By Paul Roberts
Special to The PREVIEW
Join musician and music therapist Paul Roberts for a free hand-drumming class at the Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse on Tuesday, June 25, at noon. The hand-drumming class is a family-friendly activity in which joy, fun and playfulness abound. No previous experience is necessary. Drums are provided for those who do not have one.
According to music educator Ed Mikenas: “The advantage of participating in a drumming group is that you develop an auditory feedback loop within yourself and among group members — a channel for self-expression and positive feedback — that is pre-verbal, emotion-based, and sound-mediated. Everyone is speaking, everyone is heard, and each person’s sound is an essential part of the whole.”
Getting lost in rhythms, making up music as we go along, expanding our listening and playing skills, developing musical connections that emerge as an original collective voice, the hand-drumming class provides an opportunity to bond with others in a creative and supportive social experience.
The following quote is by an anonymous music therapist, from a nursing textbook, “Holistic Nursing: A Handbook For Practice:” “Moisture from the drops of music nurtures and supplies vital nutrients to our physical and emotional well-being.” I’m struck by how beautifully and poetically it encapsulates the current clinical research documenting the multitude of significant therapeutic benefits from drumming.
For more information about the hand-drumming class, please call Paul Roberts at 731-3117. The Pagosa Lakes Clubhouse is located at 230 Port Ave.
