RDA: Rhythmical Daily Allowance
OR
RDA: Recommended Drumming Allowance

Rhythm - the elements in music pertaining to forward motion.

Rhythmatize – to be completely filled with rhythm.

Even if you’ve never been to a nutritionist or taken note of your diet, you are probably familiar with the Recommended Daily Allowance, known as the R.D.A. This health standard suggests levels of vitamins, minerals, and protein our bodies need to function at an optimum standard. (Barry, do you know who develops these standards and how they are developed?)

But the concept of health today includes much more than diet and nutrition. In addition to our focus on the body, today we understand that health also involves the mind and spirit. Mind-body-spirit health, often defined as “wellness” requires new strategies that develop areas that have been previously neglected. To achieve total wellness, we must create new types of diets that nurture all the aspects of ourselves. As we begin to understand the importance of creative fitness, engaging in fun, expressive, musical activities becomes an essential component. Drumming is an aesthetic activity practiced throughout the ages that provides the kinesthetic stress release through physical activity while benefiting the whole person, improving one’s mood and providing an avenue for creative expression. Through the use of one of the most universally felt aspects of music, rhythm, drumming may indeed be the single most enjoyable way to achieve a full body-mind-spirit workout.

As we blend music and medicine in a life-enhancing format, the result is a different type of musical activity. No longer seen as purely “entertainment,” this approach demands that music becomes a partner in achieving the health-promoting feelings of wellbeing.

Aesthetic wellness may be the next frontier of our increasingly health conscious society. In this era of creative longing, more and more people have a desire to participate actively in music. Drumming provides a portal into music making for all music enthusiasts, amateurs, and complete non-musicians, providing what some report is a greater meaning to their life.

The R.D.A is an on-line guide to using rhythm to enhance your life. All of the suggested prescriptions involve some form of active music making. Based upon research demonstrating substantially more benefits from active music making over passive music listening, these RDAs will encourage you to get involved in the experience of making music and rhythm. Some are done as solitary activities and others involve recruiting others to join you, like an aerobics class. They serve as “how-to” guides to get you started until you begin discovering your own RDAs. Check back monthly for new ideas to boost your creative health and reduce stress in your life through daily rhythmic activities. Put your choice of an RDA into practice in your life.

RDA #101 - Rhythm Modulation

All day long, we adjust our tempos. We may have to wait in traffic on the way to work, speed up to meet a deadline, or slow down if we’re sick and need to recover.

Before you even touch the drum, you can begin by warming up your human instrument. Rhythm is in most everything you do. In your speech, your walking, and in your breathing to name just a few. Today, listen, look, and feel the rhythms around you. Listen to the rhythm in your speech and the speech of others today. Look around at the tempo of walking. Feel your own breath.

Now take some time to control and change the tempo and rhythm of these biological beats. Do you want to slow down? Try decreasing the tempo of your speech, walking and breathing. Do you want to speed up? Try increasing those tempos. Find a medium point, the tempo that most matches you today. Whatever rhythm seems to feel most comfortable, put it onto your drum today. Just take a few moments to be with the music and PLAY out your day. Put all the tempo and rhythm changes onto the drum, and then end with the steady place you found for yourself.

RDA #102 - The Beat

THE BEAT in music is the driving force, the contageous element, the energy. Today, choose a song with a beat you love. Begin your day listening to this beat. Drive to work moving to the beat. First move and tap your fingers and feet to the beat of the song. Dance around if you want. Next, take time to play along with your drum to the tune. When the tune has finished, and this is the essential part, don’t stop. You keep going and take that beat and make it your own. Improvise, play around with it, change it, allow some freedom and improvisation to come into play. Use the beat you enjoy as a springboard for your own improvisation.

RDA #103 - Drum Breath OR Rhythmic Release

Goal: Use your drum as a tool for relaxation and stress reduction followed by five minutes of creative improvisation.

Begin by sitting in front of your drum. Next, imagine any worries, concerns, issues that are causing stress in your life. Using your fingertips, nervously tap on the drum. Allow the sound to represent the issues boiling up inside you, pestering you, tapping at you. As you inhale your next breath, allow your tapping to become full hands-on drum rolling. Now, at the next exhale, change your playing to represent that exhale by rubbing your drum with your full hand in a swirling motion. Listen to the sound this creates on the drum. This windy sound is a representation of the exhale of the breath, of the releasing of stress. Visualize the calm of your body, mind, and spirit as you let go. Repeat this exercise as you continue to visualize and kinesthetically release any worries or issues.

Now, in a calm state, gradually begin to play your own rhythm. Notice what comes out of your hands when you maintain a calm state.

RDA #104 - Heartbeat Harmonics

Lub-dub, Lub-dub, Lub-dub.

What happens when we take the rhythm of the heartbeat and apply it to the drum? The external sound links to our internal state. We play a pattern that is so familiar to us, it pre-dates our consciousness and our birth.

Today, take time to listen to your human pulse. Then play the heart-beat rhythm on your drum. Use this heart-beat rhythm as a meditation.

RDA #105 - Drumming Dialogue

You will need a willing partner or partners for this recommended rhythmical activity. Have a rhythmical conversation, taking turns playing a little part. Start with one beat each, then expand to two, three, and eventual phrases. Play with imitation. Play with opposition. Challenge each other, yell and scream, make peace, find an agreement. Find a way to come to an end together, in a common rhythmical pattern.

RDA #106 - The One-Minute Marathon

Consider this is an exercise in creativity development. You can only play the same way for one minute. Challenge yourself to come up with at least ten ways to make sound on your drum, changing every minute. Use a clock.

After 10 minutes, stop and consider which manner of playing felt best for you. Start again and play for 10 minutes in the sonic style that best represents your personal spirit.

Enjoy!

RDA #107 - Somebody’s Knocking

Whenever we knock on the door, we usually have our own rhythmic phrase. This is your unique rhythmical introduction. Today, begin your day with a tap on your drum. Introduce yourself with five minutes of playing, as if it were your unique way of saying good morning, knocking on the door of your life.

ADD – Somebody’s Dialing

Whenever we dial our phone, we can create our own rhythmic style. In just seven digits, we can compose a rhythm pattern that we can repeat and repeat.

RDA #108 - Visualization Journey

Drumming while visualizing and making sounds on your drum that support your image.

RDA #109 - The Rhythm of the Soul

Soul is a term used to describe a whole genre of music. Like R & B, rhythm and soul are two terms that support and coordinate with one another.

To discover the rhythm of your soul, begin in silence. Tune into the musicality of your soul. Describe it in your mind’s eye.

RDA #110 - Praise in Rhythm

Today’s RDA is all about gratitude. What are you grateful for? In fact, there are many countries where people are not allowed creative freedom of simply playing a drum. There has been silencing.

But the drum has always been a vehicle of ritual and thanksgiving. EXAMPLE!

Today, begin by creating a one sentence dedication to something you are grateful for. Choose three words to describe

RDA #111 - Say It – Play It

Language has rhythm. Each syllable, each accent, each volume change, communicates meaning. Drumming can capture the rhythmical quality of language in an easy translation. Today, say your name in a rhythm. Your FULL name. If you can say it, you can play it. Listen to how cool your name sounds!!! Repeat it and allow the rhythm to become a groove,. Then come to a giant ending, loud and confident.

Now take a second to think of one quality in yourself that you’d like to bring more volume to. Play your name rhythm in such a way that represents that quality. If you wish to be more confident, play as such. If you wish to be more peaceful, play as such. Allow your rhythmic name to embody one quality of you for which you are grateful.

RDA #112 - Rhythm in All things

Noticing the rhythm, patterns, in nature today. Or even in Los Angeles, we have crazy traffic and we connect to the patterns of cars starting and stopping. Even the rhythms of morning and night.

What is the longest rhythm cycle you can become aware of? Like the rising of the sun. What is the shortest rhythm cycle you can become aware of? Like the ocean wave crashing, followed immediately by another. Like the rhythmic pattern of conversation. Like the rhythm of dialing your phone.

RDA #113 - The Modern Merlin

Do you remember a little game called Merlin? It was a red musical object, where notes and patterns would come up and we would have to repeat them. When we were correct, Merlin sang to us and lit up. It was a beautiful game of concentration and musical awareness.

Today, practice listening to rhythm as if you have to repeat it.

Christine Stevens is a modern day troubadour who introduces people all over the world to musical expression in the form of drum circles. Through her company UpBeat Drum Circles, Christine offers programs for corporate teambuilding, diversity training, and personal growth seminars. A featured speaker, Christine is equally at home in the middle of a 1,000-person drum circle or on the podium addressing thousands of professionals. As Director of Music Therapy and Wellness Programs at Remo Drum Company, Christine has led music and wellness seminars in England, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. For more info please visit the site at www.ubdrumcircles.com.