Creativity and Letting Loose with Drums

Drumming may be one of the greatest ways to relieve stress and anxiety, just in the ability to be “in the moment” while playing along with a favorite song or expressing a personal rhythm. The countless benefits to drumming and rhythm continue to be proven by research within music therapy circles, as well as studies on the brain and body, but, any drummer can tell you that there isn’t a need for studies and test subjects. Drummers already know the benefits experienced, whether on a drum set or on a djembe drum, and there may be no better moment to illustrate this concept than when a drummer finally lets his or her inhibitions loose and just drums.

With all of the stereotypes of drummers, from the hippies to the wild cards, each drummer has his or her own style of letting loose with drums. It could be a 20-minute long drum solo in front of a crowd, a dancing djembe drummer at a drum jam or a cajon player in a basement. Those moments when a drummer is less concerned with exact timing, drumming rudiments or perfect technique are expansive times to explore creativity and the true rhythms we all hold inside. Letting loose with drums is the best illustration of drumming at its finest, and for all of the drummers who create space in practices and performances to let the inner rhythms shine, we salute you!

As with any type of creative pursuit, it is the element of the person behind the paintbrush, microphone or drum that creates the most astounding results. Discovering these self-aware elements can be a simple matter of trust in the process of creativity, which counts on a person’s ability to let loose and just be. For the drummer, whether behind the drum set or cradling a djembe between the knees, it is these moments that inevitably become the most exciting and sought after. Take your drum or drums and let loose with your own rhythm. You’ll never regret where it takes you.