Village Music Circles presents
an introduction to the Art of Drum Circle Facilitation hi my name is Arthur Hull,
founder of Village Music Circles for the past twenty years I have been teaching more than ten thousand people in twenty five countries how to facilitate rhythmic events
– percussion circles – in this video will show you some of the basic techniques
you can use to help people play together in a drum circle
and create the best rhythm music possible i will also reveal to you the proven four step protocol
of Village Music Circles which, when followed, will help you To facilitate a fun and successful event drum circles are a wonderful way
to bring the community together, regardless of the age or rhythmic experience of the attendees drum circles are a safe environment for anyone , of any age, to explore and express the own rhythmic spirit Drum circles are a great tool for making connections within a building group o a sense of community and common purpose drum circles are also effective for individuals
within the group connect them to their personal talents
both musical and nonmusical you will find that drum circle facilitation
can be used for every situation from helping people with special needs
to team building in the company school assemblies,
birthday parties weddings and much more this video will give you the basics to facilitate a circle of community percussion dedicated
to a mixed population the definition of the word facilitate is "make easy" just so as a rhythmic event facilitator you are there to help
participants easily connect their rhythmic contributions and do some rhythmic jazz together let's start with the practical preparation of your drum circle if in the circle you have 30 participants or less only one row is enough of chairs, shoulder to shoulder, with two aisles works quite well if in your drum circle you have p more than 30 people you do not want to put them shoulder to shoulder
because this widens the circle more and more away more and more the players from both sides of the circle creating logistical problems for you, the facilitator,
and for them, the participants cannot hear the other side of the circle but they can only hear and connect with people close to them so if you have more than 30 participants simply add more rows until you arrange the number of chairs corresponding to the people who will come to your circle if it is a group predetermined as a corporate event or you know a specific number of people are coming then you know exactly how many chairs you need to host that group but if it's a community drum circle open to all it's a bit different if you hope it is present 100 people and set up 100 chairs and only 60 people show up this means that you have 40 unoccupied chairs scattered in a very "empty" drum circle but no n I'm talking about the spiritual "emptiness"! in the pit of your orchestra
the participants are too distant and separated to establish the right connection they are not as connected as they could be if they were sitting next to each other so here is how to do it you hope or believe that maybe 100 people will arrive so you create a circle for 80 people and then put a few stacks of chairs outside the circle so that if more than 80 people come to your event you can grab those chairs and add a couple more rows to accommodate the extra attendees who are coming
– not a problem – in a large drum circle it is always better to
fill the first three rows with people before adding others this circle we are creating
will host 250 people now everyone can hear everyone
and a well integrated group dynamics can occur within a percussion circle concentric circles cheat really helps the first way to cheat is to make
sure all the bass drums are in the center of the circle like when you throw a stone into a pond and a wave is created that emanates from the center the same thing happens
if you have the low drums in the center of the circle that will radiate outwards creating a sound wave that keeps all parts of the circle in time in tune and connected to each other so, bass drums in the middle now, if you are providing the equipment for the whole event then your best chance is to spread bass, mid and treble drums all around the circle but use your bass drums in the center and mix the bells, shakers and woods,
scattered all over the circle so that when you want to show
off any of these timbres or tones you can say, "all the bells keep ringing!"
and then stop everyone else and here's a bell song coming from every direction all drum circle facilitation techniques you will see in this video are fully applicable to both big events and single circle events as far as drum circle is concerned of communities
suitable for the whole family the same technology you will see can be adapted to drum circles with specific groups such as school programs, kids at risk seniors groups, special needs groups and corporate events for those special programs
the technology would be the same but the Village Music Circles protocol
we are about to teach you may need to be adapted to meet the needs
of any specific context ATTENTION!
don't just say "Go!"
at the beginning of a drum circle , unless you have at least 8 players who are also veterans of the drum circle,
sitting at the bass drums and ready to "GO!" This is the 22nd drum circle
at the World Rhythm Festival, half filled with enthusiastic
recreational drummers while the other half are moms,
dads, babies and onlookers – facilitators who completed Village Music Circles' Drum Circle Facilitator Training – at the start of the year.
drum circle during the "Dictator" and "Conductor" protocols you are doing what we refer to as "calling the drums" there are seven basic elements you need to pay attention to as you steer and direct the group towards your own musicality so you can be their facilitator the job description of "Facilitator" is your third protocol first of all you take responsibility for the physical circle you make sure all the low drums are in the center you fix the chairs, keep the corridors open bring people into the circle and fill the first three rows then you teach the facilitator's body language so that they understand the cues you will use to help them
create rhythm music not more sophisticated percussion you define the roles, you are the facilitator and you leave the circle when they don't need you instead you enter the circle when they need your help this lets them know that it is their responsibility to
make the music work and that you are not there in the means just to tell them what to do,
or to entertain them establishing trust is an important element so you don't want to tease them or give confusing body language signals you want to be congruent with the goal
towards which you are leading the group as they become more connected together you want to "teach without teaching" now you are in conductor mode and you are directing them
towards those elements that make the music work, identifying and displaying the bass drums, all the percussion whatever you need to show to instruct them on all the sounds available in the circle and orchestrate the Self-Facilitation this is your job description in reality you are there to make your work obsolete! the more they are able to share their rhythmic spirit the less you need to intervene and the last element read the group, because the dynamic of the group changes from the beginning of the circle to the end it is not the same animal, at the end of the circle, which was all 'start of the event when you start educating the group about the elements of music they weren't aware of when they started integrate into a musical dynamic that changes as they begin to feel more confident and explore and know they won't be judged for committing a mistake and interaction in dialogue and rhythmic connection becomes more sophisticated by reading the group, you can meet them at their level of complexity and guide them to a percussion ensemble that creates music on the spot – take your time, take your your time – – breathe – throughout this video you will be able to see me and other graduates of Village Music Circles facilitating in the center of the circle facilitating people's music but actually the Facilitator's job description is to stay out of the circle as much as possible to allow people to connect
together across the circle and create the magical music that they have the potential to manifest there are only three reasons to enter in the circle help the group come to a conclusion,
when you hear it coming into the music to help the group move from one piece of music to another when you can hear, see and feel
that they have explored that particular rhythm to the limit it could reach and also to fix something,
something in the circle needs to be fixed Arthur is making a "call and answer" signal "I play you play", "I play you play" "call to attention", "call and answer" they answer more calls and responses teach phrasing as well as simply teach a new body language Dictator, Protocol 1:
– dictate body language signals – simple patterns are best what I'm doing here
is playing with the dynamics by playing softer and softer and it's a sneaky way to help them play softer and softer until they
stop playing their notes this is a "call to roll" ",
inserting the beater into the bell and shaking it and waving your hands the roll has started and now you can work on it there are many different ways to do it this is a" wave roll " countdown to stop the music four, three, two, one and boom, boom, "accented notes" which is a great way to stop the group this is their first circle and they think they need to clap but it is not necessary at the beginning of the drum circle your job description is actually just that to teach the group
the basic body language cues that you will use for the rest of the event teach the whole group the basic body language cues of the facilitator by doing what we call "interventions with t all the group " all the group means that you are telling everyone to start everyone to stop everyone to turn the volume up and down at the beginning of a community drum circle you want to direct the individuals in the group towards group consciousness using language cues body facilitation
with the whole group let's look at some of these "call to attention" signals you are making an attention call with the whole group because you want to get their attention to something oh listen to each other.
Here is a call to attention in preparation for a "stop sign" with the whole group have you noticed the body language? now i am giving an "OK" to this group at MacWorld but at the same time i am also making the attention call i am getting their attention and i am speeding up, look at my body i am using the whole body i make very readable and i speed up the group just pushing the rhythm a little bit emphasize the pulse making sure the rhythm is solidified here we are it's nice to have a big white wand and in such a big circle it's nice to have a big bell now i'm pushing it again acceleration, that's right "marking the pulsation " call to attention and another push now we are in full groove and we go so look for the common speed at which they can sound best listen to the difference in spirit we are still at the beginning of the MacWorld circle note that there are now many more people call for attention for call and answer – big stop sign – but I asked the bass drums
to "keep playing " others didn't n they knew – calls and answers – when I create space for them to listen they understand what bass drums are so we are starting to switch to Director mode remember this is a bunch of computer geeks at MacWorld they are not professional percussionists but listen here we are a concept Fundamental of Village Music Circles is to Get Off Your Feet, or GOOW in order for the group to feel truly empowered it is important to let them play completely on their own since this is a demonstration video the video will not show the facilitators doing GOOW as much as you would see them do GOOW in a real event – turn the volume down – I walk in, turning around and turn the volume down by marking the pulse and pointing to my ears by lowering my hands, they
all turn down the volume teaching the players in the drum circle these simple
facilitating body language cues you have created a platform from which you can start directing attention group action towards the elements that make the drum circle work once the participants understand
and follow your body language cues you can start directing them
towards percussion ensemble awareness through the process of "sculpting" Director, Protocol 2:
– direct the group's attention to musicality – as a conductor, you direct the participants' attention to the elements that make a drum circle work using the techniques I call "teaching without teaching" teaching without teaching means
creating experiential learning in the drum circle, sculpting and showcasing
drum types and tones as well as small percussion timbres the first thing you want to do in conductor mode is carve and display different tones, timbres and percussion this is Mary Tolena is giving a signal to "keep playing "
to the low drums in the center of the circle by turning the hands this is the indication of c continue to play call for attention to the whole group countdown to give a stop signal then the people you gave the signal to keep playing continue to play and she is making everyone else breathe – the bass drums become
the rhythm platform for group breathing and listening – okay, "I play you play" cue clapping with the whole group and, really, she's making you focus mostly on the bass drums, right? he is teaching on the bass drums
just showing them one, two, let's start playing,
he has just indented a section of the group look at how he sculpted ok, now he is sculpting another section and reintroducing it this is called "adding sections" he is inducing everyone the others here we are and we are all back to the groove and we have learned about the bass drums and consequently the rhythmic connection between people improves – alright, all the big bass drums – so, I'm carving the bass drums and they become a platform for something else – everyone else – count down to stop and here's the foundation and now this is a platform, a music platform and you can do all kinds of things with it – this is your base, if you can't to find her! – you can call and answer, accented notes here, I'm carving one type of drums – all the djembes, keep playing – – all the others, ready? – – all the others ready? one, two, one-two – – all together now! – – keep going djembe, come on! – now, the djembe platform is an accented note platform with everyone else really listening to the djembe
and identifying that accented and stop note sound – don't give up, djembe! – all you carve is a platform
to create something else on it here we are in Barcelona i am lifting all the small percussions giving them the signal to keep playing now i turn to all the drums count down to stop them except that percussionist there,
I gotta hook it right now we have a little percussion song and the people at the drums are wondering "oh is there the little percussion?" and once again
that can be a platform the little percussion song can be a platform for some other facilitation of the people
who are not playing in the band there are a lot of little frame drums I pushed them back in I am bringing in everyone
who is in the circles external excluding only the inner circle now they play and now wait now we are moving from Conductor to Facilitator we are moving in facilitating the group and playing with their music and giving them ideas for improvisation and we go, so again in Seattle this is sculpting half the group there are so many things
you can do with half the group but the first time you do it is just to get one side to listen to the other,
just do a little show, look, don't they sound great? thank you – I play you play – by now you know this is a call to attention
for "call and answer" keep it simple I mean, really simple because you really want them to
connect with the other side of the circle – now you will invent your answer, ready ? – – I call, now answer! – and once again I'm guiding them in their improvisation because that's what it's all about getting them into the situation where the music is created by them – very well! – in Director mode you can also sculpt by gender here I didn't have my signs for men and women,
from the toilets so I had to draw them on some plates and so you can see a man and a woman the best I could draw in ten seconds so now I'm sculpting by gender all women and all men so women stopped
and now they are playing men actually doing so i sculpted – back to women – two different songs one of the women, one of the men now looks at my language of body how obvious i am going to trade in this circle is still a little early and they need to get some help i would not just trade
the signs for each other but once i understand the idea my body language can be more sophisticated and now I'm swapping back and forth faster this we call it "modular",
I'm modulating the sequence making the swaps shorter and shorter this changes the dynamics of the group and d is also a great way
to reintegrate men with women back into an ensemble so I'm merging the two songs into one and having some fun while doing it volume down the lower the volume, the more listening while standing in that point and orchestrating
, I made it the orchestration point so I need to get out of it,
so I'm leaving Facilitator, Protocol 3:
– facilitate the percussion ensemble towards orchestral awareness – the third job description in the protocol of Village Music Circles is becoming the Facilitator you are expected to be as a Dictator you have taught the participants in the group the body language you would use
as their music facilitator as a Conductor you have educated them on the different elements that make the drum circle work the players themselves will dictate to you
when to become Facilitator by simply starting to interact to listen to each other and make their rhythmic music then you can start facilitating
that rhythmic music – okay, you're doing fine – – now listen! – – it's right here, right here, don't be in a hurry – – there's nowhere we have to go,
because we're already there – now that the group listens to each other and creates their own percussion music
through rhythmic dialogue and melodic lines is found in "percussion ensemble consciousness" now you can direct participants' percussion ensemble consciousness
towards "orchestration awareness" by
sculpting and showcasing their music you can finally facilitate the music they are making together by creating small hits and musical dialogues
sculpting songs with timbres and mixed tones of percussion sculpting and showcasing
a song of timbres and mixed tones educates the players in your group to the awareness of being an orchestra sculpting the circle as a platform
for more sophisticated musical interactions is yours intent of Facilitator – here we are – – here, just like that! – – goow gooow gooow goow goow goow gooow! – here we are at the beginning of Facilitator mode, in the circle is a wobbly rhythm there is not much listening I am trying to create a platform of interconnected players so I am sculpting the rhythmic connection if I can find that rhythmic connection I tell them to keep on playing playing so I'm going to sculpt
the rest of the people away and see if we have a rhythmic foundation on which to build some music is a bit wobbly once you have a rhythmic connection platform you can start listening to
the interactive dialogues between the players and making more sophisticated music here we are, stop sign get out of the way uh-oh, gotta go back and mark the pulse we lost the input of a couple of people it's a little shaky now some people panic,
it's even more flickering hey, it happens! well you always have a bell and let's go back into the groove again this is a song made up of the players who are in the best connection with each other now i will bring
the rest of the participants back into the music i am using this rhythmic connection
as a platform to solidify the group by bringing them back into the music by asking playing at low volume and I'm doing it in sections like this, slowly but surely
the rhythmic connection gets stronger and stronger here it is layering another section of players
on the rhythm platform even better and finally the last group so this took a while 'more than how much time I usually like to spend inside the circle at any one time but the group ended up being a lot more connected than it was when I joined and that's the goal of "carving songs" back into a couple of bass drummers are all playing now this young man is having some trouble with the base is not a problem,
just a gentle pat on the back here, now found it,
with a little encouragement we just carved a rhythm connection song it's a nice platform to make music at the end of this carved song they improved like more connected players than they were at the beginning the difference between what you just saw
and what you are seeing now is that that was a community drum circle
made up of a mix of people this is an exercise during
training Village Music Circles is a sculpture exercise and the participants are looking for,
listening to the connections in the group trying to sculpt a song that includes rhythmic connection interactive dialogue, harmonies and melodic lines so
deep listening is involved in this exercise but this particular group of people
has played together for about fourteen hours so we are already an interconnected "battery" and this is music in the moment and you are selecting in it
the best representation of musicality that you can perceive in the group at that moment then you will stop all the others and that will become the platform that you are helping to make the rest of the musicians listen and then bring them back into the music every time you do this type of sculpture of a song you are raising the musicality of the whole group this is the aim to facilitate in a circle of percussion "keep playing" listening to the connections counting …
The stop and here is the result, listen, hear the dialogue? can you hear the song let's see a couple more examples
of this Village Music Circles training exercise and listen to the result of carving a song – carving a song of small percussion –
(bells, shaker, driftwood) – carving space for a song in dialogue – – a song of mixed timbres
in good mutual dialogue – – less is more – every time you carve a song in Facilitation mode you are raising the level of everyone 's ability to listen, collaborate and cooperate with each other and effectively give the group the responsibility to create the music to the point that they no longer need you they are really moving towards the level of orchestral awareness supporting each other, supporting the rhythm and creating a conscious musical orchestration on the spot and at the same time building a community by creating connections, to the Beyond the music this was just a musical exercise and we are using the "call to groove" to bring the participants back anti in the music but there are many many different ways once you have sculpted the song you can bring the group back into less intense and more listening music, for example by overlapping individuals or overlapping types of drums or overlapping sections instead of saying "one, two, all together " you can say" as you like, make your own music " Conductor, Protocol 4:
– orchestrate the music and the spirit of the group – as the musical creation of the group becomes more sophisticated,
the your body language and facilitation sequences during the facilitated drum circle you have guided the musicians from individual
consciousness to group consciousness to percussion ensemble consciousness and finally facilitated them to arrive at orchestral awareness this does not mean
that after finishing playing in a drum circle
may audition like a band but it means they are paying attention to each other re understand the roles that the different instruments they are playing have in making music together they dialogue through the circle, connecting at many levels if you have followed the protocol of Village Music Circles in the last part of your drum circle you will have generated a mutual trust between you and players present at your event you will trust them as much as they trust you to take them on a fun and safe rhythmic journey that they could not do
without your help and facilitation as their conductor, with their permission.
Play with them and orchestrate the music of the group following the people who are following you listen deeply to the music in the circle and the music will tell you what to do in the next step work with what they give you sometimes in a drum circle you don't have to make anything happen everything what you need to do is listen to what is right in front of you in the music and use it if you walk in the center of the circle and have a gr and slowly in mind sometimes you are more attached to your piano than to the music that is in front of you when this happens every now and then there is a kind of spontaneous interaction between the players in the circle that you may perceive as an obstacle to your plans but those in actually they are gifts coming, for us facilitators that we can use in the group look for the gifts are always there in the music constantly use your facilitator radar you have three radars running at all times and you may not be aware you have a visual radar, a radar auditory and kinesthetic radar turn them all on to their fullest use them in your drum circle facilitation and you will receive all the information you need to facilitate a fun and successful event in this last piece you will see me facilitating a group that has been playing together for at least an hour we went through the four protocols and we are in orchestration mode i am the conductor and among us there is a king cyprus equal trust now something spontaneously comes into the circle an african drum player talking what to do? How about welcoming it as a gift
and playing with it? this is the annual drum circle of the National Association of Music Merchants we call him NAMM Show he is playing Massamba Diop he is a Tama player, talking drum I put my microphone close to his
drum so you can hear he is a renowned international musician well known in all over the country and in the worldbeat world community this is his first time in a drum circle and surely in a drum circle like this he is as excited as a little kid I am there to focus on the group and at the same time show off his extraordinary talent so during the current situation
i'm teaching him body language stop sign, telling him to keep playing oh, and he thinks, "ah I can solo" and i mark the pulse this gives him time to solo and to to be seen thank God for the presence of the bell now I have some fun with the Massamba group he gets confused but then he understands he is an experienced artist now we are marking the pulse and I am accelerating the group only with my body language and Massamba is dancing with me thanks Massamba since then he has participated in that circle
every year to come Arthur leaves and so does Massamba Goow GOOW – Get Out Of the Way let the group play because together, Massamba and
I have brought him to this new place in this new rhythmic place let them have fun and this is called STOOW, Stay Out of the Feet now you will see a composition a facilitated sequence of events
from me with the group I could do it at the end of the circle I would never have tried to do what I am about to do at the beginning of the circle, moment in which they
are only learning my body language we are an hour and a half from the beginning of the circle i 'm carving a section and i'm going to keep playing i 'm going to cut the rest of the group
with a stop sign always counting down to stop and counting up, to start now i am talking
to the band that is not playing i have carved a section of people
who are not playing and i will pass the beat to them now i just transferred the beat
to a quarter of the circle the attendees have already seen it i dont even need to talk to them
so i am just saying nonsense here now the rhythm is shifted
from a quarter to the next quarter we are passing the rhythm around the circle after spinning the rhythm around the circle
back to the starting group once I understand the body language
I can use less voice cues i can move faster they know what's going on i
'm phoning my body language so well i can move from section to section pretty quickly now i'm modulating we started very slowly and now the transition is every beat now watch what happens the other side, oh wait a minute more modulation, faster sequences the excitement rises and we carry on, half the gr roup other half of the group I would never have tried it at the beginning of an event sculpting half of the group by
swapping the rhythm modulating them now more modulation, faster counting in the groove,
we call it "call to groove" 1-2, 1-2 all together or something like that,
as long as you count up, count up to start,
count down to stop and then get out of the way because, listen to this they don't need a facilitator they don't need you,
so get out of the way! congratulations, now you have enough information
to go out there have fun sharing your rhythmic spirit
while you make your mistakes and learn from them the drum circle format and philosophy
according to Village Music Circles are very flexible i am sure you will come up with new and wonderful games and activities using rhythm facilitation i hope this short introduction
to the art of drum circle facilitation has been invaluable to you it's just the tip of the iceberg if you want to learn about drum circle facilitation
in more depth Village Music Circles has many great options in store for you including books, dvds and of course the engaging experiential training courses we do around the world all of this is available on our website
www.drumcircle.com one last thing: this is Arthur Hull reminding you to share your spirit special thanks to the Advanced Drum Circle Facilitators
at Seattle World Percuss ion Festival and to the students of our International Training
for VMC Drum Circle Facilitator Village Music Circles would like to thank Remo Inc.
for over 23 years of supporting our mission to grow the
international facilitated drum circle movement and to supply hundreds of drums each year
for the Great Southern California Community Drum Circle presented at NAMM Show thanks to the following authors
for allowing us to include their videos
in this presentation subtitles by www.drumcirclespirit.it
Certified Trainer of Village Music Circles for Italy