Friday Afternoon Music Therapy
I spent this afternoon playing drums with my new musician friends from kirtan, for two different local groups of disabled people. I have never actually played with this group before, so I’m not sure what to expect. Although I’ve been [intlink id=”751″ type=”post”]playing drum kit[/intlink] for a while and used to play tamborim in a samba band, I’ve never played the drums I’m playing today before either (a cajón and a dunun), for more than a few minutes. So really all I can do is wing it on stage in front of our captive audience.
How Hard Can It Be?
The first gig is for a group of adolescents with Down syndrome. Despite my lack of practice, experience or rehearsal, they love it. If there’s one thing to be said for people with Down Syndrome, they sure know how to let loose and have a good time. Before long they are up dancing, jiving and laughing, showing far less inhibition than I have. One of the guys gets down on the floor and breaks into a spontaneous rap dance. We aren’t even playing hip-hop. But that isn’t about to stop him. Before long, one of his mates joins him; both of them writhing around on the floor unselfconsciously to our beats.
