Jamtown John, on right, shares some palming pointers with Ben Grivas, 9
While trotting along the west side of Green Lake this summer, if you have been surprised by an African drumbeat serenade wafting up near the tennis courts, you can thank “Jamtown John.”
John Hayden teaches music for all ages at his Jamtown Music studio and hosts free weekly rhythm sessions from summer through fall as long as the weather allows. At the last session he lead an intimate group of four: one adult student, my two sons (ages 6 and 9), and me.
John unpacked several large African wood-and-cowhide drums, both hourglass-shaped djembes (pronounced gem-bay) and taller cylindrical djun-djuns (dune-dunes or june-junes), from colorful custom cloth bags, and individual carpet mats – which are for the drums, not the drummers. (The moisture in the grass would warp the wood.)
We focused on hand drumming, learning a simple break, and then a combination of beats using chants and call-and-response to help us hang on to the rhythm. Then we got to make our own collective “What we did last summer” tune, including info like “MinorLeague BASE-ball” and “Bi-cy-cuh-ling Round -Spain”.
Amazingly, the kids focused through an hour and a half with minor digressions. Meanwhile, John exuded infinite patience with issues like: “Can we twirl the drumstick?” and “But I want to play the BIG drum!” We had a great time. The next day, my eldest was “recording” his own music session on my iPhone’s voice memo app.
Tomorrow night you can serenade the joggers yourself; here are the details, from Jamtown.com:
Green Lake Jam
Family Friendly; All Ages Welcome ~ FREE
Thursday Sept. 16. 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Bring your rhythmic self and jump into our pool of community play; drums and chairs provided.
Directions by car: Park in the Bath House Theatre lot and walk to the West side opposite the tennis courts (towards Aurora Avenue N./Hwy 99).
206-632-9136
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Read more My Green Lake articles written by Erica Browne Grivas, freelance journalist for hire.
Check out Erica’s blog In the Details for her garden adventures.
