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cheya

Chi Practice for Drumming

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Well there are certainly ways to get qi into the fingers, but I have a feeling that that's not really what your friend needs. (Although if she really wants to explore this aspect, the crucial element is connecting the body at jing jin level - the fascia/tendon/connective tissue level... then you can have the qi travel through the fingers)

 

But with any truly great musician the expression is in the silence behind and between the sounds.

 

Your friend should have a go at placing her awareness on the space and silence rather than the sound - this will give the performance a palpable depth.

 

For those of us less musical - try putting your awareness on the silence between and behind your words as you speak... it's a little tricky to flow at a normal pace at first, but with even just a bit of practice, there's a very marked difference to everything about how you speak... including but certainly not limited to the tonal quality.

 

Admittedly this is a meditative practice and it certainly does require practice to get consistency... 10,000 hrs of practice? Maybe...

 

Just bare in mind that Gladwell himself commented that this is an estimate... and 10,000hrs is the threshold for mastery - as in exceptional, top level performance. You can still get VERY good at anything with a lot less. I think this 10,000hrs thing puts people off from trying things.

 

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One note: In one of his studies, Gladwell highlighted that a group of elite musicians had practiced the same amount of time as the average musicians. What was different was that the elite group scheduled two specific, focused time periods each day, rather than playing on and off throughout the day.

 

Interesting, thanks

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Intention and belief in the note you wish to call out....in essence, the purity of the note is the goal...so go back to basics - work on eliciting the proper tones, no matter how slow you go. You pull the note out with your intention, which basically regulates the chi...

 

this thread made me think that it would be interesting to have a Taobums drum circle somehow...trying to wrap my mind around how to do it trans-globally

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If she is already a qigong practitioner tell her to come to my next workshop and I will specifically show her how to project qi down the soundwaves of her drum. Makes the drumming much different, more dynamic, and more powerful.

This is how my mediocre awesome (ha ha) rock bands always had such an unexpected, raving far more than we deserved, stage rushing, screaming fans response. Energetics and sound wave propagation.

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Wow, Yamu!

 

TRIPLE likes!

 

Alas though, she's a newbie to qigong...

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Wow, Yamu!

 

TRIPLE likes!

 

Alas though, she's a newbie to qigong...

Well, heck, I will still show her if she brings her drum. And she will no longer be a newbie after the workshop.

Strange, in a way, for the December workshop I have 17 women and 3 men registered. This ratio hasn't happened for a long time. Up until this past week there was only one guy from England registered and I was joking with my wife that he was gonna find himself - uh, lets use the words "overwhelmingly outnumbered". Although I think the balance will change a bit by the time the workshop gets here, perhaps its women's time for energetics.

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Intention and belief in the note you wish to call out....in essence, the purity of the note is the goal...so go back to basics - work on eliciting the proper tones, no matter how slow you go. You pull the note out with your intention, which basically regulates the chi...

 

this thread made me think that it would be interesting to have a Taobums drum circle somehow...trying to wrap my mind around how to do it trans-globally

That sounds awesome!

There's a big hunk of beach about 3 miles from my place...

I'll bring a djembe and my singing bowl...

 

This Sunday about an hour before sunset?

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That sounds awesome!

There's a big hunk of beach about 3 miles from my place...

I'll bring a djembe and my singing bowl...

 

This Sunday about an hour before sunset?

 

I suppose one could record ones drumming into Audacity and then send an .mp3 file along to the next person who listens and records their own drumming and then the two files could be merged and then sent to the next person in line...would take a while, but might be neat to try...

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