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Unsolicited praise from my students!
May 22, 2008
Thank you Lara!
It's my pleasure to attend your class! You are an excellent teacher.
You explain very well,
You use different methods to teach
(sounds, beats, clappings, feet tapping, reading, dancing, singing),
You are patient,
You communicate your passion about foreign cultures,
You manage to create a drum band in just one hour with beginners,
You are fun, kind and always have a generous & communicating smile!
and it's only the beginning of the list!
What else can I ask?
See you next week!
V.
June 1, 2008
I am very proud to have you as my teacher. There is being able to do, and being able to teach what
you do. Two very different things. You do both exceptionally well. Thank you so much, you are
changing my life in ways you cannot imagine.
T.
06.01.08
Teaching Technique. Posture. Alignment. Breakthrough!
Thanks to the hard work of a dedicated private student, today I learned how to teach technique.
In the past, I would instruct my students to hold their hands in a particular shape in order
to strike the drum in a specific manner. I knew what proper alignment should look like in regard to hand positioning on the drum,
but it didn't occur to me to FIRST show how to hold the body in alignment, and THEN to adjust the INSTRUMENT to fit a perfectly aligned BODY.
Never again.
This morning my student reported to me that after feeling inspired
to drum he lost track of time, resulting in a marathon practice session
that lasted 3 1/2 hours. Afterwards he experienced some minor pain in his left hand.
When he demonstrated his technique, it became clear to me that he was both deviating and
hyperextending his wrist while hitting the left handed ka stroke.
I had my student rest
his left hand, palm up, on his knee so that his fingers curled in a relaxed position.
Then I had him place the tip of his thumb against the joint of his index finger, Souhail style,
and reminded him not to alter the relaxed curl of the fingers.
Then I told him to flop
his hand over the top of the drum, so that the fleshy part of his palm rested on the rim and his
fingers hung over the edge of the drum. In this position his hand fell into perfect alignment
atop the drum, the joint of his fourth finger hovering over the intersection between head and rim,
so that each time his palm dropped onto the drum's rim it resulted in a beautiful, ringing ka stroke.
He is a kinesthetic learner, so we did a visualization of the points of connection between his arm,
hand and fingers, and the drum.
Every time he hit a Ka stroke, it sang. Like magic.
Then it occured to me that in order to play a perfect Dum, Tek and Slap, the right hand
must be in perfect alignment with the instrument as well.
I had my student relax and hang his bent elbow at a perfect 90 degree angle, (palm facing the body)
then imagine as though it was connected to the side of his body. He was permitted to move his
forearm and wrist freely along the transverse plane.
The head of the drum would have to meet his palm, and not vice versa. When he struck Dum,
it resonated deeply. Perfect hand position resulting in optimal sound. Duh.
To produce a perfect Tek, the arm needed to extend back along the side of the body until
the fingers reached the intersection between the head and the rim. When my student
executed the move, it resulted in perfect tones. Again. Ta-da!
05.14.08
Raks Awalim Bellydance Show with Sarab!
Fiery bellydancers Claudia and Eva performing their drum solos at Aztec Willy's. Hot hot hot!!! Kristnh accompanies. You may need to hit "reload" to access both videos.
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