Drum Circle Etiquette.

*** General etiquette ***

1. Once you’ve attended and explored some drum circles, and know that you enjoy them, consider bringing an instrument of your own – drum (doumbek, djembe, congas, bongos, frame drum, etc.) – or even some kind of simple rhythm-making gadget (like a tambourine, bell, wood block, or shaker). For a beginner, these gadgets are a lot easier to play than a hand drum. Ask experienced drummers for advice if you’re going to buy a drum. And find a portable seat – such as a simple camp stool – in the sporting-goods or furniture departments of stores like Wal-Mart. Consider bringing a towel to put on the ground – outdoors it protects the bottom of your drum from dirt and moisture and mold; indoors it protects the floor.

2. Always get clear permission before touching, moving, or playing somebody else’s possessions (drum, other instruments, seat, etc.). Just because they’ve walked away doesn’t mean you can move their stuff or play their drum.

3. You may ask others to borrow their instrument if they’re not using it, or if they have a spare – but don’t wander off with it (stay close by), be alert to when they want it back, and play it with respect.

4. Don’t wear rings, watches, or bracelets while playing a drum. They can harm the drum head or the drum body. This also protects your own hands from hurting after hours of drumming.

5. Don’t smoke in or near the circle. Drumming is a high-energy aerobic exercise for many drummers and dancers. Respect the need of everyone to breath clean air in such a closely-packed environment.

6. As a courtesy, turn your cell phone off or to its vibrate-only setting, so as not to disturb the music being created.

7. If you want to take a break at any time – in between drum pieces, or even during a piece – feel free. But move back, away from the circle, if you’re going to talk, socialize, snack, talk on a cell phone, etc. Don’t stand and talk in the middle of the drum circle, even if the whole circle is taking a break. Leave the circle free for a new rhythm to begin, for the drummers to see each other, and for the dancers to move, without having to ask you to get out of the way.

8. If you don’t like a rhythm that’s started, it’s very bad manners to sabotage it by playing a different rhythm, by forcing the tempo faster or slower, by talking, etc. Not every rhythm may be your favorite – but look at it as an opportunity to learn, to grow, to expand your boundaries. Instead of resisting that rhythm, try diving deeper into it, feeling the natural laws behind it, tuning into it’s core and letting that drive what you play. Say “yes” rather than “no” to what nature serves up.

9. It’s also bad manners to stop a piece that the group is engaged in just because you want to make an announcement unless it’s an extreme emergency! Wait till a piece has naturally ended, and make your announcements during the resulting break.

10. There’s a reason it’s called a “drum circle”. Hand drums and other percussion instruments are the focus. Stick drums (snare drums, tom-toms, etc.) are OK as long as you can play gently so as not to overwhelm the hand drums. It’s also OK to bring other instruments (we’ve seen guitars, saxophones, violins, melodicas, harmoniums, flutes, dijeradoos, etc.) as long as you understand that you are there to augment the drums, to support the drums, not to take over. It is very bad manners to bring out your instrument and make yourself the “soloist” or focal point of the group, making the drums follow you. Recognize that it takes some good skill on a non-rhythm instrument to improvise while following the drums, without impeding the drum circle or standing out or even taking over. Please don’t bring your instrument unless you have that level of skill, and lack of ego, to be a support player.

11. Respect the drum circle and don’t put it at risk – don’t bring illegal substances, don’t do illegal activities, don’t be so chemically altered that you disrupt the group – and honor any rules or boundaries set by the host or organizer.

*** Drum or dance as part of the group – rather than in your own world ***

1. Listening is the key: drum circles are about connecting, about creating community. Listen to the beat (tempo/speed) that’s being established; listen to the rhythm (flavor) layered on top of that beat; listen to the nuances (subtleties/ accents) within that rhythm. Join in it; immerse yourself in it; surrender to it; let your drumming/dancing contribute to it (rather than fight with it). Listen not only as the rhythm begins, but all throughout. Listen with your ears; listen with your skin (feel the beat); listen with your eyes (watch what the drummers and dancers are doing); listen with your heart (feel the energy).

2. Showing off, demonstrating individual drumming skills, etc., is not helpful. Listening to everyone, communicating with the other drummers, serving the growing unity of that rhythm IS helpful.

3. If you are a beginner, you don’t have to do anything fancy. You serve the circle by maintaining the basic beat. Everyone can’t be doing the “fancy stuff” – some people have to provide the foundation that allows the fancy riffing and “solos” to occur. In fact, you drag the energy of the circle down if you try to do things that are too difficult for your skill level. It’s better to do well something simple than to do poorly something fancier. Just have fun and enjoy being part of the whole.

4. As you get more experienced, you can try departures from the basic beat, as long as you stay in tune with what the group is doing and don’t impede what’s happening. Once your skills and courage develop, you don’t have to be a rhythm robot and hold down the same part all night long. There is plenty of freedom within the fundamental groove to experiment with, to express your rhythmic spirit, in unity with the direction of the whole circle.

5. Leave rhythmic space for others in the circle to express themselves. Don’t fill up the musical space with all your own drum beats so much that there’s little creative space left for the other players. Listen to the better drummers; sometimes they go “wild”, and other times they back off and carry a more basic beat while giving space to others to shine.

6. In fact, some rhythms do best with some empty spaces – that’s what defines that rhythm, gives it its unique personality. If you make sounds during those empty spaces, that rhythm loses its personality and just becomes a muddle. Sometimes “less is more”; listen for this.

7. Play near the volume of the group. If you can only hear yourself, you are probably not having a constructive musical relationship with the rest of the players in the circle (you are playing too loud!). Play softly enough that you can hear everyone around you. But don’t play so softly, so timidly, that others can’t hear you (and you’re not really contributing to the overall sound). Find a happy medium! And then flow with the changes in volume and speed that the group goes through during each “piece”.

8. Share the “solo” space. If you are skilled enough and courageous enough to add “solo” leadership to the drumming, then you know the fulfillment and pleasure of being able to play over, around, and through the drum circle groove. If you’re joining this level, then you must also know that the drum circle can’t accommodate more than a few people soloing at the same time (and they must be listening to each other skillfully). Alternate by backing each other up, by making each other sound great, or by sometimes having a drum dialogue with each other.

9. When it’s time for a drum rhythm (piece) to end, let it end! The coordinator of the group may make a signal, or some of the more experienced drummers may give a sign, or it may just be obvious because the energy fades away. One of the more annoying things in a drum circle are those one or two people who hold on, who just won’t let the piece end!

10. And when a piece is over, resist the temptation to immediately start another rhythm. Let there be some silence, if even only for a few seconds, between pieces. Feel the new rhythm emerge out of silence, out of the collective consciousness of the group – rather than impose a rhythm based on your own ego.

11. Start rhythms that are not repetitions of what’s recently been played (in the last few pieces). Introduce novelty, change of pace. The temptation for new drummers who have developed some skill is to want every piece to be fast, high-energy, full of sound. But there is great value in pieces that are slow, syncopated, containing some silence. Those rhythms tap into a different energy, they greatly please most dancers, and they leave room for the piece to build into something high-energy and full as it “evolves”. Great artists know how to build to a climax, rather than start there.