Drumming With Seniors

I spend a lot of time playing drums with senior citizens.  Most of them are confined to wheelchairs or use walkers.  They enjoy drumming very much but I think there is something else that draws them there.  The community that is created by playing drums is very strong.  People look at each other and frequently start talking as soon as the drumming quits.  The other day we sang some songs, spiritual songs that have a good beat and can be clapped to and drummed to.  One lady started singing a song that I had not heard in a long time  "Glory Hallelujah Since I Laid My Burden Down".   Playing drums in a group is an amazing thing and if there is such a thing as magic it is surely present during drumming. 

Inner peace means outer peace

      All the great religious philosophers claim there is no happiness to be found in material possessions. If this is true, why do so many people continue to seek happiness through material wealth. It is a form of mental dis-ease that brings misery to the world in many forms. One of the main symptoms of this dis-ease is a feeling that other people are getting something they do not deserve or should belong to somebody else. Among the results of this dis-ease are greedy business policies, corrupt politicians and even wars. These actions perpetuate the dis-ease generation by generation.

      Business is not inherently evil. It is natural and necessary since we are no longer a hunter/gatherer people. Business turns evil when it is used as a scorecard to keep track of how smart somebody is. Of course how much money somebody makes is not a measure of how valuable they are to society. Sports figures make millions and do not contribute significantly to society. Many people who have so many possessions they need to get storage space to keep it all but still are upset that someone on welfare gets food stamps and welfare check. Are food stamps and welfare really hurting these people? That sort of thinking is a form of mental dis-ease.

      Politicians do not start out corrupt. They become that way after many years in office. They begin to serve the people who are making donations to their re-election coffers instead of the majority of people . Eventually they serve the special interests at the expense of working people. Once they are in this mind set they will do and say anything to keep that lifestyle even justifying their actions by making up complicated explanations about how things will help the working class. For example: lowering taxes for people who create jobs will create more jobs. We can see from experience that this is not true but the politicians will come up with more reasons for business not hiring like the minimum wage is too high and the EPA needs to be abolished. When somebody wants to keep all the good air, water and land for themselves and let the rest of the people breath polluted air, drink water with poison in it, and land that has carcinogenic components in it this is surely a form of mental dis-ease.

War is the most severe form of mental dis-ease. It perpetuates itself generation by generation. Children learn the horrors of war and believe that is a normal lifestyle. The basis of all war is that somebody has something one group of people want or groups of people think the other group is wrong about something. This is normally about religion. Most religions consider themselves peaceful but when they find themselves in contact with somebody who differs in opinion there will not be any peace. Many times people would rather die than share some water or other wealth. This goes against our basic humanity and is a cause of much of the sadness in the world.

      Someday the human race will discover that material things do not make them happy. When that day comes we will have plenty of food to share. People will be able to sleep at night knowing they are safe. Mental health is the ticket. Even simple things like road rage or a political argument are results of mental dis-ease. We can all hope that day comes soon. The best way to accomplish it is to excuse other people for what we think are transgressions instead of accepting their behavior. Maybe they will excuse us as well. When we reach that level of maturity the world will be a better place.

  

The Happy Ukulele

      Down with Tiny Tim. Not the Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol, the Tiny Tim with long greasy hair and ukulele and a favorite of TV during the 70's. Although he was entertaining his performances overshadow the wonderful sounds that a ukulele is capable of. A ukulele is fun and easy to play, is making a comeback from the 1920's when it was very popular, is for serious musicians and can be frankly amazing to listen to.

      A ukulele – pronounced “oo koo le le” not “you ka le le” – is a bright and happy instrument. The traditional tuning is called re-entrant tuning. Basically this means the top string is higher in pitch than the second from the top string. The third from the top and bottom string then ascend in pitch. This is what gives us the familiar refrain “my dog has fleas” . Even tuning a ukulele is fun to do. Since the ukulele only has four strings and twelve frets the range is about one and a half octaves, which is about the same range as the human voice. Since it is light and small it is easy to pack it along to the beach or lake for some musical fun.

I have noticed the ukulele is making a comeback. I have been playing it at the beach and several people have mentioned what a great instrument it is. Also I have had people come and play along because they are learning to play also. The ukulele is a soft instrument and plays well with a recorder, flute, harmonica or human voice. Hey Soul Sister by Train is a huge hit and has been used in advertising as well.

      Serious musicians play ukulele. One of the most famous is George Harrison. Here Comes The Sun and My Sweet Lord sound very good on ukulele and I think everybody would agree these are happy songs. For some more serious ukulele players look up Israel Kamakawiwoʻole or Iz as he is know. His version of Over The Rainbow is a modern standard for ukulele. If you want to be totally amazed look up Jake Shimabukuro and his song While my Ukulele Gently Weeps. He is truly a master of the ukulele just as Eric Clapton is a guitar master. Even Tiny Tim was entertaining although he is not anywhere near the technical ability of Jake or the singing voice of Iz.

      Look up these performers on Youtube and listen to their performances. I think you will agree that the ukulele is a fun instrument and may even be tempted to try your hand at playing yourself.

 

Community Meal

     I was working for the community meal today.  It is something our church does every two months or so.  Today was a very hot and humid day.  I started out by serving ice water to people who came in early.  There was one person there who started complaining the water was not cold enough.  That is because the ice was melting so fast and there is no air conditioning in the church.  He started asking me for ice while I was busy helping other people.  I brought some cherry flavored drink that was right from the ice cold cooler. He complained about that also.  In addition some people started complaining the punch was too sweet.
     I started to get worked up about it.  I was thinking how ungrateful these people are.  If not for the work we were doing they would not have any think to drink at all let alone cold water and punch.  I was starting to get really nervous about it. 
     One thing I have learned in the last ten years is we can't control people who are in our outer environment.  These people complaining were definitely outside my influence.  I wanted to tell them off and make them feel bad about complaining.  I choose peace over power in this case.  I know they are just as hot and miserable as I was plus they had not ate maybe all day.  I think if the world would put themselves in other peoples shoes for a few weeks the world would be a lot better place.  I am glad I did not escalate this encounter. 

Testosterone and drumming circles

It seems to me that a successful drum circle is merely a matter of how much testosterone is flowing in the circle.  Too much and the circle gets aggressive and competitive.  Not enough and it get boring and passive.  Tonight the drum circle I was in was definitely too high in  masculine energy.  There was one person who it seemed to me was testing everyone to prove how much better of a drummer he was.  When that happens more people join in the struggle for dominance and the circle breaks down.  You can actually get three or more different patterns going and sometimes at a different tempo.  It's an analogy for life I guess.  People want to prove how much better they are and loose track of the goal,  whatever the goal is.  When that happens life breaks down just like a drum circle and we get wars and other bad things happening.

Drum Circle Magic

Just finished drumming with the seniors at Marymount Hospital.  It never ceases to amaze me the power of drumming and how it brings people together.  It also triggers memories in older folks.  I had them tell me about when they played piano or other instruments.  One guy used to play stand up base and another used to sing in the choir.  It is great connecting with these people. 

Drumming at Marymount Hospital

I am going to be playing drums with the seniors at Marymount Hospital today and am looking forward to it very much.  This is something I have been called to for a long time and it is coming to fruition.  It is hard to come up with words that describe how I feel after connecting with someone who might have Alzheimer's or dementia.  It is possible to connect to somebody at a different level than verbal communication.  When you hand somebody a shaker or drum and show them how to play it and look into their eyes you make a connection that can not be made at any other level.  I hope it goes well because I want to keep doing this.