The Mind of The Drummer
By Froggie Stevens
Listen to the imperative of the drum and you will become a guest in the drummer's world; a deep, prehistoric throbbing, marking time with the universe. But ask a drummer why they do it and you'll likely get a fairly prosaic answer along the lines of "because I love it". This might be disappointingly mundane for some spiritually minded people, but hidden within it is a fundamental truth - drumming can refresh and renew the soul, causing you to love life again. Of course for some it remains nothing more than an unholy racket!
Our infant brains are pre-programmed to find rhythm. Rhythms are fundamental - they open blocked energy channels and drive away destructive negativity, and they can help people into beneficial trances. Newborns find solace in the warm breast of a parent in part because they find the rhythmic heart beat soothing - many parents have recordings they made of mother's heart beating during pregnancy and use it to relax their child. Maybe the reason some folk are so appalled by drumming is because it touches a deep and unexplored part of them. In the same way others are addicted to the emotions that the drums call forth.
From a young age, children seek a way to put their emotions into a beat. For example, children learn to walk and talk to a rhythm. They also bang on pots & pans to an innate beat. So while a few misdirected parents are telling their children to "stop making all that racket", studies have shown that children who able to express their emotions through drumming are actually more well balanced. Some studies even suggest that drumming can improve a child's IQ level since constant exposure to rhythms helps a child put together complex thought processes (See 2001 study by E. Glenn Shallenberg, University of Toronto for more details). Furthermore, other studies indicate that children who have experienced traumatic experience and show signs of traumatic stress disorder benefit greatly from drumming.
The ability of drumming to reach deep down into our psyche is therefore not surprising. Drumming in many cultures represents a significant part of celebrations and gatherings. Around the fire individuals gather to dance to the polyrhythmic or shamanic rhythms of the drummers until trance-like states are reached. This helps anger and pent up emotions to be released. These cultures see this act as a means to reduce violence in their society and improve social relationships between their citizens.
Drumming is felt to be a simple and honest act by a lot of drummers. Nothing is hidden. Beginning with the rudiments of drumming, it is only an individual's creativity that will take these rhythms to a new realm. Drumming, like running, is an aerobic activity often achieves a real high that can be addictive so that most drummers want to drum every day.
To many drummers, drumming is a very honest action. In short, what you hear is what you get. Although drummers begin with basic rudiments, only a highly creative person can take these rudiments to a new level. Drumming also is such an aerobic activity that many drummers get the same high from drumming that many runners get from a good run. This exercise feels so good that many drummers feel the need to workout every day.
Drumming is well represented in print and on the web, so you could check out the forums and these sites: Modern Drummer (www.moderndrummer.com); Drummer World (www.drummerworld.com); For Drum & Drummer
About the Author
Copyright 2006 Froggie Stevens. All rights reserved.
Froggie Stevens is the senior instructor at For Drum & Drummer, a leading web-site about drummers & drum gear. Don't miss the articles at: http://www.fordrum.com/articles/
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