“Ham and cheese!” “Peanut butter sandwich!” “Mac, mac ’n’ cheese!”
These words ringing through the Elm Room in the Laguna Woods Community Center on Tuesday evenings don’t mean that food is on the table.
Rather, they’re rhythms that help members of the Drum Circle keep the beat as their lively sounds meld together.
The Drum Circle is one of several groups in the Laguna Woods that make their own kind of music. The Ukulele Club does it with the ever popular stringed instrument, while the new Yankee Doodlettes will soon be setting the tone with their buzzing kazoos.
Gayle Slaten, who leads the Drum Circle with partner Don Celestino, said she finds it easier to remember rhythms when words are attached to them.
Celestino prefers to let his hands do the talking as he beats out intricate patterns and rhythms for the group, which numbers from 15 to 20 members at any given gathering.
Celestino views drumming as a great stress reducer and a good health inducer.
“You don’t need to bring anything but your hands, and you can’t play the wrong note,” he said with a laugh. “You can relax and get rid of excess energy.”
Slaten emphasizes the communal aspect of the group.
“The drum was the very first instrument,” she said. “It echoes our heartbeat.”
The couple usually set up their Native American “Mother Drum” in the middle of the circle and bring a variety of other drums, shakers and noisemakers for members to use.
Participants join in enthusiastically as Slaten intones her food-related rhythmic words or Celestino demonstrates catchy beats for members to replicate. Often, these take the form of “call and response,” where he plays first and members drum the beat back to him.
Participant Rich Levy has wanted to play drums since childhood, he said.
“I find the drumming meditative, both stimulating and relaxing,” Levy said after beating the Mother Drum through a five-minute number.
“Drumming connects me to the earth,” said…
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