Drumming With Words
by Greg J. Stone — 06/11/2015
Greg J. Stone
I have what…Ginger Baker calls the “gift of time.” …I have always had an instinctive ability to keep a beat — at least at the level of an amateur drummer. That skill crosses over to my business in that I have found that rhythm is an integral part of any speech, story or presentation.
Though I have been a percussionist ever since I was…young.., I never learned to read drum music until recently…when I started performing with a parent-student-teacher band in [my] town…. I was hoping…to follow along with the melody, but was horrified to see…the sheet music…showed the percussion parts with no other references. [T]here are gaps, sometimes large ones, where I had to stand by and wait – counting each measure in my head. Coming in at the wrong time…could be very embarrassing.
Then I thought about the significance of this. There is a time to speak, and a time to remain silent. A time to pound and a time to pause. This has vast implications for communication.
