There are all kinds of students. Sometimes you get the novice, sometimes you get the pro. You never know what’s in the box of chocolate. But, the ones that are truly fascinating (the students, not the chocolates), are the ones who claim to have no rhythm.
What is a drum teacher to do with someone who says: “Look, I can’t dance, clap or jiggle my knees in time! There has been a curse on my family made by the witches of Norland way back when it was a thing, and, since then, we haven’t been able to tap our feet with any music.”?
Fascinating challenge, isn’t it?
So, here is how I address this particular situation.
Usually, I start with clapping. I tell them to clap with me. I always begin with something at medium tempo. I watch how they approach it. That’s the important part. Are they tensed? Worried? Distracted? Bored? Are their hands getting into position? Is their body arching towards me? Or away from me? Where are they looking? Etc… All of these elements will tell me a story. The story of how this person conceives rhythms.
If they cannot follow my clapping, I tell them to do the bear dance with me. They stand up and observe what I’m demonstrating. I swing gently lifting my feet, one at a time. Boom-boom-boom-boom! Go ahead, I tell them, try it! Doesn’t matter which foot first. Just get on your feet and start moving that body. I tell them to pick a tempo, any tempo they want. One foot, the other, repeat, and here we go. They copy my bear dancing. They don’t know it yet but that’s the beginning of all rhythms right there. Because we are synchronizing, a cadence is born. I let them get into it for a little while. We stomp our feet together. It’s a lot of fun. And maybe I’ll speed up just a little. I want to see if they’re listening to me. If not, I clap my hands at the same time as we stomp our feet. I ask them to clap too. Again, I know we’re going somewhere when we are exactly together!
You know, the extraordinary thing is that they always end up getting the rhythm. Always! So far, I haven’t had anybody who can’t do the bear dance. From there, they are well on their way to become a Rhythm Master, counting seventeen over three and grooving like there’s no tomorrow.
