excerpt: “History of the Groove, book three” Russell Buddy Helm ©2014 all rights reserved
Drumming as a detective story. Why do we do the things we do in our lives? Krishna, the charioteer, warned his charge, Arjuna, that there would be no way to understand the actions of the universe. But we still try.
Drumming can be like Krishna the driver of horses; Pushing onward with the groove unveils insights unspeakable with words. We tend to do certain things, deny ourselves certain benefits, and then try to fathom why. There is a place of forgiveness in the universe and it can be reached by following the grooves to the heart of the situation. Music, poetry, song take us there and we feel better, having received comfort or insight, The beat underneath the words carries it’s own message of hope.
As a therapy, drumming becomes a detective story. The client comes to the drum because there are mysteries in their lives that do not have easy solutions. The steady relaxed tempos, with alternating hands, creates a sense of well being and cooperation between the lobes of our feuding brain hemispheres. The resulting processing of distracting trauma history into calm acceptable memories creates a really good drummer as well as a balanced individual. They can even tell their own story while hitting the drum. Some for the first time.
excerpt: “History of the Groove, book three” Russell Buddy Helm ©2014 all rights reserved