Teach Your Students the Rumba!
By Timothy Simmons
It’s Back-to-School time - a time for creative thinking, problem-solving, and goal-setting. If you’re like me, your mind is overflowing with new ideas - exciting activities to plan and cool experiences for your students. Of course, this is also an anxious time, and so I always remember to teach from my strengths. One of the most valuable tools in my teacher toolbox is drumming. And since September is Hispanic Heritage Month, here’s a simple Cuban dance rhythm you can teach your students right away – Rumba!
Why Play Drums?
Drumming is incredibly valuable. Studies show that when we drum together, we synchronize our heartbeats and our breathing. Thanks to mirror neurons, group drumming also synchronizes the rhythms inside our brains, exercising brain capacities for language processing. So, when we play drums together, we give ourselves a brain workout that strengthens cognitive skills to be used far beyond the music room. Not only that, but drumming builds community and a sense of belonging. When we feel like we belong, we feel more confident. We know who we are. All from hitting a drum … pretty amazing!
Tyrannosaurus Rex Arms
Drumming is easy! If you can hit something, you can play a drum. It is immediately accessible to almost everyone. Here are a few tips I teach my students in the first days of school.
First, posture matters. Sit on the edge of your seat and straighten your back. Let your arms fall limply at your sides. Wiggle your hands back and forth to loosen your muscles. Then, bring your arms up to your sides by bending them at the elbow. Flap your hands at the wrist. I call this move “Tyrannosaurus Rex Arms”. All of the sounds of the drum will come from your flapping wrists, so always pretend to have “Tyrannosaurus Rex Arms” when drumming.
Second, any drum – djembes, bongos, or buckets from Home Depot - will make two main sounds: a low-pitched sound and a high-pitched sound. I call the low-pitched sound a “Bass Tone”, and it comes from hitting the drum directly in the center. I call the high-pitched sound an “Open Tone”, and it comes from hitting the drum at the edge close to your waist. Also, imagine that the surface of the drum is a hot plate. Never touch it for very long – always let your hands or sticks bounce off the surface of the drum.
Third, there are lots of ways to hold your drum. It’s perfectly fine to let the drum rest on the ground in front of you. However, many drums sound better if the hole at the bottom is open, so tilt it forward and wrap your legs around it. You could also grip the bottom of the drum with your feet while squeezing it between your knees. This way, you can easily tilt the drum slightly towards you. (If your drum has feet, you will not need to tilt it.) Do what works for you. When learning to play, it is important to feel good about what you’re doing, and that starts with being comfortable.
Finally, it’s most important to say what you play. That’s why I use verbal cues for teaching almost all of the rhythms I use with my students. Rumba is no exception, as you’ll see. If you can say it, you can play it.
No, It’s Not, It’s Rumba!
Now it’s time to play a Rumba! The main rhythm has two sections. It starts with a Caribbean rhythm called Calypso. To play Calypso, you need to know two words: “It’s Calypso”. Say the words “It’s Calypso” over and over again rhythmically. Follow this rhythm:
Groove on this until it feels comfortable. Once your students know it pretty well, you can add a melodic element by varying the pitches of the drum.
B = Bass tone, O = Open tone
|
SAY |
It’s |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
Once your students feel comfortable playing Calypso, remind them that you’re learning how to play the Rumba, not a Calypso, and so we are going to add a simple change to make that happen.
First, play three “Calypso’s.
Count it like this:
|
SAY |
ONE |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
|
SAY |
TWO |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
|
SAY |
THREE |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
When you get to the fourth pass, this is where the change happens. Ask your students to say this out loud with you: “No it’s not, it’s Rumba!” Repeat it a few times rhythmically. Follow this rhythm:
|
SAY |
ONE |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
|
SAY |
TWO |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
|
SAY |
THREE |
Ca |
lyp |
so |
|
PLAY |
B |
O |
B |
O |
|
SAY |
No |
It’s |
Not |
It’s |
Rhum |
Ba |
|
PLAY |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O |
O |
Make It Your Own…
If being a “Rock Star Teacher” were a thing, Rumba would be my greatest hit. Through the years, many students tell me they always remember “It’s Calypso, it’s Calypso, it’s Calypso, no it’s not it’s Rumba!” I’ve run into old students in the grocery store who repeat it back to me! (That’s actually a little embarrassing.)
Rumba can be used as a building block for many other activities. Not only does it set up basic drumming technique, but several other Latin rhythms can layer on top of it, such as the Son Clave.
Son Clave:
As always, start by saying it. I use this very outdated phrase: “Shave, haircut, two bits!” Then, say it while clapping it. Follow this rhythm:
If you don't have claves or cowbells, hand out drumsticks and invite a few students to play this rhythm by clicking their sticks while the others play Rumba.
Solo in the Silence
Another game that I love to play with the Rumba rhythm is called “Solo in the Silence”. Have everyone play the Rumba rhythm, then count 8 beats of silence. Practice this a few times, allowing eight beats of silence between each break. Then, go around the circle and invite everyone to take a solo in the silence. Don't freak out! A solo is not a crisis. It is simply your turn to be heard by the rest of the group. You could simply keep playing what you were already playing, or you could play something new. Do what works for you.
The most important part of this game is not the soloing, it’s the listening. Most of the time spent playing “Solo in the Silence” is spent listening to others play their solos and counting for them. This is a wonderful way to practice being an attentive, supportive audience, as well as to exercise our counting and time-keeping skills. By counting together (either out loud or silently to ourselves), we practice holding the pulse for our soloists and giving them a foundation. This is true support.
I hope you find a way to play Rumba with your students this September. Remember, anything you can hit is a drum. (But don’t tell your students that.) Happy drumming!
