that we were givin the option to solo. Not going to lie i was afraid that i would'nt look cool. The Djembae is pretty sweet but after playing for a while my hands hurt pretty bad. Next time i think ill have the courage to solo, but probably not.

I have been having a really fun time in this Muntu drumming seminar. We've been practicing a lot and i think it has really payed off. We will definitely be ready for the performance!

Sry for the Late Addition

I know its really late but last week i felt that the second beat that the jimbei? had to play was so much more difficult than the original one. hopefully we would use more the the first one, the slap, tone, tone. i feel so much more comfortable with that drumming pattern. Im really exited to drum for the dancers.

I missed last weeks, and i really missed it. I've been really excited for the last several days to be able to go back and play the drums again. i really missed it! I read that some people played solos and was even more sad that i had not been there. Looking forward to playing again.

Last week was alot of fun. I thought we sounded good and better than usual. I wish I had solo'ed, but i thought it was pretty cool that Baba PC let us play solo's. I hope next week will be fun

I'm so glad we're finally playing for multiple weeks in a row. I think the consistency has really helped us to retain the rhythms. Last week I really enjoyed when Baba PC just let anyone solo while we were playing. Sometimes playing the same pattern over and over again can get monotonous and I was happy that he opened the floor so that we could have some more fun. I'm really excited to play with the drummers this week, hopefully we play great!

I found it tough trying to play the rhythms last seminar. It was also difficult to keep the rhythm going and play the break. I tried to focus on saying the rhythm in my head and that helped a little. It also helped when there was more people playing the same rhythm. Hopefully I can get it right away next seminar to better prepare myself for the performance.

*I'd forgotten that the plan is to actually play for the dancers tomorrow. I'm excited for that, though it might be really hard when we actually try, especially if they're expecting us to play faster than we have been or something.

*Previously I blogged that I can never seem to keep the rhythm in my head between seminars. Maybe it's helped now that we're having seminar every week, but it really helped me to remember the WORDS Baba PC says that go along with the beat-- the break for the piece for the dance, i think, pde'ke'te'ke'te'ke'te'ke'te, for example.

*We'll miss you, Claire, you're getting really good practicing that same drum every week.

N.Klionsky

I feel like with each practice we are becoming better and that if we work at it we will be ready to play with the dancers in January. we have come a long way from a few weeks ago and we can only improve.

Just a Note

As of last week, I really thought we came together. I've never heard us sound so good! Baba PC has done a great job in such short notice, and I'm eagerly awaiting our performance.
That new rhythm on the kenkeni has permeated my brain I find myself singing it in my sleep!

Just note, I WON'T be here next week, but I hope all of you have a great time!

HEYY.

Since Muntu drumming, I have gained a respect for drummers. I always thought it was one of the simplest and easiest intrument to play. But since actually learning to drum, I have discovered its a lot more difficult that it looks. I never knew that even something as small as the placement of your hands could make such a difference in sound.

This is Anthony on Connors

Last week we were really good on the drums. I think BaBa PC thinks were starting to come together (I hope so). Janurary is coming up and its crunch time, but I believe that we can do it if we just focus. I would also like to see us drum with the dancers and see if we are in rythm with them. I think we are well on our way to being a very good drumming group.

Anthony

This is Anthony on Connors(Redo of Last Week)

I don't usually hear African Drumming in common day music. I think I've heard african drumming in one Simon and Garfunkel song but I'm not even sure what its called. I would like to hear more drumming in everyday music. I think it would add something new to the boring and diluted pop music that is on today.

Anthony

I was not there

I was not here last week, but I believe the seminar went on without me. I am sure they did a very very good job of drumming their drums in my absence. I banged on a table a couple times to make up for not being there. I really hope i can be good at drumming this week!

I thought the last seminar was the most successful. We were really able to harmonize, and we sounded really good. I listen to music differently now, it makes the song a lot more interesting.

Hopefully Drumming with Dancers

I'm really hoping that we finally get to merge with the dance seminar and play for them. I feel like it would add a cool visual aspect to our rhythms as well as possibly hold us in better time. As a comment on last week's session, I feel like we all latched onto the rhythm immediately and were playing cohesive beats for most of class.

dont have a title... completely forgot about blogging... anyway, really excited to drum w/the dancers. i feel that it will challenge us to be able to play up 2 a different speed. We have to know how to play alot faster for the dancers. Tomorrow will be interesting... but im sure we can do well. Besides the red and sore hands, drumming is so much fun!!

Last seminar, it felt that we were on a roll meaning that we were good in the beginning but towards the end we did even better. We also did little to no mistakes when playing even though the rhythms were so much harder and more complicated than before. I feel like all of us are getting the feel for the drums and i expect a great performance in January.

Learning the new rhythms we would be performing were a little hard to learnat first. As we moved along they started to sound better wich made them easier to play. I think we are all learning at a good pace and we will be ready to play for the dancers soon.

Good

Even though the rhythms were more difficult than usual this week, I felt that everyone did very well and we actually sounded kinda good. Hope we do as good next week when the dancers are going to be there.

-Paul

No official prompt this week, I guess, so I'll just say that legit look forward to drumming seminar every week and am kind of excited to finally have a few consecutive weeks (the 'kind of' because it means we have full weeks of school, too, of course), and also very excited to play for the dancers.

drummmmmmmmmmmmmm

i feel like we are becoming better at drumming.when we play we sound like we know what we are doing. when i listen to music i feel like i haven't payed more attention to drums but this seminar has gotten me to appreciate different types of music.

This last class was by far the most difficult for me. It was hard for me to pick up on the rhythem. But, I do like the challange so I think I'll be okay for when we have to play for the dancers.

Summary

I feel that this last seminar we got the most out of. We finally played together with minimal mistakes, and it sounded good! I can't wait until next class. Hopefull we'll get to practice with the dancers soon.

Listening to Drumming? Not Really

Taken this seminar i havent really listened to music differently than before. Maybe because the music i currently listening to are like pop-ish type of music and does not have a lot of drumming. What i have been noticing is that i try to listen to drumming when a certain song has a drum beat to it. I try to mimic it and try to air play it.

I agree with everyone that our sounds are starting to come together and although we're obviously still beginner-beginners we've made progress. As for hearing the beats in other contexts: I just searched on Itunes-- "Afro-pop", "Muntu", and some other things. I can't tell if the beat was in there or not-- if so, it didn't jump out at me, but I still may not know exactly what to listen for.

beat with in a beat

While we were drumming I actually heard the beat that I was suppose to be playing so, when I got lost all I had to do was listen for my part. I think we are making some progress.

What a Feeling of Together-ness

Finally! Last seminar was great because we finally put everything we'd been working on together and it sounded GREAT!
I love playing the kenkeni, and that's the drum I hope to play in our performance.
I have drumming on the brain...I keep tapping out my rhythm randomly, and I think it's starting to annoy my family.
I can't wait for next session.

So far no

So far I have yet to listen to music differently because of this seminar. Most of the music I listen to does not have crazy drumming rhythms like the ones we play in class, so that is probably why. I will continue to listen for them, but my guess is that I won't ever find them. So I will most likely have to search youtube for a while to try and find some African music.

No change yet

I haven't really listened to music differently since playing the drums, but I guess thats most likely because I don't listen to any African music. Maybe if i popped in a CD of Afro-pop every morning like Mr. Karafiol does, than I'm pretty sure I would listen for the beats and stuff, but as most radio stations are hesitant to play African music, It really hasn't changed my perspective on music

Listening to Rhythm

I don't think the drumming has made me pay more attention, but more of the volume and feel of the rhythm. If music is loud, I tend to listen for the smaller touches, such as what the kinkene was doing today. Our sounds are really starting to come together, and I can't wait for the show!

kt kkkt kt kkt kt kkt kt kkt ktktktk

i was glad to HIT THE drum like objact



re keke re keke trikty trikty tu muf muf

I feel like learning any type of instrument allows you to focus more on the beat when you're listening to music. It is because you have this new found ability of counting out a rhythem that makes you want to be able to apply it to the music you're listening to. It's the awarness that a heart beat exists within everything...

Does drumming make music sound different to you?

I found that learning drumming made me pay more attention to the rhythms in the music I listen to.  Has it done that for you?

== pjk

Last Time

I really liked the way we were taught last time, because it wasnt so slow. I liked the way we would play for along time, like until my hands hurt. The music sounded really goood when we did that because we were able to play and not worry about waiting for the break. I think we should play like that more in class. I really want to be able to play more intricate beats too.

Baba Osante

So I think i had an equal amount of fun and possibly learned more when he taught the class. It seemed like he just was very quick to correct mistakes and didn't care about being apprehensive in telling us we simply didn't have the rhythm down. If I'm not playing something right, I want someone to tell me, not allow me to wallow in mediocrity, and I felt Baba Osante effectively did that during our last session.

Drumming

Drumming is a lot harder than I expected, but it is still really fun. As you may have read in Anthony's blog, I am obviously not one of the better drummers in the group, but that's not important. Once we start jammin on those drums, I totally lose myself. It sounds so cool when we all play together. I can't wait to play a full song. This seminar is awesome.

It's been a while

Because these rhythms are not yet ingrained in our minds, it is very hard to 'practice', as in go over the rhythms we've learned, or even hear them in our heads; thus, I really have not Muntu-drummed since our last seminar... three weeks ago? So we haven't seen Baba PC for over a month? Like Mr. K, I wasn't sure about The New Guy at the beginning, with the unfamiliar rhythms (although of course the 'familiar' ones were only familiar by a week or two), but it grew on me, and I especially liked the way he listened to each person play (or attempt) individually.

Drums

So far this seminar has been pretty sweet. I am excited to see what Baba PC is going to have us do after a few weeks without drumming. Hopefully I can play the cowbell soon because cowbells rule. It was really funny to see Connor mess up. Haha. Good times. We are starting to sound good together and I think we can be a super team if we keep practicing. GO DRUMS.

The new guy

As much as I love Baba PC, I liked the new guy just as much. He was very funny and entertaining throughout the seminar. I know that at first it was kinda of strange learning the different rhythms that he was teaching, but I thought that at the end of the session, we really came together and sounded pretty good.

Learning Rhythms

What was so hard to play last seminars was how to get the rhythm down without speeding up. Also when everybody was off beat it clearly messed me up. I was so confused. What did ultimately helped me was looking at the other people's hands and tried to match it. Also the same with Mr. K, when Baba PC started playing the cowbell it helped so much. I was really happy and proud of myself when I played the break? correctly and he gave me a high five. This also helped me. :)

It was difficult to play my beat while others were playing offbeat. I've always had difficulties keeping rhythm and with others messing up, it made it even more difficult. I believe that is also much easier to play the song and try to zone out everybody else, but then you don't hear the break.
A trick i used to help myself stay on beat was to sing the notes in my head like Baba PC said to do. I also tapped my foot to a steady pace that was going the same pace as the song.

Week 2

I would have to say the hardest part about the drumming this week was that when I heard someone start to get off beat, my ear tries to make me match what others are playing. Playing by yourself is easier because you don't have to be in sync with other members and slight adjustments in tempo don't really affect you because you're the only one playing.

The trick I used to help myself was simply to tap my foot to the steady quarter note of the tempo we were playing in (assuming what we were playing was in 4/4). It's always helped in the 8 years I've played trumpet and piano, and it worked for the drumming too.

2nd week

I thought the hardest part of the day was going from one drum to another. I had to play one beat then, while keeping in mind that beat, go to another drum and learn a different beat. It was pretty difficult, but at the same time it was really fun. What made it easier was listening to the other kids playing the same instrument, so you can see if you are on the same beat as them.

The hardest part about playing the drums was keeping the rhythm and being on pace with everybody else. Everything was offbeat at the beginning, but it sounded a lot better at the end. I also liked how we switched drums to get use to them.

Some tricks that I used to help me keep the rhythm are saying the sounds as I played. I also tried timing myself so that I was on beat with everybody else.

- The hardest part about Muntu drumming during session two was keeping rhythm with all of the drums being played at once. It was hard to listen to your drum and make sure you're playing the right rhythm while your neighbor might be playing the complete opposite.

- Some tricks I used were looking at my drum, and saying the rhythm to myself. When I looked around, it was very easy for me to play whatever I was hearing at the moment.

October 1 Drumming

It's 10:34 right now... ahh!

Indeed, Muntu drumming is harder than it looks. The hard part about last week's drumming was that there were different beats going on that seemingly had no connection. I actually preferred using the 'tone, muff muff' method of 'counting' rather than using the counts of notes we're used to-- it seems more natural. Like Claire and Mia, I found it helpful to listen to the drummers around me-- although NOT the ones playing a completely different rhythm!

Naomi Klionsky

Thursday was hard for me because I’m usually off beat any ways. The cow bell didn’t help me at all it confused me even more not to mention when everyone else started to play.

The only things that seemed to help me were tone muff muff and watching my hands and timing it with everyone else’s beat.

The hard part about playing that day was having the off beat unity of everyones drum pounding against my ear drums. It sounded like random noise when people tried to perfect their beats with Baba PC. (It was still awesome to listen to though...)

To make it easier on myself I focused on the sounds I was producing. I watched Baba PC's hands and copied the movments. The music came smoother and easier for me.

You Can't Play the Drums Half-Heartedly

It's one thing to know what you're SUPPOSED to play, it's another thing to stand up there and play it. And even if you have the rhythm down, who's to say that the person next to you does? Playing in unison is going to be the most challanging thing for this seminar, I think.
Then again, you can't play the drums half-heartedly. If you really don't want to play, the sound won't be right and the audiance will be able to tell that you have no interest in playing. So you need to stand up there and HIT the drum, not tap it.

I found it easier to watch the hands of the people playing with me and timing my strikes with theirs. That helped me stay in unison. Counting in a slight whisper helped me stay on time and not speed up...which I think is another difficulty.

But on a whole it was exciting.

Learning Rhythms

So today we learned actual rhythms!  I actually found it easier once Baba PC started playing the cowbell, because then I could think about the rhythms in terms of musical notation I know:  dotted quarter, two sixteenths, quarter, dotted quarter, two sixteenths, instead of tone, muff muff, tone tone, muff muff.  A few of you commented that "it's harder than it looks."  So...

(a) What was hard about playing today?
(b) What tricks did you use to make it easier?

Again, answers by next Thursday @ 8am.

I signed up for Muntu drumming because i've always done seminars regarding school and I thought it would be really cool to try something new. I hoped to learn things I would never be able to learn on a daily basis and experience a whole different culture. The first day was a lot of what i expected, we learned all of the names of the drums and even got to know each other. It was different, because I didn't think we would be able to get on the drums the first day!

First Day

1. I signed up for this seminar because I've always wanted to try some kind of percussion instrument. I've been playing piano and trumpet for 8 years and wanted to try guitar, but don't really have the time to buy one and a instruction book and then drill for hours--drums just seemed like a more direct route to a new instrument. I hope to gain an improved appreciation for African music and to further develop my rhythmic abilities.

2. Being like any first day, I expected the run-of-the-mill introduction to what the seminar was. This is always important though, and I thought Baba PC did a good job of describing each drum and their function for the sounds of the band. I didn't expect to get playing so soon, but it was fun to jump right in and start playing right away.

I selected this seminar because I wanted to learn about African drumming and how it has influenced today's music. I also wanted to play the drums. I thought it would be fun since I have never played any sort of drum before.

I expected the first day to be fun, wich it was. I also expected to play some of the drums. What I didn't expect was all the different kinds of instruments there were for Muntu drumming. The names of the drums were interesting as well.

Why I Joined the Seminar

1. I joined this seminar because I love international music: everything from Japanese Pop to Indian to Italian. I wanted to add African music to this list, and this seminar sounded like a great opportunity to do so. I'm hoping to become more comfortable with playing together with other people, as well as learn how to keep a steady rhythm. I take piano, so I know how to keep a beat, but it's different with the drums. I'm not aiming for much: I don't really want to play the dejembe; I'm actually more interested in playing the kenkeni or the sangban.

2. In what ways was the first day's drumming what you expected? How was it different? I wasn't aware that there were so many different types of drums in just this one style of drumming, so learning about the different instruments was really interesting. Along those lines, I was expecting more playing the first day, but in hindsight, learning about the drums first makes complete sense.

I joined Muntu Drumming because I have always been interested in drums, although not Muntu drums but they should be similar. I hope to learn to keep a constant rhythm with the drums and know how to create different and catchy rhythms.

I knew that the first day was like an introduction to what Muntu Drumming is and its background. Also I knew/thought that we would get to play the drums even though it was a short time. What I did not expect was the different kinds of drums in Muntu drumming and what each one was mainly used for in a Muntu orchestra. Also the use of instruments that were not drums was something I did not expect.

I signed up for the Muntu drumming seminar, because it sounded interesting and fun. I've seen different types of African performances, and wanted to further my knowledge. I hope to learn the basics, and be able to create new rhythms.

The first day was what I expected, because we got to play the drums. We didn't just bang on them, we learned the starting tone. It was different, because I didn't expect to learn the names and learn about the specific types.

Muntu Drumming was my first-choice seminar, and I chose it because I recalled last year's Muntu Drummers' International Night performance, where everyone looked like they were having a really good time, and it sounded really good.

I came in without knowing much about what goes in in the seminar, and was therefore quite nicely surprised-- I had no idea we'd learn so much about the names of the drums as well as learning to play them.

I joined the seminar becasue the sounds of drums makes me truly happy, there's something about the synchronization of a beat that makes me want to smile.

The first day of class was everything I believed it would be... loud, fun, and empowering.

Welcome to the Muntu Drumming Blog!

Welcome to the blog! For your first post, I'd like you to answer two questions in a couple of sentences each.

1. Why did you sign up for this seminar? What did you hope to get out of it?

2. In what ways was the first day's drumming what you expected? How was it different?

Thanks!

== pj karafiol