Cathy Smith Music
 

The Beat of the Drum

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This song was written especially for the Meraki Festival and really needs to be seen on stage to get the full impact! Its all about being part of a team, something I focus on with my choir, and how important a sense of belonging is. The song features the musical device of call and response, in this instance having one group sing a line of the song and another group respond. In this way the children are working together in two parts as well as coming together for the phrases sung by everyone.

During term 1 in music lessons we were learning djembe sounds and rhythm which included some drum circle work where we shared rhythm and got in tune with each other and ourselves. I wanted to write a song that encompassed this learning and also developed an understanding of culture. The fact that djembes originate in West Africa along with call and response being a common style of music from this part of the world tied things together really well.  The message of the song comes at the end of each chorus - we can be as one with the beat of the drum.

Of course, you can't write a song about the beat of the drum without actual drums so our stage performance included live drumming in certain sections!