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Taking back power after loss.
Sometimes events leave us feeling like we have no autonomy or power, particularly after we have experienced a significant loss.
We will invite you to reclaim your power by entering the circle and playing on the large Bass Drums, supported by the rest of the circle.
In this exercise we place one or two large drums with mallets in the middle of the circle.
The group start a foundation rhythm and at any stage a person can enter the circle (or you may like to
schedule people one at a time) and play on the powerful Bass Drums, asserting their power.
Post group discussion
Share with the participants how it felt to take back power in this way and be supported by the rest of the
group. What other ways could help regain the ground you lost?
Emotional recognition is central to emotional control, and also how people get on together – many people struggle to recognise how others are feeling which negatively impacts their relationships. Rumble on your drum if you have ever had your feelings misinterpreted by others? How did that make you feel?
The Emotional Detective
Ask each person in the group to choose an emotion & keep it to themselves.
One person is chosen as the detective and they then choose one person opposite them to expresses their chosen feeling using their drum. The detective then guesses the feeling being expressed by their chosen partner - the partner does not give their answer until after the facilitator has asked “Did anyone recognise something different?” It will quickly become apparent that people interpret feelings differently.
Then the player says what they were expressing. If the detective identifies the feeling correctly, he/she swaps places with the individual who shared their emotion – if not, he/she gets another go to test their emotional detection skills with another person of their choice.
Adaption - The detective can be blindfolded and differences in identifying emotional signals can be discussed between the two senses (eyes open or shut). How might body language confuse your understanding of how someone is feeling?
Discussion: What sort of clues do you look for to work out how people are feeling? How much of this is unspoken? How often do people misinterpret your feelings? Does this give you any insight into how you might sometimes misread others? What are some of the consequences of this form of misunderstanding? How can we improve our performance in this area?
Note: This discussion is particularly relevant to situations where we interpret people’s looks as aggressive, or as giving permission for sexual intimacy.
Many people with low emotional control struggle to identify their feelings - research has shown that just being able to name a feeling increases your control of it - moving brain activity from the primal brain regions to the frontal lobes.
Alexithymia is the term given to the condition of being unable to recognise one’s emotions and feelings and often this extends to being unable to read or identify with others feelings and a concurrent lack of empathy.
Play/Show Some Emotion
In this exercise one person starts a rhythm (everyone joins them) and plays it with a single emotion, after about 20 seconds they name their emotion and the next person changes to a new emotion and after a while, names the new feeling and then the next person comes in with a new feeling etc. until all have had a go. It is OK for people to repeat feelings in larger groups.
You can finish this exercise by listing the range of feelings expressed on a white-board.
Alternative – Make a list of feelings on a white-board or use emotion cards – people pick a feeling from the list or card without telling anyone and then play it on their drum. The rest of the group have to guess which emotion they are playing.
Discuss whether any of the feelings expressed surprised you when they were named and how people express their feelings in very different ways.
Note: Emotions and feelings are not the same but directly impact each other – Emotions are the direct sensations (unconscious) we get from our body and feelings are the mental associations or interpretations (conscious) we give to these sensations.
Sit with the Silence - In this exercise the drumming represents the noise & busyness of life and this is interspersed with periods of silence where we focus on the resonance of the chimes. In each break the length of the stillness increases.
Discuss the need in our modern lives to escape the constant pressure of information, noise and worry; to regularly find a place of stillness and rest in order balance the frenetic pace of life. To find a balance between the outer and inner life. What ideas have people got for ensuring they get that balance? How hard is it to make time for quiet reflective time - do you think it is important? What might be some of the benefits for people who do make this time?
Pass out four Tonal chimes to random people scattered evenly around the circle and number them 1 to 4 (the chimes should be in a corresponding scale)
Everyone else plays an improvised rhythm and then the facilitator calls down to stop - 4,3,2,1 Stop! On the stop the first chime sounds, at the completion of its resonance the second chime rings out etc. After the fourth chime has resonated fully the facilitator calls the rhythm back - 1,2, let’s all play.
Three more breaks as above each time getting longer
2nd break – repeat the chime sequence twice before resuming drumming
3rd break - repeat the chime sequence three times before resuming drumming
Final break - repeat the chime sequence four times and finish.
Questions: How are you feeling? Did the breaks impact the intensity of your drumming? Do you find work or school more relaxing when you are having regular periods of quiet time? How important is balance in your life
Community Drum - Layer in Your Rhythm - note this is a core exercise to assist people find their own rhythm. Swap percussion instruments for some of the drums. Each member adds their own rhythm to the mix, one at a time – emphasise using the Bass as a safety point for connection and being prepared to adapt your rhythm if it isn’t working. This exercise can be used to: Showcase the importance of diversity in enriching community; Explore the different elements required in finding harmony with others in society; Examine the issues of connection, tolerance and acceptance that provide people with a sense of belonging.
Discussion: How easy is it to connect with others if your rhythm is running fast? Can you see that timing impacts connection? If you are struggling to connect with others, how important is it to be prepared to change? What things get in the way of connection? What things might help you find a better rhythm, so that you can find harmony with other people in life generally?
This exercise is also useful as an extension for when a therapeutic program finishes - it can form the basis of an ongoing recreational fun drum program.
Many individuals struggle to work collaboratively with others - what are some of the reasons for this? What are some of the key elements of teamwork?
Teamwork: Effective team members are good communicators, active participants, respectful & supportive collaborators, problem solvers & are committed to the team goal. Working with others in teams allows you to achieve things you never could on your own.
‘One to The Right, One to The Left’
Bring the group in really tight. Use the phrase “Own drum” whenever you want them to return to their own drum to play the Heartbeat pattern – B B - -
See table on next page for different arrangements.
Encourage your participants to try out other routines.
Questions: What are some of the skills we are using when we work together like this? What are some other situations where these skills would be useful? How limited would our lives be if we had to rely solely on what we could achieve on our own?
TIMING 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 1 & 2 & 3 & 4
1 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
2 Repeat x 4
Tone on the drum to your right B B O - B B O - B B O - B B O -
3 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
4 Repeat x 4
Tone on the drum to your left B B O - B B O - B B O - B B O -
5 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
6 Repeat x 4
Tones on the drum to your right B B O O B B O O B B O O B B O O
7 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
8 Repeat x 4
Tones on the drum to your left B B O O B B O O B B O O B B O O
9 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
10 Repeat x 4
Tones on the drum to your right B B O O O B B O O O B B O O O B B O O O
11 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
12 Repeat x 4
Tones on the drum to your left B B O O O B B O O O B B O O O B B O O O
13 Repeat x 4 B B - - B B - - B B - - B B - -
14 Repeat x 1
Tones on the drum to your right B B O - B B O O B B O O O
15 Repeat x 1
Tones on the drum to your left B B O - B B O O B B O O O
16 Repeat x 4 B B clap clap B B clap - B B clap clap B B clap -
The Rhythmic Wave - This is a key exercise in the R2R model - primarily utilised to
improve emotional regulation. This exercise can be transferred to the body, (tapping the
thighs) so that in times of anxiety people can use it to calm themselves.
The group or individual oscillate between high energy drumming and fading to a soft, slow
Bass pulse at between 60-80bpm. During the slow drumming people are asked to slow and
deepen their breath and relax any tension in their body. This change represents changes in
emotional intensity with participants learning how to transition gradually between these
extremes. Do this, three times before fading to nothing or entering into a mindfulness
exercise – see below.
For younger client’s the impact of this exercise is primarily through the change in drumming
intensity. For adult individuals or groups this exercise can be extended into mindful breathing
and other focused meditations using the Bass pulse as a focal point.
Mindfulness Breath Focus: Once the individual or group have mastered the rhythmic wave
oscillation technique, the drumming become the back-drop to the introduction of mindfulness
routines. The single Bass pulse is slowed to between 40 and 60 bpm (replicating & inducing
Alpha brainwaves), If possible, use a large Bass drum. In the initial sessions, the
practitioner helps the individual focus on aligning their breath to the pulse and maintaining
that focus.
“Relax now, relax your body, loosen any tension and find a comfortable position in your chair
- if you prefer to, you may stop drumming” pause “Focus on, and relax any tension in your
neck, shoulders, chest, arms hands, back, hips, thighs, lower legs, feet” pause “Now turn
your focus to your breath - starting with one breath in on a pulse of your choice and
releasing that breathe some 3 to 4 pulses later” pause “Slowing the breath to the beat of the
pulse and focusing on filling the lungs and emptying them slowly and evenly” pause “Being
aware of other thoughts, as they come or go, but always returning to the breath, & its
alignment to the pulse, grounding you”. Breathing in warmth and calm - breathing out
tension & worry, becoming still. In your own time return your focus to the Bass note & join
me in the rhythm - fade away. Adapt this script & make it your own.
Note: Mindfulness exercises need to become a regular and consistent practice to be
effective – 20 minutes per day is the recommended minimum period. Many facilitators
make this a regular part of their sessions.
Rumble Facilitation.
All play a rumble and change between parts of the drum, volume and tempo to explore
different effects. Conduct the rumble so that it changes in dynamic. If working in a group
experiment with different parts of the group playing louder and others playing softer and
alternating these like a wave. Allow your participants to have a turn at conducting the
rumble. You may potentially use this exercise to explore communication and leadership
issues as well as to allow people the chance to release pent up energy
Pass the Bass. The whole group rumble quietly with their fingertips and one at a time a
person does a loud Bass on their drum – pass the Bass note using eye contact only.
Remember to look before you pass.
Rumble Wave – eyes closed
First with eyes open, pass the rumble from one person to another around the circle. Then
ask people to close their eyes and try the same game – what difference did you notice?
Try it again, but this time choose someone who can call out ‘Switch’ at any time and the
direction of the rumble must change.
We use rumbles across each session to help people answer questions – Rumble
if….. If I ask a personal question directly it is often met with silence - if I ask that same
question using the ‘rumble if......’ technique I often get a strong response". Try getting each
member of your group to ask a rumble If…. question as a way of getting to know each other.
Call & Response exercises are useful for building confidence, developing communication skills, and teaching musicality.
The facilitator plays a brief rhythm phrase on their drum & the individual or participants echo
it back (it is important to keep these rhythm short & simple). As the response becomes more
assured swap roles – again emphasising simplicity.
Take it in turns for different people to lead the exercise, and introduce changes in volume.
Variations of this exercise can be done with voice, movement & body percussion.
Empowerment – it is important that all participants get to lead this process at different times.
The facilitator should avoid too much control.
Exercise 2 - Call and Response to a Rhythm – moving towards improvisation
One person plays a call which is answered by the group and repeats the same sequence
(call & response) two more times - after the third response the whole group keeps playing
the call as a repeated rhythm. Emphasise the simplicity of this exercise in helping people
find their own rhythm and how this starts a longer term, empowering, process of helping
people to connect musically through improvisation, rather than through allocated parts.
Adding Vocals
Certain vocal sounds can be useful in calming the stress response and reducing anxiety.
Adding sounds or words in Call & Response can be useful for this reason – try low guttural
sounds such as Aaaaahhh, Mmmmmmmm, or Ooooohhh. A long Yawn or Sigh can also be
useful.
Bass, Tone, and Flam Exercises.
Part 1 - The key rule is that the 3 notes can only be played in this order (Bass, Tone, Flam).
We are going to pass one strike of the drum, in that order, around the room and see how
fast and smooth we can get it going. First start in a uniform direction around the circle.
Part 2 - Then try this with the same order but one Bass note, followed by two Tones,
followed by three Flams - try doing it nice and slowly in order to get a flowing rhythm going.
Finish with everyone playing this rhythm together – B, O, O, Fl, Fl, Fl. You can try different
combinations in subsequent sessions.
Jump – Try moving the beat around the circle with a Bass note moving the strike to the
person next to you, a Tone note will jump one person, and a Flam will jump two people and
any double strike means swap direction (note each player can only double strike once).
In R2R we use three basic sounds:
Bass (B) - important for the whole hand to hit the drum in the centre of the skin. This is the
key note for connection and grounding – it is important to practice this until a deep resonant
note is obtained.
Tone (O) - important to use the whole length of the fingers, held close together, and avoid
the thumb hitting the edge.
Flam (Fl) - two strikes played almost simultaneously (Slaps or Tones).
In R2R we tend to use the Flam instead of the Slap as our accent note as it is easier to
master and sharp sounds are not therapeutic.
Recommend removing rings and bangles before playing
Emphasise a relaxed hand and bouncing off the drums though the skin was hot.
Demonstrate the three different strikes and put into a rhythm - B O B O, B O B Fl
Key facilitation & counselling techniques in the Rhythm2Recovery model include 'Rumble If...' for initiating reflective discussions and 'Play how that feels' for expressing and understanding feelings.
Pair people up and give them a set amount of time to come up with an interactive rhythm featuring:
1 x High Five, 1 x Fist Bump, 1 shared vocal - must be able to be repeated rhythmically and have flow.
The aim is to do the exercises around the circle trying to keep a steady rhythm. each person plays one note in the pattern. It is always best to have a group indivisible by 4. Otherwise add an extra sound, so you have patterns that repeat after every 5th person.
1. Bass, Tone, Tone, Clap and repeat
2. Bass, Tone, 2xTone, Clap and repeat
3. Bass, Tone, 3xTone, 3xClap and repeat
4. Bass, Tone, 3xTone, 2xFlam plus Clap, and repeat
Make up your own sequences each week.
Part of the Rhythm2Recovery exercise sequence for the elderly
Part of the Rhythm2Recovery exercise sequence for the elderly
Part of the Rhythm2Recovery Exercise Sequence for the Elderly
Part of the Rhythm2Recovery Exercise sequence for the Elderly
Part of the Rhythm2Recovery exercise series for the elderly
Part of a series of physical exercises set to music, designed for the elderly.
Part of a series of exercises done to music. Each exercise is interspersed with free play on the drum.
The self-control game 'Rumble in the Jungle' being used to look at the precursors of aggression. In many of the self-help groups I do with men, where uncontrolled anger is a real issues, 'Shame' is one of the main areas we focus on in this exercise - how even the smallest humiliations can give rise to extreme anger.
: Rumble if you have ever been drawn into conflict you didn’t really want to get caught up in, by friends or within your family.
Start the exercise by reminding people of this fight - a very important one in Mohammed Ali's career. Ali was a rank outsider to beat Foreman, the current world champion and a much bigger and stronger man. Ali won the fight by avoiding conflict until Foreman was exhausted. The best way to win a fight is to avoid it in the first place.
Ali also stood up for his values and refused to fight in Vietnam.
Discuss – how easy it is to be drawn into conflict with others and why. Who has ever found themselves getting drawn into some conflict situation not of their own choosing?
Play 'Call and Response' but with the proviso that a loud rumble represents aggression - the aim of the game is not to be pulled in by other people's aggression. So, if you hear a loud rumble you must respond with a very soft rumble. Every other call you respond to normally.
This exercise requires a degree of regulatory control.
One group member suggests a feeling or emotion, or they can pick from a pre-drawn list.
The rhythm begins and the facilitator counts down to stop (4,3,2,1, Stop). As soon as the music stops (and for as long as it is stopped) everyone has to try and freeze with the said feeling expressed on their face and through their body.
The facilitator draws people’s attention to a specific individual who is exhibiting the feeling clearly and the individual chosen then gets to choose the next feeling prior, name it, and resume the rhythm (1,2, Let’s all play).
Using the Bass note to help with rhythmical connection.
Often a good way to finish a session individually or as a group.
Allowing people freedom of expression and leaving in a quiet, calm & connected place
Just focusing on moving between high intensity drumming (arousal) and soft slow drumming (calm)
Use different facilitation techniques to develop the groups musical capacity
The facilitator should describe a number of experiences (related to victimisation) and ask the group to rumble on their drum if they can identify with each of the emotions that might be garnered for an individual experiencing that event. The
group rumble in empathy with the individuals in the scenarios and then name the
emotions they may have felt. Examples:
1. Rumble if you can imagine how it might feel to have very few friends - What might you be feeling?
2. Rumble if you can imagine how it might feel to not know where your next meal is coming from - What might you be feeling?
3. Rumble if you can imagine how it might feel if you felt everyone was laughing at you - What might you be feeling?
After giving some examples ask the students to come up with their own scenarios
Discuss the concept of empathy. What is empathy? How does it affect the way
we act towards others? What if people have little empathy, how do they act? How
hard is it to have a respectful relationship with someone with little empathy for
others? What might help someone to develop more empathy?
Ask each person in the group to choose an emotion (from a list you have previously identified with the group). One person is chosen as the detective and they stand in the middle of the circle (or they can remain in their seat if preferred) and they then choose one person to expresses their chosen feeling using their drum, facial features or both. If the detective identifies the feeling correctly, he/she swaps places with the individual who shared their emotion – if not the group help out, and he/she gets another go to test their emotional detection skills.
Adaption - The detective can be blindfolded and differences in identifying emotional signals can be discussed between the two senses (eyes open or shut). How might body language confuse your understanding of how someone is feeling?
Discussion: What sort of clues do you look for to work out how people are feeling? How much of this is unspoken? How often do people misinterpret your feelings? Does this give you any insight into how you might sometimes misread others? What are some of the consequences of this form of misunderstanding? How can we improve our performance in this area?
Discuss the following: What are the elements of good communication? Why is good communication so fundamental to healthy relationships?
One person should be asked to choose someone in the group and start a conversation with that person using their drum and the other person should respond. Analyse the conversation for the following elements – balance, listening, dominance, respect.
What are some of the elements of poor communication we can all fall into? How can this impact our relationships? Why? How can we improve our communication skills?
The counsellor should work with the client (or divide a larger group into pairs), with the focus being to create a two-part harmony that includes some of the elements of a balanced, healthy relationship.
Discuss what those elements might be before breaking off into pairs to develop a rhythm.
Give them around four to five minutes to come back with a rhythm, which they play, one pair at a time, to the group. The rhythm should contain at least one original beat.
Together analyse each two-part rhythm for the different qualities of a healthy relationships – respect, balance, listening, connection, fun etc.
The group as a whole can be divided down the middle to play any of these new rhythms, with one half of the group playing one part each.
Ask the group to walk in a circular route, in around the circle the same direction, in time to a slow Bass pulse played by yourself, and focus as much as possible on their walk, and the connection to the floor – “move slowly and in time to the pulse”.
“Start off by standing still & regaining that connection you had before”, “ Now walk slowly, and focus on your walk, how your feet touch the floor”, Notice the transference of weight between your feet” Notice the bend in your knees and the movement of your hips”, “If other thoughts come to mind, acknowledge them & bring your focus back to your feet”, Notice any sensations from their connection to the ground each time you step”, Notice the different pressure of each part of the foots connection”.
Each time the drums stops I want you to focus on being strongly connected to the floor.
Avoid turning this into a competitive exercise.
Gaining independence of the two hands using a combination of drumming and hand movement.
Usually we would have a small group of people in the middle. Remember you can change the postures depending on the needs and abilities of your group members.
Have a select number of your group enter the middle of the circle (3 or 4). On a specific signal from the drum they must change their stance (you may wish to write these on the white-board):
• One Bass note - stand on one leg
• Two Bass notes - swap from one leg to the other
• One Tone note – stand on one leg with the other at 90 degrees
• Two Tone notes – ‘Karate Kid’ Pose
• Three notes Bass or Tone – rest.
One at a time, each remaining member of the group plays one of the signals on their drum & the people in the middle respond. Adapt these movements to the capacity of your group members.
Once the exercise is completed note whether people used each other for balance or not. If not ask them to try the
Discuss the importance of balance to health, including both physical & psychological health. How do you know when your life is out of balance? How might friends help keep your life in balance? How does our need for independence impact the balance in our life?
Discuss the nature of change as a constant in life and the need to adapt to change – find examples, such as change in climate, change in body, change in government, change in locality, change in workplace, change in schools.
In this exercise, the facilitator starts a rhythm and appoints a ‘change maker’ – this person can alter the rhythm in three different ways, by:
• changing the rhythm itself by adding or subtracting different beats
• changing the tempo by speeding up or slowing down
• changing the volume by getting louder or softer.
Other group members must adapt their rhythm in line with the change maker.
What helps you adapt to change? What are the consequences of not adapting? Is too much change unsettling or dangerous? Is leadership and communication important to implementing and adapting to change?
Note this exercise also has strong application within corporate development programs and for children on the spectrum who struggle with change.
Start by discussing the concept of harmony - what do people understand by that word? From their own experience what gets in the way of inter-personal harmony and what facilitates it?
The challenge of this exercise is to each play their own thing but still harmonise with each other. They must start all together playing their own thing, with their heads down, (it will sound wild & disconnected), then slowly raise their heads modify their rhythms to connect with each other in harmony – same volume, same tempo, and leaving space for each to be heard.
Before starting you may decide to warn the group not to try and “force people into your rhythm”. If you decide not to warn them, this can often happen, and serves as an interesting discussion point, in relation to this theme - is it really harmony when we force people to our will?
Discuss: the steps they took to find a harmonious connection in relation to the steps people might need to take to connect well with others.
More ideas for 'Call & Response'
This exercise follows a similar format with a preliminary discussion on what good friends do for each other.
Over the top of a basic foundation rhythm, the practitioner plays a rhythm phrase that symbolises the question ‘What Does a Good Friend Do?', (Fl-OoO-o-O) encourage participants to play this phrase with you each time. One at a time, each participant answers that question with one of three sounds - one Bass note, two Bass notes or three Bass notes - the number corresponds to how many different things they can think of.
After answering with their drum, the responder states their answer/s & the rhythm resumes.
These answers can be written on the white-board for further discussion after the exercise has been completed.
Sometimes in larger groups I will go around half the group asking this question and then for the second half ask the question "What do you want from your life? Or, “What matters most to you?” (in your relationships with other people).
One at time, around the circle, we repeat a very simple musical phrase (try BbB) - each time getting softer until it almost disappears, then reversing it so that each time it gets louder.
The challenge is for the increments to be as even as possible.
This is challenging as each player has a different technique and each drum a different resonance, so it can take quite a few goes to get even changes in volume - usually done across several sessions with a group or client.
Showcase two similar signals on a bell for stopping:
13 three clear strikes of the bell
14 two clear strikes, a gap and then another strike.
Practise using these and stopping for a seven rest count.
Then explain that only number one means move from your seat, while number two means stop and stay in your chair.
See how well people can recognise the difference and respond correctly – moving seats on number one bell call and staying in the same place if you use number two.
Discuss how challenging it was to recognise the difference and respond correctly
Note: Use more challenging signals if these are too easy, for example different melodies on the bell.
In this exercise, the facilitator takes the client or group through a storm sequence on the drum and links this to the rise of our emotions when we get upset or angry:
• What triggers your storm?
• How do we get control of the storm?
• What allows the storm to pass by?
• Remember - All storms eventually end – what helps your emotional storms dissipate?
Releasing feelings through the drum can be done at any stage and replaces the question ‘How did that feel” with ‘Play how that felt’.
It can be particularly useful at the beginning of each session to run an exercise – “Play how you are feeling’ over the top of a foundation rhythm as a way of checking in on the group.
EXAMINE
• Triggers for emotional arousal
• Calming strategies