Friday, October 12, 2007

drum nut

Last night I told Nguyen that I had a rhythm beating in my head all day. It's a little like an 'ear worm'. You know, when a song keeps repeating itself in your brain?

This rhythm is one that I have been having trouble playing in class. Each piece of music that we play has 5 or 6 different rhythms. We play each rhythm for awhile and then our teacher, Sidy, plays a transition for us an we are supposed to jump right in with the next one. For some reason, I have a hard time transitioning to the second rhythm in the sequence...

So that rhythm has been banging around in my head for the last couple of days. Here's the funny part: In my head, I am hearing my teacher playing it... not me. My drum has a low, dull voice. His is higher pitched and sharp. Plus, he differentiates very clearly between a slap sound and what is called a tone sound. In my own playing, you can't really hear a difference yet.

So, in my head, all day long, the sound of my teacher playing the second rhythm of Sidiyasa.

One famous drumming teacher (I can't remember who) said that if you can sing a rhythm, you can play it. I wonder if hearing it in an endless loop will help me play it better? I'll tell you next week, LOL.

4 comments:

Shift Worker said...

The Dunk has been so quiet, it must be because you are hearing all that in your head!

I'm so busy at this time in the semester, yet I still find my heart is only half in it. Would that I could muster the strength to care about the intricacies of grading when I am spending all my time thinking about how the Gospel should be changing how people live. Perhaps the seminary on the hill would argue they are doing the same, but in a clear 50% of my classes this semester all I can think is, And Jesus died for this? So have I lost the zeal for theological education, or have I simply found my own drum? Somewhere there is a teacher playing a rhythm I can hear...

Rachel Nguyen said...

Man, it must be going around... everyone I talk to is having trouble staying focused and motivated. But your situation is doubly difficult because of the spiritual aspects of it.

I pray for you, my friend. The ongoing process of discerning God's will for us can be such a challenge.

In my own way I have been facing this with my little kitchen tools gig. My heart isn't in it at all these days. Does that mean it is time to move on? Or do I just weather this storm and assume that it is just part of my general malaise. I don't know yet. But in the mean time I keep doing what I have to do and I figure God will let me know, loud and clear, when and if it is time for me to move onto something else.

Another thought: When I first started going to Grace church, I spent several Sundays thinking "Man, this place is enough to turn anybody off from being a Christian." Uncharitable, I know. I was in a bad place. Eventually, gradually, that shifted and I became more and more grateful that I was where I was. But even when I was complaining, I knew it was where God wanted me to be.

Are you where God wants you to be? If the answer is yes, you can still complain, (I love reading Exodus at times like that! Ha) but you can do it knowing that God has lots of things in store for you!

Shift Worker said...

Some folks who just lost everything showed up at my house today because they knew I would help. I met them through the ministry, and I left them with the knowledge of Christian love. I suppose that is quite the answer to prayer as to what I'm supposed to be doing...stay the course and grit my teeth if that's what it takes.

Off to jump through some hoops,
Amy

Rachel Nguyen said...

How wonderful, Amy.

Praise God and hang in!!!

Love,
Rachel