1st drum rhythm: "Kpatsa" ("pah-cha")

1st class:
I really love drumming. Even though I don't consider myself a musician at all, the drum feels somewhat like home. I love the way it feels to beat out a rhythm. It's comfortable. Kpatsa is the rhythm we've started learning, and Johnson makes it seem so easy to learn. This is the first time I've actually been able to follow someone so easily in learning how to play a drum, and I've tried at least two to three times in the past to learn drumming. I'm definitely bringing a drum back with me for my program. I just need to figure out where to get it, what an appropriate carving design would be, and how to bring it back with me home. We're learning this rhythm on the kpanlogo drums. Soon I'll try to learn more about the actual music/dance so I know some context. That seems to be the only thing missing from my dance and drumming classes. They're either too big or too short in time for me to learn the "who,what, when, where, and why" of the pieces.

2nd class:
In the words of Johnson, we made it "haut!" I know know--confidently--one drum rhythm. And I still love drumming. It makes me feel comfortable and in the moment. And I can feel the beat better with my eyes closed. Or zoning out as I watch cars going by in the distance. We have class in the Drum Village in the performing arts school. It's in between the music department and Bush K (a market in campus). It's literally a concrete slab, with benches in a rectangle under the shade of a few trees. It's quite relaxing and a great place to learn, though there are distractions (like the two little girls always trying to play and dance with us).

-be.intunewiththemusic