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

Middle Calypso and Middle Earth

G2 Bullet 1 - Review, bass, open and touch stroke (see Lesson G1 Bullet 5). Watch again the opening minute of the The Big Calypso and Existence for a demonstration of how to play these strokes on the table.   Also helpful to you  as you make your way through the Gray Level Lessons would be to frequently revisit G1 Bullet 3, playing position on a tabletop surface and G1 Bullet 4, hand care.

G2 Bullet 2 - Closed slap and heel-toe: notation and strokes.   We will now add several more sounds to our repertoire of strokes to play on the tabletop.  

a.) One, the closed slap will be  completely new, while the other, 

b.) the heel-toe is a combination of sorts of the bass and touch stroke that we learned in the previous lesson, The Big Calypso and Existence.

3. The Closed Slap Stroke:  The closed-slap or slap stroke is the most difficult hand drum stroke to learn, a bit easier however, I think, for tabletop players.   Each player has a different approach to producing a slap but the name of the tone says it all.  When properly executed, you hear a "pop" like sound.  Some describe the sharp sound of the slap as sounding like the crack of a whip. 

4. When I was new to conga drumming, it was the writing of Mr. Alan Dworsky and Ms. Betsy Sansby, in their book Conga Drumming: A Beginner's Guide To Playing With Time, that allowed me to compare what I was doing with my own hands to their own very thorough, experience based description of how the slap should be started, executed, and terminated.   I've adapted their teachings to the tabletop strokes contained in these lessons.

5. As I demonstrate in the Middle Calypso and Middle Earth movie below, cup your hand as if you are about to drop it into a bucket to get a drink of water.   "Cup your hand so that only the pads of the fingertips hit the head.  The cup should be slight; you should only be able to slide a pencil between your palm and the drumhead, not a golf ball." (page 27, Conga Drumming)

6. Now bring your fingertips down onto the table with a whip-like motion.   To start a slap stroke, lift your hand two to three inches off of the table by raising your forearm slightly.  At the same time, flex your wrist and pull your fingers up until your hand makes at least a 45 degree angle with the table.  Keep your fingers relaxed and together or just slightly apart.  Your thumb should be away from your hand because once you move your hand forward, you don't want to injure your thumb by whacking it on the edge of the table.  Only the pad of each fingertip - the fingerprint section - should make contact with the tabletop.  The relation of your palm to the edge of the table is critical.   The lower or chubby part of your palm momentarily comes to rest on the edge of the table when you finish the slap stroke instead of the upper part of your palm that you used in the open tone.   So when you go from an open tone to a slap, your hand will shift slightly toward the center of the tabletop.  When we start speaking the strokes later the closed slap stroke will be spoken as "Pa." 

7. The Heel-Toe Stroke:   The great timekeeping stroke.  With this one, I was taught to think of the hand as a foot, well sort of.  The heel is the base of the palm; the toes are the fingertips.  The "heel" part of the stroke is made by lowering the wrist and dropping the bottom of your palm to the tabletop, while keeping the rest of your hand and your fingers up.  The heel stroke is like a bass stroke except you are hitting the tabletop with less of your palm.  Your "heel" should hit the tabletop an inch or two from the edge of the table (I'm playing more like 3" to 4" from the edge in the Middle Calypso and Middle Earth movie) as this will prepare you to play on a real drumhead; typically a smaller area of playable real estate.  Using the same hand, the "toe" part of the stroke is just a touch stroke, the one we learned in The Big Calypso and Existence, that follows the heel stroke.  Like the touch stroke, the toe stroke is light, just let your fingertips fall to the tabletop.  When one hand alternates playing heels and toes it develops a rocking motion, like a finely calibrated piece of automated machinery but it takes practice; starting slow and gradually increasing one's practice tempo.  When we start speaking the strokes later the heel-toe stroke will be spoken as "ge-re." 

G2 Bullet 3 - Learn to “speak” the strokes first.  Speak the rhythm.  For the Middle Calypso you will speak: "Du te re Du Du te re te" and repeat "Du te re Du Du te re te" over and over again.  Notice you are speaking one syllable for each beat of the pattern and then repeating yourself.     Start slowly and work up your speed.   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.

9. 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.

10. Housekeeping Rule:   If you drive, I do not recommend practicing "speak the rhythms" while driving.   Although speaking the rhythm along with the tempo of your favorite music is an excellent exercise, I beg you to resist the temptation to do so when driving so that you may instead dedicate 100% of your faculties to the task at hand: safely driving your automobile - for your own health and safety and for the health and safety of your passengers and neighbors all around you. 

G2 Bullets 4-6, Learn the Rhythm - Calypso Middle Drum Part: Middle Calypso and Middle Earth

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

12. 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 the YOU Practice link below) 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 stroke 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.

G2 Bullet 7 - Topic A1, Chew On It. Why We Are Able to Believe: Existence.  Why did God create us? Is it because he wanted sons and daughters, because he wanted children to love and children to share in His goodness, happy children?  I think so.

14. From a "surplus" of love God created us, to love and to be loved. (YOUCAT 2).  

"God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1)

15. He asks us to call him Father; our Creator - He asks us, all people of all colors and nationalities, to call him our Father!  Jesus tells us this through a collection of writings known as sacred scripture and found in a collection of books and letters known as the Bible to call God our Father!  In this case: Luke, Chapter 11, verse 1-4 (Luke 11:1-4).

16. "To call God "Father" presumes an intimate relationship with one whom reason might tell us should be approached only at a reverential distance.  We dare approach the Father because of the Savior's command.  Only after having been taught by Christ - and made adopted sons and daughters through the sacrament of Baptism - can we presume this degree of intimacy." (Inside The Mass: A Spiritual Reflection On The New Translation by Rev. Theodore Book, SLL)

How does that make you feel now?

17. When a father loves his child he desires the good of that child and he is prepared to form his child through education and good example.

Christians can recognize this same revelation Christ had regarding the Father's love for us and our own individual formation when during Mass, just before praying The Our Father, we hear the priest say: "At the Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:"

18. Rev. Book goes on to write: "Speaking of being formed by teaching is a recognition that the faith is something learned.  We have not invented it, but received it from Christ, and it is the content of his teaching that, with the aid of grace, moves us to recognize his truth and embrace him.  Faith is not a blind act of the will.  The mind receives what Christ has taught, recognizes that it is holy and divine, and then invites the will to embrace Christ's teaching and so embrace Christ himself.  One cannot be a follower of Christ but reject his teaching.  Someone who attempted to do that would be following an idol that he called "Christ" but that had no real part in Christ."

19. Wow! This is why I highly recommend Inside The Mass for Catholics or interested Christians alike, practicing or not, who want to learn what really goes on during the Roman Catholic Mass.  I'm on my 4th reading of this small book and my understanding and love for the Mass grows with each pass.

20. If you asked me for the second greatest gift after life itself?

I'd tell you it is our freedom to choose.

In contrast to God's plan for each of us, our gift of life, He gives us free choice.  We can elevate it or we can squander it. One we do with Him the other we do without Him.

21. St Thomas Aquinas teaches "God granted other creatures little gifts; to us men and women He has given his entire patrimony.  We are his heirs because we are his sons and daughters.  By the fact of our being children, we are the beneficiaries of his Will.  'For you did not receive the spirit of slavery only to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship.  When we cry Abba! Father! it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…' " -Romans 8:15, (St Thomas, Commentary on the Lord's Prayer)

22. The Aramaic word Jesus used for Father was Abba and it is very likely that this word was used at services during the very first Church gatherings. (cf W. Marchel,  Abba! Father.  The prayer of Christ and Christians, Rome 1963)  

What this means is that we've been calling God, the same eternal God, no beginning, no end, the same then as now, "Father" for over 2000 years!

23. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20  This is the gospel call that Jesus wanted proclaimed and heard across the world and so he sent forth his chosen, commissioned apostles to all corners of the world. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2)  The yellow book that makes a debut appearance in the Middle Calypso and Middle Earth movie is the YOUCAT.  The trend is to snap a picture of the YOUCAT along with the activity you are engaging in to promote it, preferably a Christ-like activity, for example, spreading the Good News.

24. Oh, but that gift of free choice, the Gospel is simply not to be forced on anyone, it must be freely accepted.  

25. Our history of fallen human activity reveals a heap of bad choices that have led to much evil.  

26. But all is not lost, Christians are still confident of whom wins in the end.  

27. According to Wikipedia, Trinidad and Tobago is the birthplace of the Calypso, a style of Afro-Caribbean music, a broad term for varied styles of music originating in the Caribbean.  

a.) The 400 year long trans-Atlantic slave trade resulted in displaced African people to these areas. 

b.) Their history and the history of their descendants living in the Caribbean played a part in influencing these musical styles.  

c.) Slavery, having robbed us of seeing the human dignity in our brothers and sisters allowed the exploitation of human beings in the name of economic progress.  

d.) This kind of slavery also made many of us racists. 

28. God gives us the potential, the freedom of choice, to make good things come about bad situations; the Calypso is a small example of such good.  Maybe we will ultimately defeat evil; evils like racism, slavery, human trafficking, etc.  But first a conversion must happen interiorly in each and every one of us.  Christ promises this as possible but he also allows, in freedom, each and every one us to discern God's will for our own, individual part to play.

29. In freedom, I can sit and practice simple rhythm patterns like the Calypso Middle Drum part all day long until perfected or I could just turn on the radio and go completely free-style on the conga drums; really having a lot of fun in the process, trying to make up my own patterns as I go.  The newer you are to drumming, the worse this second option will sound, literally.  

a.) The free-style is certainly fun to do but it's only after you have had the discipline of learning simple patterns like the Calypso that your brain starts working together with your hands.  

b.) Only then do you have true freedom to improvise and /or create rhythm accompaniments that really get the job done and the crowd moving with the beat.

30. Today, if we're not careful, other forms of supposed freedoms (slavery) will soon consume us.  

It's not breaking news that the music and entertainment business itself is ripe with snares and traps: addictions, one night stands, drug and alcohol abuse, pride, did I say addictions, conceit, overt sensuality, contempt for others, deceit, selfishness, and oh yeah, addictions - and this is just the short list. 

31. Yes it all feels good for the short term anyway, who can deny it? 

32. Speaking of addictions: 

• addictions aren't enabling, 
• addictions aren't enjoying the good life, 
• addictions aren't liberating, 
• addictions don't care about children, other family members, or our neighbors,
• addictions simply aren't cool - you may say one day, God willing, addiction free, when you look back at all the carnage left in the wake of such addictions.  

33. The author of the addictions?  The question remains for debate but I'll say the devil attacks, even harder, Christian acts and those acts supplying role models for younger audiences. Harder but subtlety - you don't even realize you're working together.  The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis presents an enlightened, prophetic interpretation of just how the devil might be working among us today.

34. What human person can really look you in the face and tell you that they are exempt from attacks of the devil?  A non-believer?  Yeah right, these are his easiest targets.  I too have been listening to "the news" lately about Miley Cyrus.  Her "all grown up" act has caused a bit of an uproar.  I try not to worry too much.  After all, God still loves her to a degree that you can't even fathom and will wait very patiently, if need be, for her complete return to Him.  In the meantime please join with me in prayer for her and other suffering souls so that one day, they too will be able to do the same for us; we really do need each other's prayers in this day and age.

35. "Before, we were slaves, but today we are empowered to reign under the protection of Christ." (St. Cyprian, Treatise on the 'Our Father', 13)

"...if we really mean that God is our father, we will struggle to behave as his worthy children." (St. Cyprian, Treatise on the 'Our Father', 11)

"We must be something great then, since the loving God, who has created and redeemed us, places such value on us." Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, The Cure of Ars (Youcat Prayer Book -Christopher Cardinal Schoenborn)

G2 Bullet 8 - Topic A1, Tradition and Word. Why We Are Able to Believe: Existence.

1.) In Matthew 22:2 Jesus likens the reign of God to what?

2.) Who does Jesus tell us he is in John 14:6?

3.) In his letter to Timothy, 1 Tim 2:3-4, St. Paul tells us what about God's desire for us?

4.) From 1 John 4:16 complete the sentence: God is ______?

5.) In John 17:3 what is eternal life?

6.) In Acts 4:12, St. Peter reveals there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.  Who is St. Peter naming?

G2 Bullet 9 - YOU Practice Lesson G2.  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 at least one Our Father.  Try to pray it slowly and deliberately.  

b.) Did you know that a typical weekday Mass lasts right at 30 minutes?  Try attending a weekday Mass in addition to a Sunday Mass and watch your relationship with the Holy Trinity deepen.  

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! 

G2 Bullet 10 - Table Task:  Surrender.  Work on forming a deeper, more personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.   Have you ever crated an indoor dog for a while, maybe while  running an errand,  only to arrive back to find your dog just trembling to burst out of the cage to greet you and shower you with affection?  Surrender.  Open any cages that you might have created in keeping the love of Christ from enveloping your life.   Before you practice the Middle Calypso, before you start your day, take a deep breath and ask God to make his presence known to you in a tangible, concrete way.

G2 Bullet 11 - Basic Notation (1) handout: study it.

G2 Bullet 12 - Counting (1) handout: study it.

Gray Level Syllabus

"Time For The Table" The Way and Means

The Big Calypso and Existence

G1 Bullet 1 - What do hand drum lessons and finding more faith have in common?   In today's secular culture the answer would appear to be nearly nothing.  "We've got drum players in the church choir" a Christian person might volunteer.  "The Bible speaks a lot about musicians and cymbal players" someone else might chime in.  Fair enough.  Let's look closer.  I've identified several similarities between hand drumming and faith building so that we can be fairly comfortable studying them together.

2. A calling.  Playing hand drums, or any other instrument in a public setting, involves a calling, a definitive answer and commitment to practice.  Living one's faith in a culture that has minimized the importance of faith in God involves a calling, a definitive answer and commitment to practice.

• both have time-tested patterns and traditions,
• both need to be practiced over and over,
• both involve a journey.  

3. The Church indeed should be the first place one goes to find more faith but keep in mind "the Church" also consists of many other parts; Christ's Mystical Body, ALSO really present here today and ALSO "called" to spread the Good News.   That's you and me, baptized Christians, in the workplace, on the Internet, on the soccer field, in the classroom, socializing with our friends and family, etc.

4. As a baptized Christian, I am called to spread the Good News to people in or outside of the Church and to help people find more faith.  I believe in the very clear instruction by Jesus Christ: to go and spread the Word of God, to love God according to his will, and to go to heaven someday  (YOUCAT 1, Catechism of the Catholic Church 1-3, 358.)

In both cases, we must choose to make our calling a route to seek God rather than ourselves. 

5. Simplicity and humility.  A simple rhythm like the Calypso high drum part played repeatedly becomes a solid foundation that you can lay down when playing with other musicians.  A simple prayer prayed repeatedly becomes a solid foundation for a solid life of faith. 

6. Faith and hand drumming can be celebrated on the table.

The table is a humble object; nearly everyone has one or sits at one at least once a day.  People tend to gather around it and create good memories with one another while eating and socializing.  It's a flat surface; a surface that one can put things on top of like food or a book to read.  Because it's flat, we can easily use our hands to play simple rhythms on it. 

Have you ever seen a group of drummers outside formed around a circle?  We call it a drum circle.  Just like a table of food, the rhythms the drummers are playing often draw people in; people want to share in it.

Let's go a bit deeper.

7. Where are great banquets of food served?  The table.  I've learned the Word of God, which can be found in Scripture, in the Bible, in a figurative way of speech, is considered to be like a table.  Read the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22: "The Wedding Banquet."   

a.) I can make this a bit clearer by giving you an example.  I'm a Catholic Christian.  When the Word of God is read during Mass, I'm at the table so-to-speak, even though I'm sitting or standing in a pew with my family, being fed by the Word of God as I listen to the Scripture reading.  

b.) During this same Mass,  I later go again to the table when I go toward the altar where the priest has taken bread and wine and through the Holy Spirit, consecrated them to become the real presence of Jesus Christ.  So if I believe that Jesus Christ really rose from the dead and really ascended into Heaven, then He's there now, right there in front me and so consequently, He really must be with me day by day, moment after moment.  So I BELIEVE, I have faith, He is with me now, especially during these moments I am with Him at the table. 

Can you see why making time for the table is no small matter?

8. A way to praise God.  

Praise the Lord in his holy place,
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his powerful deeds,
praise his surpassing greatness.

O praise him with sound of trumpet,
praise him with lute and harp.
Praise him with timbrel and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.
O praise him with resounding cymbals,
praise him with clashing of cymbals.

Let everything that lives and breathes
give praise to the Lord.  Psalm 150

G1 Bullet 2 - Hand drumming and finding faith: then and now.  Over the years, I have purchased a collection of VHS tapes, CDs, books and tapes and taught myself how to play the hand drums, more specifically the congas; books like: CONGA Drumming: A Beginner's Guide toPlaying with Time and Hip Grooves for Hand Drums - both written by Alan Dworsky and Betsy Sansby.

10. Through these lessons I hope to lead you to good sources of great information like those I've learned from.

Long gone are the days where the ONLY source of "how to" information came from a person to person encounter with a music teacher.   Don't get me wrong, one on one lessons with a live person are quite valuable.  I too took sporadic private lessons here and there - the instructor could watch my hand techniques and suggest improvements.  Private lessons are still the best ways to go if you can afford it and if you live in a city or town large enough to find such lessons.  

Today, good hand drum lessons are readily available and found on the Internet; often available within seconds.   

11. For faith building, resources also abound, more so than in any other period of time I think; considering the volume of work now available on the Internet.  However, you still need to be a bit more selective and discerning as there is also quite a bit of misinformation on the Internet. 

Here, finding the help of a trusted spiritual advisor is the absolute safest route to take. 

12. Find this person or persons through your church or Church resources (RE or RCIA).  A person to person encounter with a priest is still the best way to receive solid and profitable feedback regarding your faith and your own spiritual journey; especially when done along with making a good confession.  

13. Become an even better reader.   Go to the links I provide regarding good books like the YOUCAT, YOUCAT Study Guide, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 

14. Maybe you do better by watching and listening.  In this case, go to YouTube, do a few simple searches using the keywords "Catholic apologetics" (someone who defends the Catholic Christian faith) watch a few, read reviews and or comments from others, and start subscribing.  My favorite is Catholic Answers.

Do a similar YouTube search for "hand drumming" and start subscribing to your favorites. 

15. Notice, in either case, you'll find the good, the bad, and the flat out ugly.  Take any subject known to man and discussed on the Internet and you'll find the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Learn to transcend it; to rise above it; to be able to critique it with an objective eye for the truth and you'll be OK.

G1 Bullet 3 - Playing position on a tabletop surface.  Are you kidding me?  Playing position?  It's a tabletop!  There's no proper or improper way to play on a tabletop but a few tips will make it more fun for everybody.

17. First, don't use sticks in place of your hands, play lightly, and pay attention to the hand stroke demonstrations in the movie lessons. 

18. Second, so that you don't strain or unnecessarily tire yourself out, aim for a table surface that is nearly the same height as your arms bent at the elbow, hands straight out in front of you (engineers and mathematicians would call this a 90 degree bend).  

a.) Keep good posture while playing - shoulders back but down and relaxed, elbows hanging loosely at your sides, your spine should be straight, lean slightly forward from the waist.  

b.) The tabletop I use in the movie demonstrations rests slightly lower but this OK.  

c.) Breath deeply at first so as to relax yourself and then breath regularly during your practice.

19. Tables can be plastic or wood it doesn't matter.  Other "found objects" we might use in these lessons include buckets, dishpans, pots, countertops, coffee tables, pieces of wood and when all else fails, our knees.

20. Housekeeping Rule:  If it’s a table at school, like your classroom desk, or your family dinner table during supper, you might just unintentionally annoy someone or worse, get yourself into some trouble, if you start practicing these hand drum patterns there.

Use common sense: make sure you are not disturbing anyone or interrupting another person when you decide to practice.  When in doubt, ask first before playing or practicing hand drum patterns on tabletops in strange places.   

21. Sometimes, trying to share the Good News of God with others won't be enthusiastically embraced either.  Here, let your courteous, polite, charitable, and Christ-like mannerisms speak in place of words.

G1 Bullet 4 - Hand care.  Use moisturizing lotion.  The impact of hand drumming, on any surface, can dry out your skin.  Keep your hands moist by rubbing in plenty of hand lotion.  And remember, play lightly; if you're feeling pain, stop.  Review these notes and start again - you're likely doing something too forcefully or you're not properly relaxed.

G1 Bullet 5 - Bass, Open and touch: notation and strokes.  Amazingly, we can produce different sounds out of something as simple as a tabletop by using different parts of our hand to execute the stroke. 

24. The Bass Stroke: A simple stroke.  This stroke will produce a boom or thud and we can use it in places where a drummer uses the bass drum on the drum set.  Use the fleshy part of your palm as I demonstrate in the movie below.  A technical explanation of the stroke would be to move your hand up and forward from the starting position described above (some call this the "fundamental position") toward the center of the tabletop along the line made through your forearm and middle finger.  Bring it down onto the center of the tabletop.  It's OK if some parts of your fingers bounce back up - just don't hit the surface too hard - pain is a sure sign that you are hitting the stroke too hard.  Keep fingers relaxed and together.  Thumb: either pulled in against the index finger or extended away from the hand.  Most sound of the bass stroke comes from the palm.  Some teachers demonstrate making the bass stroke by letting the whole hand stay flat while others lift the fingers slightly so only the palm makes contact (the way I do it).  Experiment, see what produces the best sound or feels the best for you.  When we start speaking the strokes later the bass stroke will be spoken as "Ge."

25. The Open Stroke: The Calypso high drum part in the movie below uses ONLY this stroke. The position of your hand to the edge of the tabletop is important.  Notice how I have to move the tabletop forward a bit to establish this.  Raise your fingers a few inches off the tabletop by flexing your wrist and lifting your forearm slightly, keep your fingers relaxed and together or slightly apart and keep your thumb extended away from your hand so that you wont whack it on the edge of the tabletop.   Now bring your hand down and bounce your fingers off the tabletop.  Your wrist should be up and parallel with the tabletop.  The part of your hand just below the crease where your fingers meet the hand should make only slight contact with the edge of the tabletop surface.  If you don’t need to make another stroke immediately with the same hand you can let your wrist drop and leave your hand resting on the edge of the tabletop.  Also, let your thumb drop down below the edge of the tabletop.  When we start speaking the strokes later the open stroke will be spoken as "Du."

26. The Touch Stroke: The easiest of all the strokes to make and the quietest.  Touch the tabletop lightly with the pads of your fingertips.  Then alternating hands, simply drop your fingertips to the tabletop and raise them.  Your palms do not make contact with the tabletop.  The touch serves mostly as a timekeeper between louder strokes, helps your hands to flow and adds a fullness to the pattern.  When we start speaking the strokes later the touch stroke will be spoken as alternating "te" and "re."

G1 Bullets 6-8, Learn the Rhythm - Calypso High Drum Part: The Big Calypso and Existence

SPEAK THE RHYTHM:  Du Du...Du Du...Du Du...Du Du...Du Du...Du Du...Du Du

28. Work both hands:  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).  This exercise develops dexterity.

G1 Bullet 9 - Topic A1, Sound Check. Why We Are Able to Believe: Existence.

I'm not convinced in simple nothingness after death.  

a.) This means every moment leading up to my death has both meaning and consequences.  

b.) When I die  - I'm either going to heaven or hell. 
  
c.) I've learned there's purgatory too for those of us on our way to heaven but not quite ready (99.9% of us).  

30. If you're going to discount grace, which I don't (I needed a gift of grace before religious topics would become of interest to me - remember, I was firmly agnostic), then I've figured this out, on my own, through self-study (WHY I am able to believe): I read a lot of books about faith, books I will try to share with you over the course of this study. 

31. Existence means to come from God and to go back to God. (YOUCAT 1)

I played the congas in public, with other musicians of course and not just by myself.  I played mostly to hang out with my brother and our musician friends but also for the notoriety and admiration that comes with performing on stage in front of large crowds; the bigger the better.  Lastly, I played to make a little extra money and little it was; nothing you would call an existence. 

32. I was nothing close to being a famous hand drummer, I never toured the music stores giving clinics or playing drum solos.  I've never been interviewed by a drum magazine or a music TV channel.  I've never endorsed a drum or had a sponsor ask me to take my photo next to his product.  Those kind of opportunities are extremely rare to non-existent for the majority of garage-band musicians.  Even if I did, would any of this get me to heaven?  Probably not.

33. Not everyone needs to or can take a drum solo either; I never did but so what?  

Concentrate on your talents even if soloing isn't one of them.  It's better to practice humility; to recognize one's reasonable limitations.  

a.) Do you really need to be puffed up and unapproachable to have fun as a musician?  No!  Stuck-up musicians swimming in a sea of their own greatness are no fun to be around.  

b.) Can you still contribute something worthwhile as say a local performing artist rather than a national star?  

c.) Teaching other kids?
  
d.) Visiting elderly people confined to nursing homes?  

34. Now we're getting closer to what's likely to get us to heaven.  

a.) Can you still broaden your perspectives in life in such a "lesser" role?  Yes!  

b.) Can you even have fun playing music at this "lower" level?  Yes!  

c.) Can you still be a positive role model to others?  Yes!  

d.) Can you get to heaven this way?  

If you will persevere to the end in all the ways of Christ then, YES!

35. Let's just say I'm a person EXTREMELY interested in heaven and getting there and so yes, I try to live my life now as if it is the only way I have to get myself to heaven.  Selfish?  No, I don't think so.  To get myself to heaven means to get lots of other people to heaven too.

Through faith, having and practicing it, I learn more and more about the narrow gate I've got to aim for to get to heaven. 

36. I put faith in many things every day.  Faith in the food I eat - it wont make me sick;  faith in the chair that I am about to sit in - it wont break from underneath me, and in many other things too numerous to mention here.   I put faith in God too - He loves me and He wants me to get to heaven. 

37. There's no greater audience than the communion of Saints, Mary, Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit to perform to.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the angels!   It's only through faith, realizing I'm a child of God, a brother in Christ, that I find meaningful and lasting "celebrity like" stardom, genuine and joy-filled "star power" coming into my life.  I've learned this the hard way.  It's OK to desire to be great; just remember how Jesus advised his disciples to achieve such greatness: by serving others.

G1 Bullet 10 - YOU Practice Lesson G1.  The "R" means right hand and the "L" means left hand.  You will count it as "one and two and three and four and" striking an open tone on every "one" "and" "three" "and" and resting (not striking any stroke) on "two" "and" "four" "and."  Watch the movie. 

39. If you want measurable results - try to practice both your faith and drumming at least 30 minutes a day.  Playing simple rhythms on a daily basis can be similar in repetition to (but never used in place of) a prayer routine like the Holy Rosary.  Practice perfects the one undergoing the repetitious movement; either naturally or supernaturally.  

40. 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! 

G1 Bullet 11 - Table Task:  Remember.  You are here to get to heaven.  God is all for this and created you to get to heaven.  Talk about love?  God made you and God loves you.  Because you are so loved, God gives you many ways and means to know more about Him, to find more faith in Him; you just need to open up and love Him too.  Let us follow Jesus to the Father: "I am the way, and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. " John 14:6

G1 Bullet 12 - Basic Notation (1) handout: study it.

Gray Level Syllabus

"Time For The Table" The Way and Means

Last update 4/10/2017