“My goal is to totally envelope and harness the creative beauty and free spirit of every drumming participant.
My focus is for every drummer working with me to feel a new self-dignity, feel the excitement of a new experience, and to focus on their drumming experience with Drumfire as being a meaningful fulfillment of their own journey.
Following a session of working with 30 participants, Drumfire concluded, that everyone in this group had been presented with a new experience, everyone had started at the same competence level, everyone’s performance was unique and creative, and we were all able to show appreciation and recognition for the performances. Non judgemental inclusion, and true “freedom” to participate is the key, according to Chrisse Mamafrika Feros, Master Drummer.
The Dagbama use a double headed tension drum, which is used as a “talking drum”. imitating their language.
This highly complex drum language, is performed as sectional musical parts. Lead drummers call to other members in the drumming group, others then respond, and a fantastic drum polyphony results.
The “lunsi” or the guild of drummers, retain high status in the community group, and their drumming pulses with great excitement and nuances of their history. The “lunsi” are historians, mentors, and energisers of their communities.
Look to the northern areas of Ghana, to find the Dagbama people…….their history goes as far back as 1100A.D.
West Africans, family, community, oneness, the music of West Africans is used as a tool to integrate individuals into groups. The formal welcoming for a new child is a celebration of music and dance, this music and dance accompanies puberty, marriage, death, and other life marking events. The music and dance of the West Africans is a recognition and a celebration to each individual.
Everyone in a drum circle can see and hear everyone else EQUALLY and has an EQUAL POSITION.
The circle is easily expandable and contractible in relationship to population changes.
It is the optimum formation for a gathering of people who are all participating, as listeners and players., in an audience where the participants are both the audience and the players.
In a circle, when an individual is playing their part in the ensemble, it is a gift to the center of the circle, where all the individual parts join into a musical group vision that manifests via sound.
The quality of the music is based more upon the groups relationship with itself than the groups rhythmical or musical abilities.
A drum circle creates physical exercise, and the entertainment of the whole group as everyone gives a little of themselves, leaning forward into the circle, trusting, into one song.
(Excerpt taken from “Drum Circle Spirit” Arthur Hull)
A circle is a series of points equidistant from a central point.
Drumming circles include the whole group of participants standing or sitting in a circle.
Lack of communication is one of the causes of stressful situations which occur in one’s everyday life -
Do not judge yourself if you are shy communicator, practise and get good at it, you will love yourself for the confidence you will find.