I have been running, playing in and observing samba groups for quite a while. I even have a podcast called The Brazilian Beat since 2016 where we talk a lot about running samba groups outside and inside Brazil. Through these conversations themes begin to emerge. Things that are hold mediocre, low functioning groups back from being truly great.
But first, what do I mean by low functioning groups? Groups that never seem to grow in numbers. Never seems to improve in quality or swing. Perhaps there is a core group of 10ish members who have been there forever but the band is a bit of a revolving door for other players. Constantly relearning the same material week after week. Players don't tend to practice on their own time between rehearsal days. The group falls apart while playing sometimes. The list goes on but I think these characteristics are probably familiar to many of you. There are many things that hold groups back but one thing in particular that I see over and over.
What's the one thing?
Low functioning groups are desperate for new members therefore they tailor their precious rehearsal time solely to teaching newbies.
That's it.
Here is why that is a problem.
a. When rehearsals are tailored to newbies the skilled members get bored and leave the group.
b. Rehearsal becomes a practice session. Because the leadership is always teaching newbies the expectations put on current members to learn the repertoire and have it memorized and ready to play is very very low. Therefore members do not feel the need to ever practice on their own so every rehearsal becomes a practice.
c. When these rehearsals turned practice sessions become repetitive the leadership gets a little lazy and stops showing up completely prepared. They are teaching the same thing every week. Why prepare? There is noting to prepare for.
c. This is a big disrespect to skilled members who have taken private lessons, spent a lot of time practicing, learning their instrument and samba swing, perhaps even bought their own instrument, been to California Brazil Camp and to study in Brazil.
Difference between Practice and Rehearsal
Practice is something that you do on your own. You learn how to hold a stick, basic playing technique, learning new repertoire, learn your parts etc. Rehearsal is bringing all the people who have been practicing on their own to make the music sound tight together. When a member shows up to a rehearsal not having practiced it is a waste of everyone's time.
Revolving door.
This scenario causes a revolving door of people coming in the group really excited, gaining some skill, sticking around for a while, getting bored, then leaving the group. As time goes on the group leadership gets more and more desperate for new members and the cycle continues.
How to solve this problem?
Leaders would be wise to cater their rehearsal time to skilled players who have practiced and to hold a separate time for newbies in a class setting and skilled players in a rehearsal setting. Make it clear that newbies are invited to the rehearsal, they can't just join in.
With the obvious caveat that every human is deserving of love, respect and human dignity...
...when it comes to running an arts organization and being effective the skilled players are way more valuable members to your organization than the newbie who just wants to try it for a month or two. You need to focus on skilled players. The newbies will rise to the occasion.
What do skilled players want?
Skilled players want to play clean funky beats with interesting repertoire. When you have a group of skilled people playing clean that really "own" the material...that energy is powerful, super fun and addictive! Cater to these skilled players by showing up to rehearsal prepared, having interesting material for them to play and hold a barrier to entry with unskilled players until they are ready. Prioritize these members and the newbies will eventually catch up. When other skilled musicians see your group perform they will want to join.
But, I don't wanna be mean and tell people that they can't play.
First of all you're not being mean, you're holding a boundary. Also, you're being very very nice and respectful of your skilled players. If you're new to holding boundaries here is a fantastic chance to practice.
How to hold the boundary to newbies without being a jerk? It is very important to have a separate time for newbies to learn the proper techniques, repertoire and to play really slow. But it is also REALLY important to have your a proper rehearsal with your skilled members.
Repeat over and over verbally one on one, at rehearsals, in emails and in your group's bylaws that newbies are welcome to stay and observe but they cannot play until they are invited to join the performance ensemble.
Some studies have shown that 1 - 4% of the population have Beat Deafness where they cannot pick out a beat in a piece of music. There are also always folks who don't realize that they can't play. They can't hear when they are off or out of the groove, or out of time with everyone else.
Perhaps this is their first musical experience and they can't tell.
Perhaps they are nervous.
Perhaps they have Beat Deafness.
Perhaps they don't know how to practice.
What to do with them? Recommend private lessons. Show them how to practice. You can send them GoSamba's practice tracks. Take an audio recording of them playing along to a swingy practice track and then play it back for them to listen to. Show them in real time how they are phasing or getting it wrong. Encourage them but let them know that they need to work it out if they want to join the performing ensemble but you are there to help and guide.
The famous saying goes something like "The teacher can show the student the door but the student must walk through it. But with drumming it is more like "The teacher can tell the student that there is a key to the door and what it looks like. But the student has to find the key, figure out how the key works, put it in the lock, unlock the door and open it before they actually step through."
If you have a fear of hurting someones feelings you can tell them in a gentle way that this rehearsal time is for the skilled players and performing members. You are welcome to stay and watch or play along on a practice pad on the side. The folks who understand and respect this are exactly type of people you want in your group.
Higher barrier to perform.
At Portland Samba to become a performing member you must be able to play the basic groove on your instrument with swing, play tightly with others, know the current repertoire and not be an asshole. When the performing group is playing well and tight AND having fun the audience can tell and they start to have fun too. It's an amazing experience for everyone!
It isn't fair to people who have studied their ***s off to have to play with someone who is constantly messing it all up.
I have heard so many times "Ah... the audience can't tell that we screwed that part up. It's fine! hahaha..." But the audience CAN tell. And the type of skilled new recruits that you want can tell. So much so that when you play clean other musicians and drummers notice and come up and tell you "Wow, it's really hard to get a group of people to sound that tight. How do I join your group?" and then the group gains a great experienced member! Voila!
There is also something so satisfying about playing tight in a big group that is magical! Once you feel that you never wanna go back.
African diasporic music deserves to be taken seriously and played well.
For some reason people feel that it is kinda OK and acceptable to play African diasporic music poorly. I don't know if this comes from drum circle culture, or racism, or people looking down their nose at what they think of as primitive music or what. Or maybe the fact that you can strike a drum and it makes some kind of noise therefore you can claim the title of drummer. Whereas a clarinet player takes quite some time to get past the honking goose phase therefore only the persistent survive and they go on to be good practicers. Maybe it's because African diasporic music is so often performed poorly that people don't realize what it really is and the power that it possesses.
I don't know.
However I would like to start a change in thinking about Samba and other forms of African diasporic music. We need to respect this art form as being very old and there is a good reason why these rhythms work so well. They have been honed and tweaked over centuries to become the rhythms that they are today. We need to respect that many of those who preserved these rhythms and styles were slaves and had to pass the knowledge on to future generations in secret under the threat of severe punishment.
We need to respect this. Respect our drums. Respect the culture bearers. And play the music with diligence and intention. Go to the source to learn when you can. Organize workshops with Brazilian teachers when you can. Give back to the culture when you can.
I hope this encourages you to step up your group and leave some old habits behind. Implementing new strategies to improve an existing established group is very very hard. However this music and this art form deserves more than to be played sloppily.
My next post will have more details and tips on how we do this at Portland Samba.
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