How to Nail Your Drum Solo
(as taught by Michelle at Amaya's Oriental Potpourri)

By Michelle Morrison

Drums have always called to me on both a primal and creative level. However, as I have taught over the years, I've learned that not everybody feels the same calling to drums and drum solos as I do, so I broke down my approach to drum solos that I hope will help others. Just for fun, I used an acronym: SHIMMY FEST.

These letters stand for the following tips:

SHARP:
You must be able to move your body percussively, so you'll need to develop the basic dance techniques to do so. Work on Locks, Pops, Drops, and Stops. For example, practice your hip shimmies in the soft, relaxed style, working only through the knees. Then tighten your glutes, your quadriceps, even your abs when you move from side to side. This will give you crisp, punctuating hip movements. You should see the difference in your hip wrap: coins or beads will vibrate when doing soft shimmies, but should flip up when doing sharps. Both the pelvis and chest allow for pops and drops that are perfect for hitting accents. Besides the usual sharp movements, however, try breaking down a normally smooth movement. For example, I like to take a chest undulation and articulate it into four crisp points (front, arch, roll down position 1, roll down position 2). I'll also begin a chest undulation, but when I reach the pinnacle of the circle (arch), I'll finish with a decisive chest drop. You can also articulate your snake arms, making them appear almost robotic in their movement. Start with one shoulder and lift it sharply. The shoulder will drop as you bring the elbow up and then drop it, dropping the hand straight down at the same time. Now flick the hand back up. Reverse the action on the other arm.

HIPS:
For me, hips are the foundation of a good drum solo performance. Practice big and little hip movements, fast and slow variations. Work on breaking big movements down into small, sharp ones (like we broke down the chest undulation and snake arms-try it for figure eights, hip circles). Master your lightning-fast shimmies and then slide them side to side, transferring your weight from foot to foot. Add a shimmy to virtually any other movement like a forward pelvic roll or a figure eight. This is particularly effective when done to a drum roll or when the drum is so fast, you couldn't possibly hit each beat. Try putting your weight on your upstage leg, freeing your downstage hip to hit ups, steps down, circles, vertical figure eights. This will focus the audience's attention on one specific point and allow you a brief respite from all those shimmies! Another technique involves beginning a smooth hip movement on your right hip (like a Maia) but then switching to a sharp movement (like sharp drops) when you move to your left hip. Very effective when the drum has a soft roll followed by one or two sharp pops.

ISOLATIONS:
Isn't this dance all about controlling your body and isolating the different areas of your body? Really work on keeping your upper body still while your hips and legs move (and vice versa). Also, polish your slow movements. Contrary to what a drum solo initially tells you, it does not need to be all sharps and stops. A slinky undulation or rolling maias lay nicely over a soft drum roll. To better isolate the parts of your body, make sure you are well stretched-particularly the muscles along the sides of your torso. If I could only do one stretch before a performance, it would be the side lean with my arm over my head. This stretches from the ribs to the hips and really loosens your entire torso up. When these muscles are tight, it is nearly impossible to isolate your upper body from your lower. However, when these muscles are nice and long, your chest can float effortlessly over choo choo shimmies and your hips can be a rock beneath your oscillating chest. Another technique to employ is the posture lift: take a really deep breath, filling your lungs completely and feeling your chest lift naturally. Now exhale, but keep your ribcage lifted. You have now increased the distance between the ribcage and the pelvis by up to two inches. Instead of your ribs essentially sitting on your pelvis, you now have a long buffer (your waist) between the two working parts.

MOVEMENT:
While I usually stay in place for a drum solo-the nature of the song just calls for that kind of attention-you can travel a bit. Practice travelling steps that you can accomplish quickly like three-step-turns and short running steps. A good time to travel or turn is during pauses in the music or on drum rolls. Try also just moving to a different position-with your back to the audience, side to the audience, or on the diagonal.

MIND/BODY:
Your mind must be actively involved not just in knowing your dance vocabulary, but in knowing the music inside and out. I know many dancers who will perform to a piece of music they've only heard a few times, but with a drum solo, you simply can't "fake it." Also, try to hear it as more than simply drums. Try to sing the drum solo on your own ("badump-ba-dump-dump, dum da-dump-dump," raising and lowering your voice) and hear the melody in the drums. Hear all the pauses and the level of the drums (soft or loud). Feel the mood of the piece. While most drum solos are high energy, some are playful, others fiery, others passionate, some all three.

YOWZA FACTOR:
If you choose not to choreograph your drum solo--and to be honest, while I usually choreograph my other dances, I really enjoy the spontaneity of improvising to drums-try planning out a couple of dynamic combinations for particularly noticeable parts of the drum solo. For example, if the song has a long fast roll followed by several sharp doom-doom-dooms, try a twisting shimmy and then hit the accents with a pelvic tuck, stomach tuck, chest pop (so the sharp moves travel right up your body). If you have a couple of killer combos, it can really add punch to an improvisational piece and will relieve you of having to come up with something new every time.

FUN:
If you don't have it, your audience certainly won't. Need I say more? Ok, I will. Even if you're nervous, you should enjoy your music, enjoy your dance. Otherwise, what are you doing on stage? Practice your smile just like you practice your shimmies. You do not, however, always have to smile. Do an eyebrow shrug to a drum pop, look surprised at your own chest pops-the audience loves that one because they won't feel guilty about looking at your cleavage if you make them laugh.

ENERGY:
See FUN. Work on putting your heart and soul into your moves. Does the drum solo say raw power? Let the audience see it in your face and the strength of your hip movements. A hypnotic, trance-like drum solo should be approached with a completely different attitude and energy, but attitude and energy need to be there regardless of the mood of the piece. Your facial expressions will make all the difference in the world as to how your audience responds to your dance. I cannot tell you how many times I have worked my shimmy off in a drum solo only to have an audience member has said they loved my facial expressions! I used to think I was doing something wrong until I realized that many in our audience don't really know enough to appreciate all the hard work and technique that goes into a performance, but they do recognize and identify with a laugh, a wink, a pout. Your more experienced audience members will appreciate your hard work AND your facial expressions.

STAMINA:
You must be physically prepared to do a drum solo or your exhaustion will show and your moves will become sloppiest just when they need to be sharpest. This is true for any piece of music you wish to perform, but especially for the intensity of drum solos. You can't rely on performance adrenaline to carry you through, either. That stage-presence rush may keep the energy in your heart and the smile on your face, but if you aren't fit enough to finish the piece, your muscles simply won't be serving you like they should. I usually dance a 5 minute drum solo a minimum of 4 times in a row at each practice session. I know if I can have as much detail in the last run through as I did on the first, I'll be able to give my best in performance. I know that many instructors advise their students to take up another form of aerobic exercise to build stamina. In my experience, I've found that a loop tape of 20 minutes of drum solos will have me sweating sufficiently and is a whole lot more fun than a step class! One final tip on stamina-try daily deep breathing exercises. Inhale slowly and deeply, feeling your ribs stretch with the breath. Hold it for a few seconds and then slowly, slowly exhale. Repeat at least two more times and do this at least three times a day. You will be amazed at how this conditions your lungs for high-intensity work outs like drum solos.

TIME:
While this is largely subjective, I really think that a drum solo over 5-6 minutes is just too long for you to dance to and for the audience to listen too. While I love drums, the richness and complexity that all the other instruments provide is just as valuable and your drum solo will stand out even more if you haven't drummed it to death! I hope these tips help you enjoy and perfect your next drum solo!

Farfesha Belly Dance © 2004