Wednesday, August 25, 2004

Humility - #1 Criterion for Djembe Master

A true djembe master is humble. I have never met a master drummer who was not humble. I have met good drummers who were arrogant but never a master. To get to the level of being a djembe master you have to be humble, kind and respectful to everyone. A master has to open his heart to all people and life. This is a very important piece of information for anyone on the spiritual path of djembe drumming. You cannot play the djembe well without opening your heart. All of the masters will acknowledge this fact. Some people may feel this is a nice idea but in reality it all comes down to raw talent and how many hours you put into the practice of the drum. I beg to differ here.

I have never met a djembe player with a bad attitude who I can consider to be a master drummer. I truly believe this to be an impossibility. The djembe is a “clean” drum. The spirit of the djembe is clean. One cannot play djembe well without the spirit. The spirit will never come into a dirty vessel. If you are truly a good person and you are kind with everyone – you have a chance to be a master djembe player. All that is left is that you dig for the truth, study and practice a lot. It doesn’t matter what color your skin is. God made different colors because variety is beautiful – look at the rainbow. The djembe is a drum of Unity not separation. It brings people together in friendship, happiness and healing. This is the power of the djembe that truly attracts people.

Masters are humble. People should all recognize this fact. It is not just a “nice” quality of a djembe player, it is a requirement. Negativity and bad feelings have no place inside the djembe. My teacher always tells us that if you have some sadness or anger about something, you must always drop that when you sit down to drum or stand up to dance. After you are done drumming you can go back again to your problems. Don’t disrespect the djembe by bringing your negativity inside a drum which is by nature clean and peaceful.

Comments:
general question: do you think the same virtues/qualities pertain to a Master Dancer? does someone achieve Master status as a dancer the same way a djembefola would?
 
I believe a master dancer would require the same qualities as a master drummer.
 
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