WHAT AND HOW DO I TEACH?

I teach basic and advanced techniques for middle eastern frame drums (more about drums & techniques here).

At the same time I am focused on developing my students’ musicality: to broaden and deepen their sense of pulse and rhythm, show ways of playing with others, to provide students with tools to improvise and compose, and to explore different musical traditions.

In my teaching I use a combination of methods that I call ‘Bodies In Pulse/Pulse in Bodies’ (more below). It’s based rhythmic vocalization technique (konnakol), rhythmic compositions and body-voice practices. To cultivate a more intuitive feel, I also introduce methods and experiences brought from different forms of body practice – movement improvisation, mindfulness practice, Body-Mind Centering, aikido.

My approach to frame drums has been greatly influenced by Israeli percussionist and composer Zohar Fresco, from whom I’ve been studying since 2010.
His technique combines different styles of playing on this instrument with a deep understanding of the human anatomy and the body’s natural abilities. It allows for effortless playing, making pure and diverse sounds and feeling ‘at home’ in variety of musical styles. It also involves greater, deeper understanding of rhythmics itself.

IN MY CLASSES YOU CAN LEARN:

• basic and advanced techniques for modern frame drums
• rhythmic compositions to expand your musical horizons and understand complex musical ideas
• how to play with a bigger group
• how to use rhythmic vocalization technique (based on Konnakol) to expand and deepen your understanding of rhythm and pulse, improve improvisation and composition skills
• rhythms from different traditions
• methods to develop your body’s coordination
• how to create your own rhythms and compositions

‘BODIES IN PULSE/PULSE IN BODIES’

Body In Pulse/Pulse in Bodies (BIP/PIM) is a method developed by me over past 7 years, aiming at developing the sense of rhythm and pulse, teaching rhythmic improvisation, enabling collective musical practice and training mindfulness. It is based on rhythmic vocalization technique (Konnakol) and inspired with different dance and musical traditions, somatic practices (movement improvisation, autogenic training, BMC, contact improvisation), mindfulness training, musical practice of Zohar Fresco as well as a method of Jacek Ostaszewski.

These techniques allow us to understand the rhythm and its logic. They help to find the inner pulse – an indispensable basis of an unrestricted rhythmic expression. They allow us to step out of the prevalent clichés, become sensitive to the natural impulses that lead to the musical creation.