Samba in Ireland

Over the past few weeks I have been honored to join in on Samba drumming and percussion sessions, which is something I never thought I would be doing in Ireland. Klaus, the owner of the house that I am staying at, is a percussion teacher specializing in Samba and West African rhythms. The inside of his van is a mother's nightmare...hoards of djembes, surdo's (bass drums), tamborims, and bells. If any child got a hold of those instruments I think momma would go insane, but for those who love to bang loudly on instruments it is like you have entered heaven!

The first session was located at a neighbors house and there were 9 of us playing. My first instrument to try was the tamborim. Not a tambourine, the little round thing with bells, but the tamborim which is a small Brazilian frame drum you hold in one hand. The main rhythms of the song are played with the tamborim and its patterns are easily distinguished over other instruments. This little instrument was fun because I could dance while playing it. Very cool! The next instrument I tried was the surdo, which is a large standing bass drum. This drum sounds so cool and just banging on it is fun. I couldn't help but just keep hitting it over and over, because it sounded so neat to my untrained ears. These drums are played with a thick fuzzy headed drumstick that I kept thinking was going to fly out of my hand every time I pulled it off the drum. So, of course, I was playing with a perma-smile and constantly laughing at myself. Then I finally moved on to the bells. I got the rhythm fine with these guys, but they have two layers and when I wasn't paying attention to my playing I sometimes would hit the wrong layer, making a different sound. Luckily, if I screwed up, every other instrument was so darn loud that no one could notice. Phew! But, overall, I think I did ok and I had an absolute blast.

Next session was held at our place in the cafe. Again, we had 9 musicians and this time I gravitated towards the djembe. I have a small djembe back in the States that I have been playing with, but these were the real ones. They are about 2 feet in height and are placed between your legs at a slight angle. This is an instrument that I want to really pursue. I love the sound it makes, the feel of my bare hands playing it, and the way it makes my spirit high. It makes me feel very connected to the earth in some strange way and it allows me to go into a sort of moving meditation. Klauss taught me a basic rhythm and we all melodiously jammed.

A few days ago in a cute little seaside town named Kinsale, there was a sustainable festival going on. Klauss generously offered to teach a free percussion workshop, so myself and another couple made the journey down there to join in the workshop. We first set up in the streets and started playing so that we could attract people, but then it started raining. We decided to move inside to a pub and the amount of attendees seemed to magically grow. It was really neat to see such an eclectic mix of people, from young to old, all eager to learn the instruments. I worked on some more djembe rhythms and then moved on to the bells for the next tune that included a beautiful song which we had to sing the intro to. The song is sung to the gods and is very powerful especially when you have a huge group of people singing it. Then we broke into the musical rhythms. It was so much fun and such a great experience. My last samba session is tomorrow night, the night before I leave. The date was decided so that I could leave Sheep's Head Peninsula, Ireland with a bang. Back in January I would have never thought that I would be where I am now. And, I definitely would not have thought I would be learning Samba/West African percussion in Ireland. It is so amazing how life just happens to move one beat at a time, sometimes it is in tune and other times it is off, but nevertheless it is still one awesome rhythm.