My First Son Clave

G3 Bullet 1 - Review speaking the strokes.   Speak the rhythm.  For the Son Clave variation in this lesson you will speak: "Du ge re Du ge re Du re te re Du ge re Du ge re" and repeat  "Du ge re Du ge re Du re te re Du ge re Du ge re" over and over again.  Notice you are speaking one syllable for each beat of the pattern and then repeating yourself.  

2. In this lesson we are speaking one pattern across two measures (review  the term "Measure" on page 1 of the "Basic Notation" sheet and "Two Part Counting" for the  4/4 measure on page 1 of the "Counting" sheet) and then repeating ourselves.  Start slowly and work up your speed.   

3. Yes, you will sound funny to yourself and to others too, but that's okay, really.  This rule is tried and true, if you can speak it first, you can play it.  You are also burning the pattern into your 'memory banks' this way.  Even with something as common as a tabletop, you may not always have one in front of you, like when you're in the shower.  But you can still rehearse the pattern, even while in the shower, by speaking the rhythm.

4. In this class we will speak "Ge" for the bass stroke, "Du" for the open stroke, "te" and/or "re" for the touch stroke, "Pa" for the closed slap stroke,  "ge-re" for the heel-toe stroke, and "mh" for the mute stroke.  Watch the movies for "Speak the Rhythm" demonstrations.

G3 Bullets 2-4, Learn the Rhythm - Son Clave: My First Son Clave

SPEAK THE RHYTHM: Du Ge re Du Ge re Du re te re Du Ge re Du Ge re...


6. Work both hands:  Remember; when working on technique, whatever is true for the right hand is true for the left hand.  You will find that if you are right handed, the patterns  starting with the right hand will be easier to play than when starting the same pattern with the left hand (and vice versa).  Switch hands: If you are right handed, use your left hand now to start playing the pattern.  It helps me to go to the practice sheet (see YOU Practice) and write out L,R,L,R,L,R,L,R below the R,L,R,L,R,L,R,L line so that I can clearly see the strokes my left hand is supposed to be playing at a particular moment (beat) in time.  Start slowly and work up your speed as your accuracy improves; this exercise develops dexterity.

G3 Bullets 5 - Topic A2, Sound Check.  Man Is Receptive to God:  Cravings, Desires, and Lattes.  What do we crave?   We seem to crave more than just burgers, lattes, and pizzas these days. (YOUCAT Study Guide)

8. Many of us today find it easier to choose "the world" over God.  Outside of the occasional, hour or two, Sunday services one just doesn't find much of God in the world anymore.  Author David B. Currie in his book What Jesus REALLY Said About The End Of The World writes "They are more interested in enjoyment.  Noah's time illustrate this well (Gen. 6-9).  Before the destruction of the flood, life was enjoyable, albeit far from holy.  People were enjoying ordinary and normal things: eating, drinking, and marrying…..Chrysostom in fact, wrote that the people's infidelity, and thus their destruction, followed from their 'self-indulgence.'  What a choice lies before mankind!  Suffering is to be followed by glory -or enjoyment is to be followed by destruction.  It is not an appealing set of options, but it is the choice Jesus delineates."

9. Consequently, the destruction we see today, whether we are willing to admit it or not, results from becoming a culture craving smut and sensuality.  Just look around and be honest.  We've gotten off the mark, we're not all playing together anymore with the son clave, we're all off beat and no-one's dancing in the heavens to this song.

Heaps and Piles of Reports

10. The abortion reports, the divorce reports, the random acts of violence reports, the STD reports, the single mother reports, the AIDS reports, the prostitution reports, the dysfunctional family reports, the abused children reports,  the attacks on marriage reports-what losers we have become; yes, truly losing in the end.  Look the reports up yourself, Google them, you'll see the moral predicament we find ourselves in.

11. Electronic technology and broadband services today can make communication with one another seem nearly anonymous and with no real accountability to other people which makes encounters with strangers far easier to arrange.  The Internet has become a place to satisfy our innermost private cravings instantly.  Online pornography has grown by leaps and bounds and so has human trafficking and exploitation. 

12. Losing the sense of worth of others has also created among us a new generation of serial polygamists.  We take one partner after another partner moving from one failed relationship to another and then another.  Who wants to wait for marriage anymore?  It's easier to just live together and apparently a lot easier to end living together should things become inconvenient and annoying.  We are selfish, self-centered, and completely oblivious to the sanctity and worth of marriage and to the common good of our spouse and to the good of the children of the marriage when we to choose to live life this way. 

13. We try to justify the satisfaction of our selfish cravings by reasoning everyone is doing it and so it's all OK.  So let's blame the culture.  EVERYBODY IS DOING IT.  It seemed fun, exciting, and adventurous at the time didn't it?  No one sees themselves as doing anything out of what everyone else in America is doing, right?  We all watched late night TV, went to the movies, crashed  nightclubs, sometimes even strip bars, listened to morning talk show radio, and went with our friends to all the downtown hot spots; enough times to know what went on there and to become part of that scene.  

14. But soon thereafter did we find ourselves swirling downward in a dirty sea of vice and consequences: serial one-night stands, unplanned pregnancy and abortions, divorce, unfaithful partners, heartbreaks, pornography addiction, prostitutes, STDs; totally forsaking our character and human dignity in the process, causing untold degrees of psychological harm and damage to our personalities.  

This is hell.

15. It's no longer scandalous for the media to report how the erotica novel 50 Shades of Gray will replace the Bible in at least one hotel.  Again, you can see what we are really craving here.

16. What do we crave? 

17. How do you describe that feeling in your heart when you play violent video games with beatings, killings, explosions, shootings, and now even torture?  What is that feeling that you get when you look at real corpses or movie clips of actual deaths caught on camera or car or motorcycle racing accident footage? 

18. Some are repelled and sickened; your conscience speaking to you perhaps, while others are drawn in, continually craving to see more.  

19. How about the cockiness and invincibility that comes over you when you listen to hard core metal, rap, or suggestive music?  You know the feeling; roll down the windows, let everyone hear it.  From here it's easy to ratchet it up a notch or two so that maybe what started as crass entertainment has now turned into vicious and cruel pranks against other people.

I call the root of these cravings "sensualities." 

20. Allowing them to flood in minus some sort of regulating mechanism, moral compass, a son clave to keep the order and time, will get you in the end.  You're not living in freedom here when these "sensualities" get the upper hand and the dignity of your person starts rotting out from under you.

21. "I'm not that corrupt!" you shout.  Fair enough but we're all fallen sons and daughters of Adam, every last one of us. 

22. Maybe for you, the feeling, this "sensuality," comes about by reading soft porn romance novels or perhaps you like watching racy or maybe even violent movies.  It all starts somewhere.  The devil doesn't make a big show of it you know.

23. Maybe your "sensuality" is that you couldn't ever get enough of gambling or sports games.   For others, you can't control your expenditures on stuff: gadgets, clothes, cooking items, homes, furniture, cars, boats, guns, jewelry, music, etc.  The "sensuality" is likely in the nagging feeling to spend every bit of your earnings on getting more stuff - you're never satisfied for long here.  

24. Maybe it's binge drinking alcohol or consuming drugs and tobacco like there's no tomorrow or over eating simply because you can.  Or for you, it's a narcissistic urge to reveal every last detail about your life on FaceBook or in a Blog like The Beat Goes On.

25. Funny thing is even after feeding these "sensualities" how many times and how soon thereafter are we left STILL unfulfilled? 

26. There we go again, depressed and alone, kicking oneself for having wasted so much time, money, and relationships strolling around life in such manner.  Like the walking dead, with a big hole in our heart, still longing for that special something that seems just out of our reach.  How many more days, nights, months, years, and decades are we going to repeat this?  

Jesus Christ knows what it's like to be human.  He's patient and walks with you through this putrid mire and muck.

27. We were the fig tree bearing no fruit, ready to be cut down by the master.  But someone must have interceded, asking for yet another year. (Luke 13:6-9) "In spite of these disappointments God returns with renewed generosity time and time again to look for results.  This is the patience of God (2 Peter 3:9) towards souls.  He does not become discouraged by our lack of correspondence.  He knows how to wait.  He sees our faults and failings but he also sees our capacity for doing good.  The Lord never gives up on any soul.  He trusts us through thick and thin." (In Conversation with God: DailyMeditations Volume Five: Ordinary Time: Weeks 24-34 by Francis Fernandez)

28. What does Saint Paul mean when he writes that Jesus didn't come to condemn sinners but to save sinners?  "Because of original sin, the world that Jesus entered has already stood condemned.  But now, because of the power of Jesus' atonement on the cross, that condemnation has been lifted.  Everyone who believes and is baptized into Christ has the promise of eternal life.  Through Jesus we can all be released from guilt and worry, from anxiety and fear."  (The Word Among Us: Daily Meditations)

29. All of us?  Yes, all of us!  So pull yourself out of the tub of brown stuff once and for all and set your course for the sparkling, emerald streams of saving waters.  This news is the Good News we hear about when we read scripture. 

30. What do we crave? 

How about craving God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the One whom gave you your immortal soul?

31. "It is natural for man to seek God." (YOUCAT, 3)

32. "The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself.  Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27)

33. If nothing else, try for once getting onto your knees in prayer and asking for forgiveness.  Bring God back into your life and allow him to lead you to make a good confession before a priest.  Being truly sorry for our past sins, resolving to change our lives once and for all, and from then on, committing to a regular partaking of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, will result in an abundant outpouring of saving grace.  Grace that allows us to die to our old ways, our old selves, and to become the person God truly envisioned when He created us.  

A genuine conversion. 

34. The Son Clave is the great time keeper for many Afro-Cuban music styles.  Just like a keystone holds an arch in place, the son clave holds theses rhythms together.  The clave is point of reference, a strong beacon to the rest of the group as to where they need to be in time with their parts.  

35. If the clave is off - so is the rest of the band and everyone else knows it too.  

36. In a spiritual sense, when we sin, we are off the mark, we are no longer in the best possible situation to receive grace and to recognize God's love and mercy for us.  So try as you might to stay on beat, to play with the clave.

37. Like tabletop drumming, it gets easier with practice.  We're building habits, we're learning to obey, to trust, and to surrender.  We're learning to live with the clave, making music that all of heaven can dance to.  Police your heart.  Counter those cravings and desires that you would be ashamed to have the Lord grant with prayers to the saints whom have also struggled and overcome sin.  If you fall short, get up again, remaining humble and repentant, and try again.

38. Long for the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and watch your life completely and totally improve.  And don't forget about the Mother of our Church, Mother Mary.  Flee to the folds of her robe when you are in trouble, praying for her intercession.  Her most pure heart will lead to powerful intercessory prayers to help you live a chaste and virtuous life. 

G3 Bullets 6 - YOU Practice Lesson G3.   If you want measurable results - try to practice both your faith and drumming at least 30 minutes a day.  

a.) Playing simple rhythms on a daily basis can be similar in repetition to (but never used in place of) a prayer recitation of The Hail Mary repeated ten times.  Try to pray it slowly and deliberately.  

b.) Did you know that a typical weekday Mass lasts right at 30 minutes?  No local church in your area offering daily Mass?  Watch online then!  Yes, it's still less than 30 minutes.  Ask yourself: "If that's Jesus really present in the Eucharist shouldn't I really want to see Him as filmed during Mass?"  

c.) Practice perfects the one undergoing the repetitious movement; either naturally or supernaturally.  

d.) Answered prayers are reminders of God's supernatural order present in our very own lives.  The Church teaches the fruitful value of a sound prayer life.  My family and I can give personal testimony to the effectiveness of daily prayer.  Practice makes perfect!

G3 Bullet 7 - Table Task:  Notice.   Notice and pay attention to the direction of your cravings.  Notice when you might be operating at times from a lower, instinctive, intelligence base.  For example, when you see a very attractive person, take this base craving you might have for this person and elevate it's implications to your rational intelligence.  For example, tell yourself: 

a.) "I get this same feeling whenever I see an attractive person."  

b.) "I see a lot of attractive people."  

c.) "I would be acting this out with far too many people if I acted this out with each and every pretty person I ran into." and 

d.) "This would be both unnatural, unhealthy and destructive to me and to those that I love and care for and whom love and care about me."  

41. Instead, redirect the focus of the craving through prayer.  

42. The Hail Mary is an excellent prayer given the purity and chastity our Mother represents to us.  In time, this will allow you to love the person as God desires you to love her/him: another person with dignity created in the image of God.  

43. Notice too that what we really long for is the Creator; the One whom created all of these pretty people in the first place.  Only the Creator can truly satisfy our longings.  

44. Crave for the true source of that which you long for.  See "A Meditation of St. Augustine" - Confessions (X,27,38) quoted in my post "A Little Bit of Heaven, Now" and then read this great work called "Fill These Hearts: God, Sex, and the Universal Longing" by Christopher West.

G3 Bullet 8 - Basic Notation (1) handout: study it.

G3 Bullet 9 - Counting (1) handout: study it.

Gray Level Syllabus

"Time For The Table" The Way and Means