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PAIR PLAY
Hand out the chimes equally around the circle – if you have less chimes than participants, hand out other percussion instruments. The facilitator plays a drum. Pair people with chimes up across the circle from each other (if you use 9 chimes you will have one group of three).
Start a pulse and foundation with the drums and percussion and then instruct those with chimes that they can bring their sound in at any time, but they must coordinate with their partner so they ‘chime’ together.
Remind people to leave some space between their notes.
When the music has become sparse and calming you can ask participants to think of just one or two things they would like to bring into their life and add these as additional notes – building the rhythm up again.
Recognising that it is not until we have made room for new opportunities by letting go of unnecessary thoughts and worries that we can bring these into our lives.
When we are able to let go of past resentments, anxieties, injustices, regrets and blame etc. we enable a way of moving on from adversity. The concept of acceptance in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy relates to accepting the past, making room for it, and learning from it, in order to move on from it. This differs, and is generally much safer, than many psychoanalytic therapies that delve into the past and use people's experiences to understand their current issues.
Preliminary Discussion - What are some of the smaller things in our lives we might be better letting go of?
‘Drop it’
You can use drums & percussion or Tonal Chimes (pentatonic scale - ACDEG) - hand these out. Explain that we will all start playing together at a certain tempo and that you will ask them to “make more space between their notes” (remove a note from their rhythm) by holding one finger high in the air. Give some examples of how a rhythm might sound as you pare back the notes.
Start the rhythm and after a little while have them remove one note (hold your finger up). Hold this new incarnation for a while and then ask them to remove a further note. Follow this routine until you have a sparse, ambient rhythm. Fade slowly away.
Discussion: Sometimes when we let things go we bring more clarity and peace into our lives. How easy is it to let go of things in your life that are stressing you or are not really necessary? What about the influence of others that might be hurting you in some way - can you let them go? What about your thoughts & feelings that bring you down - how might you reduce their influence? Discuss the use of mindful acceptance here.
TONAL TENNIS
Best done standing.
Showcase some tennis strokes – serve, volley, backhand, forehand.
One person serves to anyone else with a chime and the receiver then send it onto another in the group who has a chime using a different stroke. The sound ten passes one at a time between participants.
If you have more participants than chimes then they can join in using other percussion sounds.
Note – be careful of becoming too energetic and damaging the chimes by hitting them against something.
BY THE NUMBERS
Start a simple clock using one or more people on clave
Hand out Tonal chimes or use drums and percussion
Tell people you will count out loud to the clock – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and repeat
Ask people to choose a number between one and eight (just one number), and bring their note in on that number. After a while stop counting out loud and let the patterns take over.
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
Use different facilitation techniques to develop the groups musical capacity
Hand out Tonal chimes (you can use a combination of drums and percussion as an alternative) to half the group and ask them to focus on giving the gift of their music to the other half. Let them play together for around 3-4 minutes. Ask the other half to sit back in a comfortable position and focus on receiving with generosity.
Then swap roles.
Discussion: What insights can you draw from this exercise about the challenges of giving and receiving? Who judged their gift as not adequate? How often do we undervalue what we have to offer others? How difficult was it to receive without judgement? How easy is it for some people to give to the point of exhaustion? What if I had let one half give more (time wise) than the other -would you have felt short-changed?
Note – This can be a good exercise to look at issues of staff burnout. It is also very relevant for elderly and disabled people who must rely on others for physical care.
You can also do this with drums & percussion if you don't have chimes