I wrote a description of this song intervention in No Worries, No Hurries, and No Wrong Notes. Now you can see it in action! I am using Blue Suede Shoes as a guided music-making experience with improvisation. Because Blue Suede Shoes is a standard 12-bar blues, you can use any song with the same form. Other songs I use include Rock Around the Clock, Hound Dog, Elvis selections, Eric Clapton selections, and more.
When drumming with older adults, remember that people take comfort in synchronicity and familiarity. With that in mind, I always start the group session with a greeting song that includes everyone’s names, check-in exercise, orientation to others in the group, movement, and breathing. Then I can assess whether or not the group is ready for drumming.
Once I hand out drums, I start out with some simple familiar exercises that you can watch in the post Make Music with Older Adults. Then, I invite all the participants turn to their neighbor and say “Wow! You’re a good drummer!” As soon as the participants are comfortable making some music on the drums, then I suggest using this guided experience with improvisation.
I also use Arthur Hull‘s bunny hop technique found in the Drum Circle Facilitation book: I start with big visual and vocal cues, then gradually taper down and disappear, providing the basic chordal and rhythmic supportive structure in the background of the players. The focus is on the players, not the therapist or facilitator.
After the session, I always document the group’s behavioral and psychosocial responses. Have fun!
PS There are a million and one variations to the directions that I lay out in this example, so be sure to to adapt, change, and transform for your own groups.
What do you think? Is this similar to your drumming experiences with older adults?
I have been lucky enough to attend a couple of Arthur Hull’s Rhythmic Alchemy Playshops (RAPs) and the 2008 Hawaii Drum Circle Facilitation Training. I remember at my first RAP just a year after my internship, we did a clapping circle, passed out parts, had everyone make up their own, then rumbled to a stop. I was in love. Here are some of my favorite reasons to attend his trainings and playshops:
1. You learn how to empower people through rhythm. Arthur teaches facilitating without over-facilitating. He teaches to listen for space in the music that lends itself to transition. Then and only then does the facilitator step in. Drumming is about the drummers. It’s not a facilitator’s performance.
2. You don’t have to be a formally trained musician to participate.
3. You get to practice with a supportive group. Everyone at the training is in the same boat and wanting to improve skills, so you can push the envelope and try things that you might not try with clients.
4. You learn how to get rhythm going with or without drums. We practiced all sorts of body percussion (clapping, snapping, tapping, and rapping) with Arthur. I had experienced drumming with groups before his training, but to get rhythm going without drums? Beautiful. Now I know that if I ever forget to bring drums, I can always get people going with body percussion and vocal expressions instead!
5. You return to your practice rejuvenated. Arthur’s training inspired me to take his effective, fun techniques and apply them to various settings for both adults and kids (self-care, team-building, community-building, festivals). Even when I facilitate a medical bedside 1:1 session and use no drum circle techniques, I still feel refreshed. I am able to incorporate abstract ideas from the training and apply them to the session.
6. You’ll connect with some amazing people. I remember Jeni Swerdlow of Drummm showing the group how to keep a steady beat by stomping bells around the ankles. Cameron Tummel taught us some very clever techniques to use with kids for gaining immediate rapport. I learned of Scott Swimmer’s drumSTRONG organization that holds drumming events to raise funds and beat out cancer.
Because of the connection to Arthur and other facilitators, I recently ran into an awesome blog by Jim Donovan, award winning facilitator, teacher, and performer and founding member of the multi-platinum selling band Rusted Root from 1990-2005. Read some of Jim’s latest articles on Why Drumming Builds Good Teams and Why Everyone Should be Drumming.
After a meal and an evening of music-making with three amazing women drummers last weekend, I was inspired to write about drum circle facilitation and a program that connects all four of us: Remo’s HealthRHYTHMS®.
Mary Tolena and Jú Linares of ZaBoomBala Drumming Works stayed with me in San Diego for 2 days and told me stories of their recent Drum-About across the United States and through Brazil. Christine Stevens of UpBeat Drum Circles joined us over the weekend, and we four shared music and touching stories about our experiences in our work.
The following paragraphs should clarify the difference between a music therapist (MT) and a drum circle facilitator (DCF). There are MTs, there are DCFs, and sometimes people are both MTs and DCFs (like myself and Christine Stevens). DCFs are not considered therapists, but facilitators, coaches, teachers, and/or mentors. Music therapy is an allied healthcare profession established in the 1940s, while drum circle facilitation is a relatively new field. DCFs come with diverse backgrounds: professional drummers, social workers, music therapists, healthcare professionals, wellness consultants, corporate trainers, and more.
Music therapists ~
Use evidence-based music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship (American Music Therapy Association, 2010)
Are required to obtain a degree (bachelors, masters, PhD), attend a 6-month internship, and pass a board-certification exam.
May be members of the American Music Therapy Association in the US.
Are all formally trained musicians.
Drum circle facilitators ~
Utilize a variety of techniques to make an interactive music experience easy, fun, and meaningful for participants (Drum Circle Facilitators Guild, 2010)
May attend a training program. They vary between 4 days and 2 weeks. HealthRHYTHMS is one such training program. I’ll be writing about more DCF training programs soon.
May be members of the Drum Circle Facilitation Guild in the US.
Are not necessarily formally trained musicians, but some are world-renowned musicians.
MT is an awesome path if you are a formally trained musician and would like to work in the medical, psychiatric, educational, or wellness fields. DCF is a wonderful opportunity for people interested in empowering others to make music in a recreational setting, without having to obtain a degree or become proficient on an instrument. DCF is also great for those already on a healthcare or corporate career path, looking to supplement their current services.
For those interested in continuing education with regards to wellness, the HealthRHYTHMS® training program is a good option because the program focuses specifically on health and wellness through group drumming. The HealthRHYTHMS® research over the past ten years has helped to bridge the gap between the ancient art of healing and modern science.
The body of music therapy literature is prolific, spanning 5 decades of quantitative research that focuses on a variety of techniques with a variety of populations. For instance, I have posted a snapshot of the MT research on infants in a NICU here. MTs are formally trained with regards to the importance of the therapist-client relationship, how to build rapport with the client, how to follow systematic steps for successful client transformation, how to apply these steps with a variety of populations using an enormous variety of music interventions.
Although I was never lucky enough to meet legendary music therapist, Bongo Barry Bernstein, MT-BC, he left his mark in the music & wellness world through his years of service, creative rhythmic interaction, and creating the bridge between music and science. In this video, you may notice that the spirit of Bongo Barry lives on in both the music therapy field and drum circle facilitation.
A couple of weeks ago, Matt Logan of the Music Therapy Source tweeted a completely “irreverent, hilarious, & surprisingly accurate” article entitled 7 Insane Ways Music Affects the Body (According to Science). While I’m constantly reading up and obsessing myself with research on music’s physiological effects, this article opened my eyes to a new perspective. Stepping away from my music therapist mindset, I can imagine how wild it must seem to find out that music can elicit the dramatic effects on the human body as the research has shown.
I can relate to that article. It is insane how music affects the body!
Here are some of my favorite articles on music-making and changes in the body. I found these articles through Google Scholar. We know that making music:
This article is a copy of my guest blog post on www.MusicAfter50.com (woo hoo!). Here is an excerpt:
This is usually my mantra when facilitating a drum class or music therapy session with older adults. There’s no wrong way to play. You can feel the natural, rhythmic flow to the statement when you say it out loud. There’s no wrong way to play! And the best part is that it’s the truth. In music, dance, and art, there really is no wrong way. Whatever comes out is an extension of yourself. (Leave the judgment and criticism behind during this article.) Truly, as much as we urge people to play the “right” notes, get the “right” rhythm, harmonize on the “right” interval, listen for the “right” chord progression, please be mindful that what’s “right” is relative. As a classically trained pianist with an undergraduate degree in piano performance and music theory, I strongly value what we consider to be “high quality” performance, according to the genre. At the same time, I appreciate another aspect of music, something that goes beyond rules and standards. Something that touches our very core.
I'm Kat Fulton. I'm a music therapist, and I believe that everyone with a heartbeat is born with *RHYTHM* Do you agree? Join the movement! Enter your name and email below to get behind the scenes at Rhythm For Good.
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