A useful lesson drummed into me

Some of you already know that for the last three and bit years I have played with a lively, entertaining samba band. Our weekly rehearsals are among the best and cheapest therapy available – just under two hours of trance – fabulous!

When I first saw Bloco on my home beach four summers ago I was blown away. And knew immediately which drum I’d want to play if I ever found a band like them to play in (I didn’t know it at the time, but they were a 100 mile round trip away down narrow bendy roads – not very trance like). With no real plan in mind I googled them and found they were hoping to start a branch a little closer to home . So I took action and signed up. Taking action, rather than simply making plans or thinking about taking action is, as you already know, key to realising your goals.....

I still remember my first ‘taster’ workshop. We were invited to choose an instrument and I made a beeline for the drum I’d identified as ‘mine’ a few months before on the beach. What I didn’t know then was that there are three sizes/pitches of the same drum. The one  I chose turns out to be the one which tends to have the most variation/most intricate rhythms and, of the three, is thought by many to be the most interesting to play.

And for the last three and a bit years that’s what I’ve done. And although I know that the other two similar drums also have some tricky stuff to play, I’ve tended to think it’s less interesting/tricky and  therefore (gulp, OK, I’ll say it) less important than what those of us on ‘my’ drum do.

Until a couple of rehearsals ago..

We were a few players short and I was ‘asked’ to move to play one of the other drums in my section – for the first time, and with no one alongside to copy. The guy who normally plays that drum also moved to an unfamiliar spot – and again with no-one beside him. We were each given a 90 second tutorial, lots of encouragement and off we went.

We stuck to simple tunes. And I learned masses. And not (and you know this already of course) just about drumming.

Until then I’d been conscious that the other 2 drums in my section more often than not provide the backbone to our tunes – so if (rarely, and they nevertheless do) they go wrong – it tends to be more likely that we go wrong (hmm, interesting that we rely on them rather than take responsibility for ourselves.... more about his another time). For the first time, however,  I really noticed and appreciated the fact  that most of the time they get it right – and in doing so, we are helped to get it right, too. So thank you, guys. And maybe (maybe ?!?!) there’s a wider lesson for me there in recognising when people ‘get it right’ rather than when they get it ‘wrong.’