I got to play with a steel drum group for the first time last night. It was a blast.
The sound of the steel drum just makes me feel so happy. They’re expensive, but I want to get my own instrument just to play around on.
It’s definitely a challenge, though. I’m musical, but we’re not reading music. It’s listen, memorize, play it back. And I’ve got to learn polyrhythms – my homework for this week is to be able to walk to the beat while clapping a syncopated calypso rhythm with my hands and singing a different syncopated rhythm.
This is new to me. There’s not a whole lot of polyrhythm in classical clarinet music.
I’m so excited. Between guitar, bagpipes, and steel drums, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.
