Thread: Drummers in the Classroom

I'm planning to hire a drummer to come to class and work with my students on learning to communicate with a drummer for drum solos.

Those of you who have had drummers in the classroom before, what has worked well for you? What do I need to watch out for or avoid?

I have drummers on a regular basis for one class I do. I've also been a drummer in classes too. I would say:

1. work out a visual and verbal signal for them to stop so you can talk when you need to, but it seems respectful to the drummers too.
2. make sure they understand they may have to start and stop on your signal and play the same thing over and over again if you're working on a rhythm or a choreo.
3. let students know in advance if the drummers are male, in case they are not comfortable with strange men. explain to students how you know the drummers and that they are trustworthy and here to help and support the dancers.
4. start the drummers back up the same way each time, let them give you 4 beats before they start or count them off, on tempo, 5-6-7-8. this way the dancers know where they're starting from and can be ready and you'll avoid false starts with the drummers and dancers.
5. be sure and thank the drummers, and have your students thank them especially if they are not being paid.
6. be patient as you may find yourself directing the dancers and the drummers all of a sudden and that can feel overwhelming at first for some.

Those are my thoughts so far. I hope they are helpful.

Thanks Ms KittieSparkle,

I just found two previous threads on having drummers in the classroom, so if any of your have further feedback to add, I'd love to hear more specifically on working with teaching dancer/drummer communication and drum solos.

Is choreography with live drummers common? I assumed we'd have to structure an improv. I still have a lot of pre-communicating to do with my drummer, but would it be reasonable to ask him to play specific or particular drum licks (as opposed to just playing a rhythm) for the class.

I have to admit, this drummer is new to me, recommended by a friend. What groundwork should I be sure to lay down before we hit the classroom together?

I am a drummer as well as a dancer. Working wih male drummers and having observed how they interact with dancers, I have a few things to suggest.

First, you need to make it very clear that you are in control of the class, not Mr. Drummer. If you are using the drummer to work with specific rhythms or during drills, it must be clear that you need the base rhythms with minimal embellishment. This isn't about the drummer performing for a class but about the class learning with the additional aid of a drummer. Drummer needs to watch the dancer(s) and not be self-absorbed watching his own marvelous hands fly over the drum head.

You need to make sure that you are familiar with the various terms the drummer uses so you can tell him to add it or stop doing it. Dums, teks, sek, kahs, snaps, slaps, pops, rolls, flutters.

If a drummer gets too big for his britches, hand him a hip scarf and a set of zills. A little fear is good for them!

Souzan

First, you need to make it very clear that you are in control of the class, not Mr. Drummer.

Heh. Oohhhh, yes.

Is choreography with live drummers common? I assumed we'd have to structure an improv. I still have a lot of pre-communicating to do with my drummer, but would it be reasonable to ask him to play specific or particular drum licks (as opposed to just playing a rhythm) for the class.

Some years ago, my then-teacher had some pet drummers - one male, one female - who became involved in a Tunisian folkloric piece our class did. I was a fairly baby dancer at the time. They created a score for themselves, which they drummed, and we danced a choreo to it.

The cool bit was at the end, when each dancer got to do a little "bit" of her own before leaving the stage. All of us went home and studiously created our own "bit". I did pretty much the same thing every time, and I will *never* forget doing it at our dress rehearsal and hearing the drummer *do what I was doing on his drum*. It was unbelievably exciting to me and made me realise how *awesome* a good musician in the mix, who understands the concept of accompaniment, can be. Just that one little moment.

So much depends on the drummer. If they're good and they work with you well, you're in heaven. If they're Mr Drummer Guy, you're headed for a not-fun time sometimes.

Best drummer-in-class experience I've had is Oasis Dance Camp with Nicole le Corgne drumming for Cassandra. You almost forget she's there. She's like a magic rhythm CD that just does what is required magically, as and when needed.

Originally Posted by shems

Thanks Ms KittieSparkle,
Is choreography with live drummers common? I assumed we'd have to structure an improv. I still have a lot of pre-communicating to do with my drummer, but would it be reasonable to ask him to play specific or particular drum licks (as opposed to just playing a rhythm) for the class.

My situation may be a bit different in that I have a drum circle that is part of my dance troupe. They play with us at most every performance, so we all know each other well (and I'm part of the drum circle, as well as the director of the troupe). Our drummers work very well with our dancers -- we do both improv and choreography with the drummers in practice and performance, and the drummers sometimes come to classes -- depending on the subject matter of the session -- and they are a great asset. It's terrific to be able to teach rhythms and, without having to mess around with cutting/fine-tuning recorded music, have a demo of what Sombati is like played very slowly, at a moderate speed, etc. Our lead drummer has worked with dancers in other areas of the country and he is wonderful about watching what's going on and playing more loudly or softly (so I can talk and be heard) where needed. The rest of the group follows him well.

I love, love, love having the drummers in class/practice/performance. Now if I could just find local nay/lute/kanoon/violin/clarinet/accordion players we'd never need a CD again!

Originally Posted by s1dur1_sab1tu

3. let students know in advance if the drummers are male, in case they are not comfortable with strange men. explain to students how you know the drummers and that they are trustworthy and here to help and support the dancers.

Please also let your students know the drummers will need to watch the students/you for communication while dancing/playing. I realize not everyone may be as paranoid/insecure as I was but -as a baby belly- I always wondered why the drummer was staring at me (didn't help he's a very intense watcher) and what he was thinking (like 'sheesh, get this white girl outta here') and it messed with my comfort level, thus quieting my dance voice in those experiences.

explain to your drummer that he/she is playing for STUDENTS, which means that even though they may have a bag of tricks a mile deep and just as wide this is not the time or the place to be pulling out all the stops.

I would discuss what rhythms you want to teach your students and have the drummer play the naked rhythm, followed by the same pattern with all the fills put it.

Tell the drummer to play SLOWER then they normally would, at least until your students get the hang of things.

You may want to review some basic drum solo tips the class before the drummer is there so your students know what to do when the drummer is there, but improv is the way to go. If you're working with a live drummer you may as well have the full live drummer experience.

For some of you who have used drumers in class, what rythms do you think work well to start with for students?

Well someone could write a whole book on the topic because working with live musician is becoming a lost art in the age of cd and ipods.

Generally the advantage of having live musicians is that you can have two way improvisation between dancer and musician. Otherwise it's more cost effective to just teach a choreography using recorded music.

Specifically for a class, send the drummer a creative brief on what you are going to teach. Let him know there is going to be a lot of starting and stopping and repetition so it's not like a stage performance.

It's useful to know hand signals that the band leader uses. Usually a clenched fist to stop. Holding up four fingers to indicate you want a 4 bar drum solo in the middle of a song.

with drum solos, you would normally have 2 drummers. A backing drummer to hold the rhythm while the lead drummer does the solos over it and watches the dancer for changes. Don't make eye contact with the drummer unless you want a change.

On that point, make sure the drummer is a dancer's drummer, not a drummer's drummer. A dancer's drummer knows what he is looking at when he watches a dancer. Think Issam Houshan of BDSS.

There is probably a lot more on the topic.